Make an easy crack chicken recipe that's perfectly juicy and moist with a slow cooker! You'll love this low carb crock pot crack chicken made easy with boneless skinless chicken breast, ranch seasoning, bacon, and lots of cheese. It's a Whole Lotta Yum!
What Is Crack Chicken?
Crack Chicken is a popular and easy comfort food recipe that usually consists of chicken, cream cheese, cheddar cheese, bacon, and a dry ranch dressing mix, all cooked together in a Crock Pot.
The creamy flavorful chicken gets shredded and it can be served as a casserole, over rice or pasta, or on a bun.
Chicken crack gets its name because of its "addictive" taste but if you don't care for that name, you could also call it shredded chicken bacon ranch casserole or sandwiches.
This will surely become one of your go-to family favorite recipes since it can be used in a variety of ways to make it simple to change up your dinner meal plans!
If you're looking for even more crack chicken recipes you'll also love our crack chicken soup!
Our Crock Pot recipe is the best!
- Full of flavor - Tastes like savory chicken bacon ranch!
- Great for meal prep! Eat it as a casserole, on a bed of lettuce as a salad, or as a sandwich on the bun. You'll never get bored with leftovers!
- Super moist and juicy - Cooking Crock Pot crack chicken means the chicken meat stays tender, juicy, and super moist.
- Great for our readers on a low carb or keto diet too!
Ingredients list
This is an easy crack chicken recipe that starts with a Ranch seasoning packet. Any brand of Ranch seasoning will work, we personally love the Trader Joe's Ranch seasoning in a spice jar or the Simply Organic brand sold at places like Kroger since they're both made without artificial ingredients.
- boneless skinless chicken breasts - you could also use bone-in breasts, cook them longer and then remove them from the bone before shredding. Chicken thighs or chicken tenders will work too (with a lesser cooking time).
- chicken broth
- packet ranch seasoning mix
- cubed cream cheese, softened - we used full fat cream cheese, you can also use low fat cream cheese if preferred.
- bacon slices - cooked and crumbled
- Sharp cheddar cheese - shred the cheese from a block, don't use pre-shredded cheddar cheese since it's coated with starch and doesn't melt as well.
- green onions
** Please see the recipe card at the bottom of the post for the exact quantities **
Kitchen tools
- Crock Pot or Slow Cooker for cooking the chicken in
Dietary swaps
As written, our recipe is low carb and keto.
- Gluten Free- make sure the ranch seasoning packet you buy doesn't contain gluten.
How to Make Crack Chicken
Slow Cook the Chicken
- Add the chicken and broth to your crockpot. Sprinkle the chicken with the ranch seasoning mix and add the softened cubed cream cheese to the pot.
- Cover and cook the crack chicken for 4-5 hours on high or 6-7 hours on low.
- While the chicken is cooking, cook the bacon, crumble it, and set it aside until the chicken is done.
Shred & Serve
- Shred the chicken right in the pot. Sprinkle the chicken with shredded cheddar cheese, crumbled bacon, and sliced green onions. Put the lid back on the pot and heat it on low until the cheese melts.
- Serve the Ranch cream cheese chicken with hamburger buns, tortillas, with tortilla chips, or on a bed of lettuce. Enjoy!
Recipe notes
- This recipe is intentionally mild to make it kid friendly, to add a kick you can mix in sliced pepperoncini or banana peppers, red pepper flakes to taste, or a can of Rotel.
- The chicken mix thickens as it cools, when you go to reheat it, add more chicken broth as needed to thin it out.
- You can use boneless skinless chicken thighs in place of breasts.
- Be sure to shred your cheddar cheese from a block, pre-shredded cheese adds starch and it doesn't melt as well.
- If you're eating low carb, look for an organic Ranch seasoning packet that doesn't add sugar.
What to serve on the side
- As a casserole with a side of roasted vegetables and a salad
- Make crack chicken sandwiches by putting the crack chicken recipe between hamburger buns
- Mini chicken sliders
- As a dip with veggies, crackers, bread slices, or pretzels
- Use it as a base for crack chicken soup by thinning it out with chicken broth and cream
- Make an easy cold lunch chicken salad by serving it on a bed of lettuce
Storing leftovers
- Store: Store leftovers in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 4 days.
- Freeze: You can freeze the chicken for up to 3 months in the freezer. Defrost in the fridge and then reheat it using one of our methods mentioned below!
- Reheat leftovers on the stove in a saucepan over medium low heat. You can also reheat crack chicken in a slow cooker by heating it on low heat for 1-2 hours until it's warm.
FAQ's
Our easy crack chicken recipe also works with a keto or low carb diet! It's important to use full fat dairy products that are 0 or near 0 carbs. Also shred your cheese from a block since pre-shredded cheese adds potato starch to keep it from sticking.
Check the back of the Ranch packet to make sure it's low in carbs as well.
Actually, no. You shouldn't cook frozen chicken in a slow cooker. The frozen chicken combined with the slow heat of the crock-pot, isn't heating the chicken fast enough to prevent bacteria from forming.
If you wan to use frozen chicken, you should make it in an Instant pot, on the stove, or in the oven (which we don't have any of these on our site).
I wouldn't use a rotisserie chicken with this recipe simply because it's salty and since there's already broth and Ranch mix in this recipe, it could make your recipe too salty!
More Crockpot Chicken Recipes
- Crockpot Tuscan chicken
- Slow cooker Mexican shredded chicken
- Crock-pot buffalo chicken dip
- Slow cooker butter chicken
If you loved our recipe, please leave us a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ review and leave us a comment too! Connect with us on Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, or YouTube!
Recipe
Crock Pot Crack Chicken
Ingredients
- 2 lbs. boneless skinless chicken breasts
- ½ cup chicken broth
- 1 oz. packet ranch seasoning mix
- 8 oz. cream cheese softened and cut into cubes
- 6-8 bacon slices cooked and crumbled
- 1 ½ cups shredded cheddar cheese from a block not pre-shredded
- ½ cup sliced green onions
Instructions
- Add the chicken and the broth to your crockpot. Sprinkle the chicken with the ranch seasoning mix and add the softened cream cheese cubes to the pot.
- Cover and cook the crack chicken for 4-5 hours on high or 6-7 hours on low.
- While the chicken is cooking, cook the bacon, crumble it, and set it aside until the chicken is done.
- Shred the chicken right in the pot. Sprinkle the chicken with shredded cheddar cheese, crumbled bacon, and sliced green onions. Put the lid back on the pot and heat it on low until the cheese melts.
- Serve the Ranch cream cheese chicken with buns, tortillas, with tortilla chips, or on a bed of lettuce. Enjoy!
Barbara says
I did not use a crockpot and that may have been the difference in taste. The meal was disappointing. It was bland, at best. No doubt it was user error. Thanks for sharing.