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This Slow Cooker 3-Ingredient Cranberry Chicken is sweet, savory, and ridiculously easy—just Chicken, jellied cranberry sauce, and onion soup mix. The sauce turns glossy and tangy as it cooks, and the chicken gets tender enough to shred right into it. You’re going to love it over rice, mashed potatoes, or noodles on busy nights.
Why You’ll Love It
- True dump-and-go dinner — chicken, cranberry sauce, and onion soup mix go straight into the Slow Cooker.
- Sweet-savory flavor — tangy cranberry sauce and savory onion soup mix balance each other beautifully.
- Stretches nicely — serve it over rice, buttered egg noodles, or mashed potatoes to make that sauce go a long way.
- Great leftovers — the shredded chicken makes easy sandwiches the next day.
Ingredient Notes
Use boneless, skinless chicken breasts here—the regular grocery-store kind. Nothing complicated. If your breasts are enormous, those giant ones that look like they came from a chicken with a gym membership, you may want to slice them after cooking rather than expect them to stay neat. They will still taste fine.
You need jellied cranberry sauce, not whole-berry cranberry sauce, for this exact version. The smooth jellied kind melts into the sauce beautifully. Any brand on sale works well. The old familiar can with the ridges pressed into the cranberry gel has a nostalgic holiday-table feel.
The dry onion soup mix is what makes this savory. Lipton is the one I usually see, but any standard 1-ounce packet works. It is salty, though, so please don’t automatically add extra salt.
Ingredients
- 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 1 (14-ounce) can jellied cranberry sauce
- 1 (1-ounce) packet dry onion soup mix
Instructions
Place the raw chicken breasts in a single layer in the bottom of a 4- to 6-quart Slow Cooker. Try not to stack them if you can help it; they cook more evenly that way, and it saves you from poking at them later wondering whether the middle one has decided to take the day off.
Open the can of jellied cranberry sauce and dump the whole thing right over the chicken breasts. It may come out in one wobbly cranberry-shaped cylinder. Use a spoon to spread it around so most of the chicken has some cranberry sauce on it, but don’t stand there trying to make it pretty. It all melts down.
Sprinkle the dry onion soup mix evenly over the cranberry sauce. Do not stir it at this point. Layering it is simpler and works just fine.
Cover the slow cooker with the lid and cook on LOW for 4 to 6 hours, or on HIGH for 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 hours, until the chicken is cooked through and shreds easily with a fork. Every slow cooker seems to have its own personality. Start checking toward the earlier end of the time range.
Once the chicken is cooked, gently shred it or slice it right in the slow cooker, then stir it into the cranberry-onion sauce until everything is nicely coated. Shredding helps the little pieces catch more sauce.
Taste the chicken and sauce before adding anything else. The onion soup mix is already fairly salty, so you may not need extra seasoning at all. Serve it hot over white rice, buttered egg noodles, or mashed potatoes, with plenty of sauce spooned over the top. A green vegetable on the side is sensible.
Variations
If you want a slightly thicker, richer sauce, stir in 2 to 3 tablespoons of ketchup or tomato paste right at the end of cooking. Yes, that makes it more than three ingredients. The title can handle it. The tomato flavor gives it a little extra depth, especially if you’re serving it over mashed potatoes.
Boneless, skinless chicken thighs work well too if your family prefers darker meat. Keep the same cooking time, just check that they’re tender before shredding.
For a less-sweet version, use about three-quarters of the can of cranberry sauce and add a splash of chicken broth to loosen things up. Using only half the cranberry sauce is fine, but it kind of loses its whole point.
A pinch of red pepper flakes or a few dashes of hot sauce at the end gives it a little heat.
Storage & Reheating
Store leftover cranberry chicken in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to 3 to 4 days. Keep the sauce with the chicken—it helps it stay moist, and that sauce is half the reason you made this in the first place.
To reheat, warm it gently in the microwave with a spoonful of the sauce over the top, stopping to stir once if you remember. If you don’t remember, it will still be okay. You can also reheat it in a small covered skillet over low heat with a splash of water or broth if the sauce has tightened up in the fridge.
For leftovers, pile the warm chicken onto toasted buns or slider rolls. A little mayo is good, maybe a slice of Swiss if you happen to have it.
Final Notes
This is one of those recipes to keep around because it doesn’t ask much. Some nights call for chopping herbs and roasting vegetables and making a real event out of dinner. Other nights call for putting three things in a slow cooker, answering no further questions, and letting the house smell warm while everything cooks.
The cranberry sauce gives this chicken an unexpected sweet-savory flavor. The whole thing has that funny, retro comfort to it—like a recipe clipped from a newspaper, without the newspaper.
Make rice. Make mashed potatoes. Make sandwiches tomorrow if there’s any left.
There usually isn’t much left, though.
Slow Cooker 3-Ingredient Cranberry Chicken
Ingredients
- 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 1 14-ounce can jellied cranberry sauce
- 1 1-ounce packet dry onion soup mix
Instructions
- Place the raw chicken breasts in a single layer in the bottom of a 4- to 6-quart slow cooker, avoiding stacking them if possible.
- Dump the entire can of jellied cranberry sauce over the chicken and spread it around with a spoon so most of the chicken is covered.
- Sprinkle the dry onion soup mix evenly over the cranberry sauce without stirring.
- Cover and cook on LOW for 4 to 6 hours, or on HIGH for 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 hours, until the chicken is cooked through and shreds easily with a fork.
- Gently shred or slice the cooked chicken in the slow cooker, then stir it into the cranberry-onion sauce until evenly coated.
- Taste before adding any seasoning, then serve hot over white rice, buttered egg noodles, or mashed potatoes with plenty of sauce.