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These Slow Cooker broccoli Chicken noodles are creamy, comforting, and easy enough for busy days. Tender chicken, frozen broccoli, and wide egg noodles cook in a rich sauce with minimal prep. You’re going to love how cozy and low-fuss this dinner is.
Why You’ll Love It
- Minimal prep — layer the chicken and broccoli, whisk the sauce, and let the Slow Cooker do the work.
- No browning required — everything cooks right in the Slow Cooker with no extra pans.
- Creamy comfort — tender chicken, soft broccoli, and wide egg noodles soak up the rich sauce.
- Great leftovers — the sauce settles in even more after chilling overnight.
Ingredient Notes
Boneless, skinless chicken breasts are what I use here because they stay fairly neutral and let that creamy sauce do its thing. Cut them into roughly 1-inch pieces—not tiny, or they can get a little lost after cooking. I’m not out there with a ruler, though. We’re making dinner, not building a deck.
Use a 16-ounce bag of frozen broccoli florets straight from the freezer. No thawing. No draining. I like florets rather than chopped broccoli because they give you some larger pieces mixed in, though they will soften quite a bit by the end. That is the point, in my opinion. Apparently I feel strongly about soft broccoli today.
For the soup, plain condensed cream of chicken soup is exactly right. Low-sodium chicken broth keeps the finished dish from getting overly salty, especially since condensed soup has plenty going on already.
Wide egg noodles are important. The extra-wide kind are lovely if you can find them, but regular wide egg noodles work just fine. Don’t add them at the beginning—learn from my impatience. They go in near the end, or you’ll have noodle paste. Delicious noodle paste perhaps, but still.
Ingredients
- 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, diced into roughly 1-inch pieces
- 1 (16-ounce) bag frozen broccoli florets, still frozen—don’t thaw it
- 2 (10.5-ounce) cans condensed cream of chicken soup
- 2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 12 ounces wide egg noodles, uncooked, about three-quarters of a 16-ounce bag
- Salt and black pepper, to taste at the end; I go easy on the salt and fairly generous with pepper
Instructions
Place the diced chicken breasts in an even layer across the bottom of a 5- to 6-quart slow cooker.
Dump the frozen broccoli florets right over the chicken, spreading them around a little without stirring. It will look like far too much broccoli at first. It isn’t. It cooks down and softens into the sauce.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the condensed cream of chicken soup and the chicken broth until the mixture is fairly smooth. A few little lumps of soup are not the end of civilization. Pour the mixture evenly over the broccoli and chicken, again resisting the urge to stir everything together.
Cover the slow cooker and cook on LOW for 4 to 5 hours or on HIGH for 2 1/2 to 3 hours, until the chicken is cooked through and tender and the broccoli is soft. Peek once if needed, but don’t keep lifting the lid every twenty minutes. Slow cookers take that personally.
About 30 to 40 minutes before you want to eat, stir everything together well. Break up the softened broccoli a bit and get the chicken mixed into the creamy sauce. This is when it starts looking like actual dinner instead of an experiment somebody forgot in the basement.
Add the uncooked wide egg noodles and press them down gently so they are mostly covered by the liquid. If the noodles aren’t reasonably submerged, add a splash more broth or water, about 1/4 cup at a time, just until they’re barely covered. Don’t drown them—they need enough liquid to cook, not a swimming pool.
Cover the slow cooker and cook on HIGH for 25 to 35 minutes, stirring once halfway through, until the noodles are tender but not mushy. Start checking at around 25 minutes because slow cookers all seem to have their own personalities.
Give the noodles a final stir, then taste and add salt and black pepper if needed. Let the whole thing sit with the lid off for 5 minutes before serving so the sauce thickens slightly. It may look a touch loose at first, but it settles down. Unlike most of us.
Variations
Stir in 4 ounces of cubed cream cheese when adding the noodles for an extra-velvety sauce. Chicken thighs can also be used now and then for more flavor, but chicken breasts are still what I reach for most often.
If you want more color in the bowl, add 1 cup frozen peas and carrots along with the broccoli. That version has a classic freezer-section dinner feel—in a good way, mostly. I tried adding fresh broccoli once, thinking I was being virtuous, and it stayed oddly firm while the noodles were ready. So frozen broccoli it is. Sometimes convenience knows what it’s doing.
For a cheesier version, sprinkle 1 to 1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar or Colby cheese over the top during the last 5 minutes of cooking, then cover it just long enough for the cheese to melt. It’s rich, obviously. Nobody said this was spa food.
If you need to stretch it for a crowd, use the full 16-ounce bag of egg noodles and add 1 extra cup of broth, watching closely and adding a little more if the noodles need it.
Storage & Reheating
Store leftovers in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. The noodles will absorb more sauce overnight, which is normal. They get a little plumper and softer, but I don’t mind that one bit.
To reheat, add a splash of chicken broth or milk before warming it in the microwave or on the stovetop over low heat. Stir it once or twice as it heats so the sauce loosens back up. Don’t blast it until it’s bubbling like lava—cream-based leftovers get grumpy when treated that way.
I wouldn’t freeze it after the noodles have been cooked. You can, technically, but the noodles come back with that sad, spongy texture.
Final Notes
This is one of those recipes that makes the kitchen smell warm and comforting. The chicken and creamy sauce drifting through the house make the whole place feel occupied.
Real cooking can be as simple as making something warm with ingredients on hand. It’s remembering to buy broth. It’s making enough for another bowl tomorrow.
And if all you did was dump five ingredients into a slow cooker and stir in noodles at the end—well, you still made dinner. That counts for plenty.
Slow Cooker Amish Broccoli Chicken Noodles
Ingredients Â
- 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts diced into roughly 1-inch pieces
- 1 16-ounce bag frozen broccoli florets still frozen; do not thaw
- 2 10.5-ounce cans condensed cream of chicken soup
- 2 cups low-sodium chicken broth plus more if needed for the noodles
- 12 ounces wide egg noodles uncooked
- salt to taste at the end
- black pepper to taste at the end
InstructionsÂ
- Place the diced chicken breasts in an even layer across the bottom of a 5- to 6-quart slow cooker.
- Place the frozen broccoli florets over the chicken, spreading them around a little without stirring.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the condensed cream of chicken soup and chicken broth until fairly smooth, then pour the mixture evenly over the broccoli and chicken without stirring.
- Cover and cook on LOW for 4 to 5 hours or on HIGH for 2 1/2 to 3 hours, until the chicken is cooked through and tender and the broccoli is soft.
- About 30 to 40 minutes before serving, stir everything together well, breaking up the softened broccoli and mixing the chicken into the creamy sauce.
- Add the uncooked wide egg noodles and press them down gently so they are mostly covered by the liquid; if needed, add broth or water 1/4 cup at a time until the noodles are barely covered.
- Cover and cook on HIGH for 25 to 35 minutes, stirring once halfway through, until the noodles are tender but not mushy.
- Give the noodles a final stir, taste, and add salt and black pepper if needed, then let the dish sit uncovered for 5 minutes before serving so the sauce thickens slightly.