Slow Cooker Pesto and Sweet Potato Chicken
A busy day calls for a dinner thrown in the slow cooker earlier in the day, so I can get on with that never-ending to-do list. My slow cooker pesto and sweet potato chicken is simple to prepare, tastes great and gets in a few of your five-a-day too. It also fits in well with WeightWatchers Smartpoints or Slimming World.
Cooked on low in the slow cooker all day, the chicken is placed on a bed of onions which holds it out of the cooking liquid (chicken stock) and means your pesto stays put and adds flavour to your chicken all day as it bubbles away slowly.
Did you know you can make slow cooker dishes that looks this fresh and bright? It isn’t just stews and casseroles you can make in there you know! There’s really no need to put away your slow cooker when Spring arrives, when you can make fresh and healthy dishes like this. The convenience of a slow cooker means I use mine all year round. I’ve got loads of recipes like this in my recipe archives – you can see them all in my slow cooker recipe index. You might like my slow cooker lemon and herb chicken with asparagus and my slow cooker chicken with Mediterranean roasted vegetables.
A slow cooker dish perfect for spring and summer
- 2 small onions sliced
- 180 g sweet potato chopped
- 180 g butternut squash chopped
- 3 chicken breasts large
- 3 tsp reduced-fat pesto
- 1 chicken stock melt/stockpot
- 150 ml boiling water
- 10 cherry tomatoes
- 1 tsp oregano
- salt and pepper to taste
-
Place the chopped onions in the base of the slow cooker.
-
Put half of the sweet potato and butternut squash in with the onion.
-
Place the chicken breasts on top of the vegetables.
-
Spread 1 teaspoon of reduced-fat pesto over each chicken breast, season with salt and pepper and sprinkle over the oregano.
-
Put the rest of the sweet potato and butternut squash, and the cherry tomatoes, around the chicken breasts.
-
Measure the boiling water in a jug and add the chicken stock melt. Stir to melt it and then carefully pour the stock under the chicken in the vegetables.
-
Cook on low for 5-6 hours.
-
Check the chicken is cooked through.
-
Using a large slotted spoon, lift the chicken breasts out of the slow cooker and place them in a serving dish. Put the cooked vegetables around the chicken and serve.
Delicious with crusty bread, pasta, rice or couscous.
These bright colours just make me happy for the arrival of Spring and the warmer weather that will hopefully be on the way soon. If you can enjoy fresh flavours from the slow cooker there is no need to abandon it until next winter I reckon.
More pesto recipes you might like to use up the rest of your jar of pesto:
- Quick leftover pork pesto pasta from Fab Food 4 All
- Pesto and feta pastries from Fuss Free Flavours
- Pesto peppers topped with halloumi from KneadWhine
- Roasted red pepper and pesto frittata from Hungry Healthy Happy
Pin for later!!
Looks like the perfect light spring meal to come home to:-)
This looks just the kind of thing I should be cooking as I’m about to embark on Slimming World *takes deep breath* so I’ll def be bookmarking this for my healthy but tasty list!
This looks like such a lovely spring/summer dish. I love roasted squash.
That looks so bright and fresh! I must admit I am guity of using my slow cooker pretty much only for autumn/winter stews.
This looks delicious Lucy, I like the idea of pesto with the chicken. A great meal to try for spring and it’s healthy too.
Hi I have just joined. Doe’s anyone know how many calories this is please x
Hi Jackie, sorry I don’t count calories but you can use an app or site like MyFitnessPal to calculate it, taking into account the specific brand of pesto you use and how many servings you have. On weight watchers this is around 6 Smartpoints per serving I believe, it is a healthy low fat option.
Hi I have just joined could anyone tell me what the calories are for this please