Slow Cooking Chicken Margherita Pasta

In the past couple of weeks, we've had high temperatures upwards of 120F! It's been so hot around here, I can't even draw a bath for my kids in the evenings without adding about 6 cups of ice to the "Cold" water.  I love being able to cook dinner in my Crock Pot without heating up my house. I'm running the A/C enough already!

One of my favorite quick lunches is a Healthy Choice Café Steamers, especially their Chicken Margherita with Balsamic, with chicken, diced tomatoes, garlic, angel hair pasta and a balsamic sauce. Since I love this frozen meal so much, I decided to try and make a Copy Cat recipe that I could cook up for dinner in my crock pot. (I was surprised that I couldn't find one online!)

For my first attempt, I decided to go simple, using Lawry's Balsamic Herb Marinade for the basis of my sauce and just thickening it up with a corn starch slurry if it got too diluted in the crock pot. Also, I decided to just cook my pasta the old-fashioned way -- on the stove. However, OneDishDinners.com makes it sound so easy to add pasta to the slow cooker. I haven't tried it yet, but I plan to do so soon.

I put my frozen chicken in a lined crock pot with about 1 c of Lawry's Balsamic Herb Marinade, and cooked it on low for about 3 hours. (I did not pre-marinade the chicken.) Then, I added a can of petite diced tomatoes (drained) for the last hour of cooking. I boiled about 1/2 lb of thin spaghetti on my stove top while waiting for my chicken mixture to finish cooking. I decided that my sauce was a little too thin, so I thickened up the sauce with a corn starch slurry. I could have added more marinade to thicken it up, but I like a light balsamic flavor, and was worried that adding more marinade might have been overwhelming, but to each their own. I diced the chicken and mixed it with the pasta, tomatoes and thickened sauce in a big bowl and served it up.

My whole family loved this meal, including my toddler and preschooler. Everyone went back for seconds! I'd like to make a more "from scratch" version sometime, where I'm not dependent on the Lawry's marinade for the sauce, but I'm happy for now because this is so simple to throw together and it turned out really good!

The Recipe

Slow Cooker Chicken Margherita Pasta

5 Boneless, Skinless Chicken Thighs (or 3 Chicken Breasts)
1 cup Lawry's Balsamic Herb Marinade
1 - 14oz can of Petite Diced Tomatoes, Drained
1/2 lb Thin Spaghetti
1/2 Tbsp Corn Starch
1 Tbsp Cold Water

In a lined crock pot, cook the chicken in the marinade for 3 hours on low. Add the drained can of petite diced tomatoes to the chicken and marinade in the crock pot. Slow cook for an additional hour, or until the chicken is cooked thoroughly. Remove chicken from crock pot and dice. Cook the pasta according to the directions on the package. If desired, combine the corn starch and cold water to make a slurry. In a small pan on the stove top, bring the corn starch slurry and about 1 or 2 cups of the tomato-marinade mixture to a boil, continuously stirring, until thickened. Combine the tomatoes, thickened sauce, chicken and pasta in a large bowl. Serve and Enjoy!