Crockpot Garlic Parmesan Chicken Pasta is a hearty slow cooker dish full of tender chicken in a creamy sauce. It's perfect when you need a meal on the dinner table that the whole family can enjoy. This is the original version is made with Buffalo Wild Wings Sauce that inspired the TikTok viral craze!
Try my Crockpot Baked Ziti next!
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This crockpot garlic parmesan chicken pasta recipe is a big batch that can easily feed your family. Crockpots are great because they cook while you're doing other things, so all you have to do is throw everything into the pot and let it slow cook until dinner time.
If you're looking for a recipe that's easy to make and tastes delicious, try it this week!
Why you'll love this recipe
- The original recipe that inspired the TikTok viral recipe
- Made in the crockpot with simple ingredients
- Minimal effort for busy weeknights
- Creamy with a little heat
- Made with fresh chicken breasts and Buffalo Wild Wings Parmesan Garlic with Italian Herbs sauce
Recipe profile
Super easy - this crockpot dish could not be easier to make as you essentially just "dump and go." All you have to do is place your ingredients in the crockpot and set it to cook. Then, when you are ready to eat, just cook your pasta, and dinner is served.
Incredible flavor - chicken, garlic, and parmesan go together so well and makes this dish absolutely burst with insanely good flavor. Your entire family is sure to love it and ask for seconds!
Very filling - the chicken packs this dish with protein, and you also get a great balance of carbs and fat that makes this meal incredibly filling.
Love hearty pasta dishes? Try my Baked Spaghetti Casserole!
Key Ingredients
Chicken - you will want to use boneless skinless chicken breasts for this recipe. If you do not like the flavor of chicken breasts, however, you could use chicken thighs instead. If you choose bone in chicken, you'll need to adjust your cooking time.
Cream Cheese - adds creamy, rich texture to the dish. I use regular, but low fat may be substituted. I don’t recommend fat free, but if you cook with it and like it, then it should be fine.
Parmesan - the parmesan in this dish packs a punch of cheesy flavor that you will not want to miss. You can use freshly shredded or store-bought grated parmesan cheese for this recipe.
Buffalo Wild Wings Parmesan Garlic Sauce - this sauce gives your dish the most flavor, so you do not want to leave this out. However, if you cannot find this sauce at your local grocery store, you should be able to find it online. You can also use a generic brand of parmesan garlic sauce if needed.
Milk - I used and recommend whole or 2% milk. Heavy cream will make the sauce very rich and half and half will add some extra creaminess without being too heavy.
Pasta - we like all kinds of pasta shapes, so choose what you have on hand or something like rotini pasta, penne pasta, bow ties (farfalle). We think short pasta works best, but long noodles like spaghetti and fettuccine will also work.
Instructions
This is an overview of how to make Crockpot Garlic Parmesan Chicken Pasta with step-by-step photos. Scroll to the bottom of the post for precise amounts and recipe card.
STEP ONE: Season chicken with kosher salt and fresh pepper. Place in the bottom of a crockpot or slow cooker. Pour the entire bottle of parmesan garlic sauce over the top of the chicken.
STEP TWO: Add milk to the empty bottle and shake. Pour milk and sauce mixture over the chicken. Add cream cheese and parmesan cheese to the crockpot. Stir to combine and cover chicken with sauce.
STEP THREE: Cook on high for 2 to 3 hours or low for 3 to 4 hours. Remove cooked chicken to a plate or cutting board and shred using 2 forks or dice into bite-sized pieces. Add shredded chicken back into the slow cooker.
STEP FOUR: Cook pasta according to package instructions. Drain well and add to the crockpot, stirring to combine well.
Top tips
- Use 1%, 2%, or whole milk. You can also try almond or oat milk if that's preferred.
- Low-fat cream cheese can be substituted for less fat and calories.
- We like to use between 12 to 16 ounces of cooked pasta depending on how many people we are serving and/or how saucy we want it.
- You can serve the chicken pieces whole if you prefer rather than cutting or shredding.
- Add fresh spinach to the crockpot right before serving. Stir until wilted.
How to make it on the stovetop
Making this Garlic Parmesan Chicken Pasta on the stovetop is a nice alternative. It cooks up in less than 30 minutes. You will need about 3 cups of cooked, shredded chicken. Pulled rotisserie chicken works great!
- Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and set aside.
- Add Parmesan Garlic Sauce, milk, cream cheese, and parmesan cheese to a large pot over medium heat. Stir until creamy and well blended.
- Add cooked, shredded chicken to the garlic parmesan sauce, tossing to coat well.
- Simmer on low heat for 5 minutes.
- Top with additional parmesan cheese, red pepper flakes, and chopped parsley for a delicious meal!
Homemade garlic parmesan sauce
If you can't find a bottle of Buffalo Wild Wings Garlic Parmesan Sauce, try making this copycat version. You will need:
- 1 cup grated parmesan cheese
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped garlic
- 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
Blend all ingredients in a food processor or blender. Store in airtight container for up to two weeks.
Variations
- Vegetarian: skip the chicken and add your favorite vegetables like mushrooms, broccoli, or cauliflower. Cook until vegetables are fork tender.
- Low carb and keto: skip the pasta and serve over roasted or steamed vegetables. You can also try Shiratake or Miracle Noodles if you like.
- Gluten-free: Try this over mashed potatoes, rice or gluten-free pasta.
Storage and reheating
Store your leftover Crockpot Garlic Parmesan Chicken Pasta in a shallow airtight container or a heavy-duty freezer bag for up to 5 days.
You can freeze your pasta dish in an airtight container or freezer bag safely for up to 3 months.
To reheat from refrigerated: reheat your Crockpot Garlic Parmesan Chicken Pasta in the oven at 375 degrees F in an oven-safe baking dish. Just make sure to add a bit of water, milk or cream (or extra sauce if you have another bottle) before cooking and cover the dish with aluminum foil. Use 10-minute intervals until the pasta is heated through.
You can also reheat individual servings of the pasta in a microwave-safe dish for about 2 minutes. Stir and add another minute if needed to heat through.
To reheat from frozen: If your pasta is completely frozen, you can heat it in your oven at 375 degrees F in an oven-safe container covered with aluminum foil. You will want to bake it for about 1 hour or until it reaches 165 degrees F.
Most asked questions
Yes, you can! It will just take a bit longer than it would to boil it on the stove. You also need to make sure that you have enough liquid to completely cover the pasta and stir it often to prevent sticking. However, adding dry pasta to your crockpot for this chicken pasta recipe is not recommended.
Definitely, you can! When cooking raw chicken in the slow cooker, you will want to cook it on low for about 4-6 hours alone.
Just make sure never to cook frozen chicken in your slow cooker on low as it will not reach the proper temp in a safe amount of time.
You might like these crockpot recipes
- Crockpot French Toast Casserole with Hawaiian Rolls
- Cheesy Crockpot Hashbrown Casserole (From Frozen!)
- Crockpot Cheesy Ham and Potato Soup
- Crockpot Creamy Ranch Chicken
Thank you for checking out this Crockpot Garlic Parmesan Chicken Pasta recipe. I'm grateful to have readers like you! If you enjoyed the recipe, I'd love a star rating and any feedback you may have. Please come back for more recipes made with maximum flavor and minimal effort!
📖 Recipe
Crockpot Garlic Parmesan Chicken Pasta
Ingredients
- 1 (12 oz) bottle Buffalo Wild Wings Parmesan Garlic Sauce
- 1.5 to 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts trimmed
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- 1 cup milk
- 8 oz cream cheese cut into cubes
- ¼ cup grated or shredded parmesan cheese
- 12 to 16 oz pasta, such as rotini or penne cooked to package directions
Instructions
- Season chicken with kosher salt and fresh pepper. Place in the bottom of a crockpot or slow cooker.
- Pour entire bottle of parmesan garlic sauce over the chicken.
- Add milk to the empty bottle and shake. Pour milk and sauce mixture over the chicken.
- Add cream cheese and parmesan cheese to crockpot. Stir to combine and cover chicken with sauce.
- Cook on high for 2 to 3 hours or low for 3 to 4 hours.
- Remove cooked chicken to a plate or cutting board and shred using 2 forks or dice into bite sized pieces. Add back into slow cooker.
- Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain well and add to crockpot, stirring to combine well.
Notes
- Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and set aside.
- Add Parmesan Garlic Sauce, milk, cream cheese, and parmesan cheese to a large pot over medium heat. Stir until creamy and well blended.
- Add cooked, shredded chicken to the garlic parmesan sauce, tossing to coat well.
- Simmer on low heat for 5 minutes.
- Top with additional parmesan cheese, red pepper flakes, and chopped parsley for a delicious meal!
Ashley
A great simple meal! i did a few things differently but followed the basic recipe. added a little extra chicken. added 12oz of sour cream. added 12oz of Parmesan cheese. added 1/4cup more milk. added 6oz more of the garlic parm sauce. added garlic powder and onion powder. and I added broccoli. there definitely is a kick to the garlic parm sauce, so be cautious of that if you are sensitive to spice. I think the sour cream really balanced it out, but even then there was still a smidge of a kick.
Nikole Berg
Thank you so much for your feedback Ashley! You added some really great ideas and tips for the meal. Sounds yummy!
Danyele
Used 2/3rds of the sauce bc it does pack a punch for those who can't handle spice. Added diced onion with the chicken to cook. Added peas and mushrooms last 10 minutes before adding pasta. I forgot the cheese, so wasn't as creamy but still really good.
Nikole Berg
Love this Danyele! Thank you so much for your tips on how to switch it up. Have a great day!!
Emma
Very good. I followed the recipe as written and added fresh mushrooms and peas at the very end about 5 minutes before I added in the pasta. Definitely has a good flavor but I would not call it spicy. My two year old loved it.
Nikole Berg
Thank you for the tips, Emma! So glad your and your two year old loved it!
Kristin
My husband can’t eat cream cheese. Do you think it would still be OK without cream cheese?
Nikole Berg
Hi Kristin, the dish will be different in that it will lack some of the creaminess, but I do think it will be good. Since the BWW sauce can be a bit spicy, the cream cheese helps to cut some of the heat SO, if it's an option for your husband, I would make it without the cream cheese but add some heavy cream (start with 1/4 cup) into the sauce mixture. Another possible option would be to use sour cream. Other options would be white white American cheese or velveeta. If processes cheese is the issue, I would go for a good, mild melting cheese like mozzarella, provolone or white cheddar. All of these will bring it's own spin on the recipe. Please let me know what you decide to do and how it tastes! Hope this helps! N
Kaitlyn
Could you add fresh mushrooms to this dish? If so, when would you add them?
Nikole Berg
Yes, that would be a delicious addition! I'm assuming you're adding white button mushrooms? I would slice or quarter them and give them about an hour to cook and absorb the flavors. I don't think you can go wrong adding them at the beginning either, it just depends on how cooked you want them to be. Hope this is helpful! Please let me know how it turns out Kaitlyn!
Lauren Remley
I see the nutrition facts…eat is the measurement for one serving?
Nikole Berg
Hi Lauren, the nutrition info is based on a 6th of the completed recipe using 1.5 pounds of chicken and 12 ounces pasta. Hope that helps!
Megan
We love this recipe💓 I added some cream cheese, and broccoli. So delicious
Sarah
I use whatever Garlic parm sauce I can find, twice I have used a Caesar aoli, added heavy cream instead of milk, I added frozen broccoli near the end. What I am wondering though, is it 12-16 oz of cooked or uncooked pasta? Big difference. I’m assuming uncooked but you never know.
I love this and I make it and bring it to work for lunches! It also freezes really well!
Nikole Berg
Hi Sarah- Thanks so much for your feedback! The 12 to 16 ounces of pasta is for uncooked pasta, but the pasta is cooked separately and added at the end. I always cook a 16 ounce box of pasta, but usually don't add all of it because I like it saucy!!
Ro
This recipe was great... as is. I hate it when people say, "I added a few changes" OK, if your going to omit or sub something because you don't like it, that's on thing, but "a few changes" and the recipe is now unrecognizable is ridiculously absurd.
Sissie
This was a good dish but unfortunately just a little too spicy for our palates 😊
Debbie C
I made this for dinner with some changes over all. I used 1/2 bottle and of the sauce, no salt or pepper, 1 1/2 c heavy cream, 3/4 c milk, 1/2 packet Ranch dressing. I also fried up about a 1/4 pound of bacon, put it a paper towel to get off the extra grease. To the bacon fat I then add a good handful of fresh spinach, and about 5 ounces of fresh mushrooms (sliced) and sautéd them for about 5-10 minutes. Then drained them and added to the crockpot. Just before serving I chopped up the bacon and stirred it in. It was delicious!!!
Nikole Berg
Sounds really good! I need to try your additions 🙂 thank you for your tips and your feedback!
Ashlie Whitfield
I made this tonight. Found this recipe looking for easy crockpot meals. Was super easy to assemble but I was hesitant putting frozen chicken to just let cook by itself but the chicken was fully cooked when I shredded it. I will honestly say it is spicy and does have a kick to it! My boyfriend and I enjoyed it alot and will be making this again!
Jaimie
How should we adjust the cooking time if we use frozen chicken
Nikole Berg
It's best to use thawed chicken in the crockpot, according to the FDA. But if you are using frozen chicken, you will likely need an additional 2 to three hours. Frozen chicken will slow the cooking process down for the entire dish. Be sure internal temp of your chicken is 165 degrees F before eating. Let me know how it turns out!
CY
I'm pretty new to cooking and have been starting with crockpot meals. This one was super easy and very delicious! I added about half a diced onion for some crunch but otherwise followed the directions exactly. My husband loved it too! Will definitely be making this one again.
Rachel
My boyfriend LOVED the recipe, but I found it to be overwhelming and I didn’t finish my serving. However, I added ranch (to avoid wasting it) and that made it bearable for me.
Alexis
This is AMAZING! My fiancé and I love trying new recipes and this one will definitely be a repeat!
Mary Kate
Hi there! I just finished putting everything in the crockpot when I realized that the noodles aren't cooked in there as well. Our stove is currently broke so that's why I am using the crockpot tonight. Is there anyway I could add the noodles & some water in there without messing it up? Thanks!
Nikole Berg
Just seeing your comment from the other day Mary Kate! My tips for cooking dry pasta in this recipe is to use a short noodle like the rotini or a penne. It will probably take about 3 hours on high to get the noodles soft and 5 to 6 hours on low. I suggest adding a cup of chicken broth instead of water to get an amount of sauce that will cover the pasta. I have not actually tested this recipe with uncooked pasta, so I have that on my to-do list now for future reference. Please let me know how it turned out if you ended up making it!! Thank you!
Dayra
Does anyone worry about the milk curdling? I made it but came home from work and my crock pot ingredients were boiling.
Kasey
This recipe has great flavor but unfortunately it is way too spicy for our palate. I would have never thought that garlic Parmesan sauce would be spicy but the spice level ruined it for me. Would have never thought that something described as family friendly flavor would be so spicy. Really wish I would have read the comments and tried the sauce before making the whole recipe.
Tonya Portell
The dish was delicious, but the parmesan garlic sauce had some kick to it. Tried adding pasta water to the sauce, but didn't help. Over all good.
Nannycammy
I didn’t have the buffalo wings garlic Parmesan cheese sauce so I added ranch dried garlic and grated Parmesan cheese. It came out delicious.
Sueann
Massive hit!!!
I add a heaping tablespoon of garlic to mine
Also for the BBW sauce, so much is left in the jar, I started pouring my cup of milk in the jar once it is emptied to get that last bit!!
Fantastic recipe super easy week night dinnner
Cindy
Very tasty. Are the calories listed counting the pasta? I don’t see how they could be.
Charlotte
This is so yummy! I use Sweet Baby Ray's garlic parm instead of BWW. It's not as spicy. So very good and easy.
Tori
I made this in my insta pot and it was delicious. Took 25 minutes. I kept the recipe exactly the same. I have made it twice now. Once with frozen chicken one with thawed the frozen took 30mins in my insta pot.
Nikole
Thank you Tori for leaving some great advice and tips to make the recipe!
Aurora
I made this dish for my boyfriend and I last week. I really liked it, but my boyfriend complained about the tanginess in the Buffalo Wild Wings sauce. I just made it again tonight but made some alterations:
- 0.25 bottle Buffalo Wild Wings Sauce
- 1.25c heavy cream
- 0.5c milk
- 0.5c parmesan
We're adding this to our rotation for sure. It's just as good as before, just minus the tanginess.
Nikole
Thank you so much for adding these alterations, Aurora. You're right it is tangy! I will try your version next time, it sounds good!
Stephanie
Did you use cream cheese still?
Leah
Could you add brocolli? If so. At what point? Please email me!
Nikole
Hi Leah, I would give fresh broccoli florets about 45 minutes to an hour on high to cook, so add it in to allow for that amount of time. You can steam broccoli (just a couple minutes in the microwave, covered with a little water) and stir it into the crockpot mixture (drain any excess water) right before serving.
Kelli
So the chicken should be thawed then?
Nikole
Hi Kelli- Yes, I used fresh chicken breasts, not frozen.