Mississippi Chicken for Two | Slow Cooker Mississippi Chicken

If you love the tangy, savory flavor of Mississippi chicken but don't need six servings sitting in your refrigerator, this Mississippi slow cooker chicken is for you. I took the popular Mississippi pot roast idea and turned it into one of my favorite slow cooker meals for two-tender chicken, pepperoncini, a savory, herby cooking liquid and plenty of flavor without the ranch seasoning packets found in most versions.

Instead, I use fresh herbs, soy sauce and pepperoncini brine to build that signature herby-savory and tangy flavor. And because cooking a small amount of food in a big slow cooker has its own set of problems, I'll show you how to adapt the slow cooker you already own so your chicken cooks slowly without the liquid evaporating away.

Serve this Mississippi chicken for two over mashed potatoes, rice, pasta or a baked potato-or pile it onto a bun. However you serve it, this is serious comfort food for the smaller table.

Jump to:

• What is Mississippi Chicken?
• Why You'll Love This Mississippi Chicken for Two
• The Secret to Making a Slow Cooker Meal for Two
• Ingredients for Mississippi Chicken for Two
• How to Make Mississippi Slow Cooker Chicken
• Related
• Mississippi Slow Cooker Chicken Recipe For Two
• my new cookbook is here!

What is Mississippi Chicken?

Mississippi chicken is the chicken cousin of the wildly popular Mississippi pot roast. Which you absolutely should check out my Mississippi pot roast slider recipe for two.

If you know the classic, you know the idea: take a relatively simple cut of meat, let the slow cooker do the work, and end up with tender meat swimming in a rich, savory, tangy cooking liquid that begs to be spooned over mashed potatoes.

The original Mississippi pot roast is typically made with beef chuck roast, butter, pepperoncini peppers, ranch seasoning and au jus gravy mix. Somewhere along the way, chicken got invited to the party, and Mississippi chicken was born. Most versions use boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs along with those same familiar ranch and au jus seasoning packets.

That's where my version takes a little detour.

I skip the ranch dressing mix and au jus packet and build the flavor with fresh herbs, soy sauce and pepperoncini peppers plus some of their brine. The soy sauce brings the savory depth, the pepperoncini and brine add that unmistakable tang, and the fresh herbs give the cooking liquid a bright, herby flavor.

And because this is Mississippi chicken for two, I'm not interested in filling a family-sized slow cooker with enough chicken to feed the neighborhood. I want just enough for two generous servings, with perhaps a little left over for tomorrow.

The result is tender, fork-shreddable chicken and a deeply flavorful au jus-style gravy that is downright delicious over mashed potatoes. It is the kind of slow cooker comfort food that makes you wonder why cooking for two ever needed to mean settling for less.

The Secret to Making a Slow Cooker Meal for Two

Here's something I've learned from cooking for two: you can't always just cut a slow cooker recipe in half and call it good.

A family-sized slow cooker is designed to hold a larger quantity of food. When you put just one pound of chicken breasts or thighs and a small amount of cooking liquid into that same big crock, there is much more exposed surface area. Over several hours, that extra surface area can mean more evaporation.

And evaporation is not your friend when you're slow-cooking a small amount of chicken.

You can end up with too little liquid, dry chicken or, worse, a slow cooker that cooks away the very gravy you were counting on.

How I adapt a larger slow cooker for two

The trick is to create a smaller cooking environment inside your larger slow cooker.

For best results, the slow-cooker should be about two-thirds to three-quarters full. When the bowl isn't full enough, the food will cook faster, cooking off the liquid and possibly burn. If the bowl is too full, the food may need to be cooked longer than the suggested cooking times.

This is one of those little cooking-for-two adjustments that makes a big difference. You don't necessarily need to buy a special small slow cooker. You just need to think about the amount of food you're cooking and the space you're asking your slow cooker to heat.

The goal isn't simply to make less food. It's to create the right cooking environment for less food.

Ingredients for Mississippi Chicken for Two

You don't need a long ingredient list to make really good Mississippi chicken. The magic is in a handful of ingredients that work together to create that savory, herby, tangy flavor-and the cooking liquid you'll want to spoon over everything.

What you'll need

• Boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs - Both work beautifully. Choose breasts for a leaner option or thighs if you want especially tender, juicy chicken. I prefer thighs.
• Pepperoncini peppers and their brine - This is where that signature Mississippi tang comes from. Don't drain the jar and toss the liquid! A little of the brine goes into the slow cooker, too.
• Soy sauce - My shortcut for adding deep, savory flavor without reaching for a packet of au jus seasoning.
• Fresh herbs - These bring a fresh, herby note to the cooking liquid and keep the flavor from becoming too heavy.
• Butter - A little richness helps turn the cooking juices into the flavorful au jus-style gravy that makes this chicken so good.

And that's really the beauty of this Mississippi chicken for two: a few simple ingredients, a slow cooker and enough time to let everything come together.

How to Make Mississippi Slow Cooker Chicken

Once you have the smaller cooking environment figured out, this Mississippi slow cooker chicken is almost ridiculously easy. That is exactly what I want from a slow cooker dinner: a little prep, then let the slow cooker take over.

Step 1 | Build your smaller slow cooker setup

Start by placing a smaller oven-safe bowl inside the larger bowl of your slow cooker. This is my trick for making a slow cooker meal for two without having all that extra surface area for the cooking liquid to evaporate.

Step 2 | Add the flavor

Now it's time for everything that makes this Mississippi chicken so good.

Step 3 | Let the slow cooker do its thing

Cover the slow cooker and cook on LOW for 6 hours or HIGH for 4 hours.

This is the part I love about a slow cooker. You walk away, get on with your day and let time do the work.

When the chicken is tender enough to pull apart easily, use two forks to gently shred it right in the cooking liquid.

And now you have Mississippi chicken for two-tender, savory, tangy chicken swimming in a seriously good au jus-style gravy.

Serve it hot over mashed potatoes, rice, pasta or a baked potato. Or pile it onto a bun for a very good chicken sandwich.

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What about leftovers?

If you're lucky enough to have leftovers, store the chicken and gravy together in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

You can also freeze it for up to 3 months. I actually love having a small container tucked away in the freezer for one of those nights when cooking dinner feels like a much bigger project than it should.

Related

Looking for other chicken dinner recipes for two like this? Try these: