Slow Cooker Mediterranean Chicken with chicken thighs, sun-dried tomatoes, kalamata olives, artichoke hearts, and more! Serve this flavorful chicken over rice or pasta noodles for a delicious meal!
Strap in for your newest flavorful chicken dinner recipe!
This easy crock pot recipe is one of those dump-and go meals that requires hardly any prep or effort.
The end result is the most tender chicken with big rustic flavors, ideal for weeknight meals!
The main ingredients for this crock pot Mediterranean chicken recipe are chicken thighs, artichoke hearts, sun-dried tomatoes, kalamata olives, and capers.
This combination of ingredients brings that classic Mediterranean food vibe to the meal.
Let’s discuss the simple ingredients in detail. The great news is your local grocery store carries the full ingredients list, and many of these ingredients are pantry staples that you might already have on hand.
Ingredients for Slow Cooker Mediterranean Chicken:
Boneless Skinless Chicken Thighs: Feel free to use skin-on chicken thighs too! If you go this route, sear the chicken for a few minutes per side in a skillet before adding them to the slow cooker.
Onion and Garlic: Fresh onion and garlic are great foundational ingredients to add to any savory meal. The flavors are easy to build on with all sorts of flavor profiles.
Avocado Oil: Used to sauté the onions, we need some quality cooking oil. I like using avocado oil but olive oil works too.
Artichoke Hearts, Sun-Dried Tomatoes, Kalamata Olives, and Capers: The Mediterranean flavors. Each of these ingredients are bursting with flavor in their own right, and combining them together makes a magical experience. They impart briny, sweet, savory, and herby flavors, infusing the chicken with a medley of vibrance.
White Wine: A splash of wine brings that intoxicating essence to the meal. Feel free to add a little more if you’re into it. Use chicken broth instead of white wine if you’d prefer.
Seasonings: Paprika, sea salt and pepper are used to season the chicken.
Recipe Customizations:
- Use green olives instead of kalamata olives.
- Use chicken breasts or bone-in thighs instead of boneless thighs.
- Add roasted red peppers to this easy crockpot chicken recipe.
- Toss in fresh vegetables, like bell peppers, green beans, potatoes, or any of your favorite vegetables to this healthy meal.
- Add fresh lemon zest and 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice to bring citrus flavor to this slow cooker Mediterranean chicken recipe.
- For a spicy kick, sprinkle in some red pepper flakes.
- Swap the chicken for pork tenderloin.
Now that we’ve covered the wholesome ingredients, let’s make this easy chicken recipe!
How to Make Slow Cooker Mediterranean Chicken:
Heat the avocado oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chopped onion and sauté, stirring occasionally, until the onion begins to soften, about 5 minutes. Add in the minced garlic and continue sautéing another 3 minutes.
Transfer the sauteed onion and garlic to the bottom of the crock pot, along with the white wine.
Sprinkle both sides of the chicken thighs with paprika, sea salt, and black pepper and transfer them to the crock pot. The thighs will be in two layers. This is normal.
Pour the remaining ingredients into the slow cooker (artichoke hearts, sun-dried tomatoes, olives, and capers).
Secure the lid on the crock pot and cook on low heat for 7 to 8 hours or high heat for 4 hours.
Check the internal temperature of the chicken for doneness. Chicken thighs are fully cooked when they have reached an internal temperature of 180 degrees or higher. Insert a meat thermometer into the thickest part of the thigh to check.
Give everything in the crock pot a big stir before serving over steamed brown rice or pasta noodles. If you’re a cheese lover, sprinkle everything with parmesan cheese.
For additional side dishes, I recommend my Crowd-Pleasing Roasted Vegetables and my Classic Italian Salad.
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Set it up in the morning and have dinner waiting for you when you get home!
I love recipes like this for meal prep because they take so little effort to prepare, make a great deal of food, and my protein needs are taken care of for days on end.
Do you prefer cooking on the stove top? Whip up this One-Pot Mediterranean Chicken and Rice.
If you love cooking in the slow cooker, try out these reader favorites!
More Slow Cooker Recipes:
- 5-Ingredient Crock Pot Shredded Mexican Chicken
- Crock Pot Chili Recipe
- Crock Pot Sausage and Cabbage Soup
- Slow Cooker Pork Roast
- Crock Pot Coconut Lime Chicken and Vegetables
Enjoy this hearty meal!
Slow Cooker Mediterranean Chicken
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp avocado oil
- 1 yellow onion chopped
- 4 large cloves garlic minced
- ¼ cup dry white wine such as sauvignon blanc
- 2.5 to 3 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs 8 thighs
- 1.5 tsp paprika
- 2 tsp dried oregano
- Sea salt
- Black pepper
- 1 (14-oz) jar artichoke hearts drained
- 1 (8-oz) jar sun-dried tomatoes julienne cut, drained
- 1 (7-oz) jar kalamata olives pitted and sliced, drained
- 2 Tbsp capers
Instructions
- Heat the avocado oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chopped onion and sauté, stirring occasionally, until the onion begins to soften, about 5 minutes. Add in the minced garlic and continue sauteeing another 3 minutes.
- Transfer the sauteed onion and garlic to the bottom of the crock pot, along with the white wine.
- Sprinkle both sides of the chicken thighs with paprika, sea salt, and black pepper and transfer them to the crock pot. The thighs will be in two layers. This is normal.
- Pour the remaining ingredients into the slow cooker (artichoke hearts, sun-dried tomatoes, olives, and capers).
- Secure the lid on the crock pot and cook on low heat for 7 to 8 hours or high heat for 4 hours.
- Check the internal temperature of the chicken for doneness. Chicken thighs are fully cooked when they have reached an internal temperature of 180 degrees or higher. Insert a meat thermometer into the thickest part of the thigh to check.
- Give everything in the crock pot a big stir before serving over steamed brown rice or pasta noodles. If you’re a cheese lover, sprinkle everything with parmesan cheese.
- For additional side dishes, I recommend my Crowd-Pleasing Roasted Vegetables and my Classic Italian Salad.
Nutrition
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Honestly, I don’t think I’ll make chicken any other way ever again. Mic drop. This was AMAZING! We used chicken thighs.
Music to my ears! We absolutely love the recipe too 🙂
Since I do not like chicken thighs, I am wondering how this would be with boneless skinless chicken breasts. Thoughts?
Hi Diane! You can use chicken breasts 🙂 I would recommend taking the slow and low route with breasts to be sure they turn out tender. So if you’re able to, cook on low heat for 8 hours. Enjoy!
This recipe was delicious!!! I crumbled feta cheese on top instead of Parmesan cheese.
Sounds amazing, Jan! Thanks so much for sharing! I love the idea of serving it with feta…I bet that just takes the recipe to a whole new level! 🙂
This recipes sounds good.. would it be okay to cook everything in a Dutch oven.. I generally don’t like the way a crockpot cooks..
Thanks,
Linda
Hi Linda! I bet the recipe will turn out great in a Dutch oven! I would sauté the onion, then sear all of the thighs on both sides (you’ll likely need to do this in two batches). I’d add everything back in and cook over medium-low heat for 40-60 minutes or until the chicken is nice and tender. Hope you enjoy!
This recipe is fantastic! I made it for dinner tonight and served it over orzo! The whole family loved it!
Thank you!
Amazing! I love hearing that, Kelley! Thanks so much for sharing! xo
The recipe shows boneless and skinless chicken.
However, the picture shows with skin, browned.
Hi Sven! That’s correct! I mention in the post that you can either use boneless thighs or bone-in skin on. I’ve made both versions and both turn out great. When using bone-in, I recommend searing the chicken first, whereas if you use boneless thighs, they can go into the slow cooker raw. Let me know if you have any questions!