Keto Crack Chicken

What is crack chicken?

Crack chicken has three very addicting and flavorful ingredients- bacon, cheese, and ranch seasoning. These three ingredients along with cream cheese combine for a creamy chicken that you won’t be able to put down!

It’s called crack chicken because the combination of these favorite flavors together make this keto chicken recipe irresistible and addicting.

Crock pot crack chicken

One of the best ways  to cook crack chicken is in a crock pot. It’s an ideal recipe to make for dinner when you know you won’t have time to cook a homecooked meal in the evening.

Simply add three ingredients to the liner of the slow cooker (chicken, ranch seasoning and cubed cream cheese) in the morning before you go to work. Let cook on low for 5-6 hours.

If you have a programable crock pot, that works best because you can tell the slow cooker when to start cooking or when to keep warm.

When you get home from work, finish the recipe and dinner is served without much extra effort.

Instant Pot crack chicken

Another way to cook keto crack chicken is in a pressure cooker. This is ideal if you didn’t have time in the morning to prep ingredients or your chicken is frozen!

Not having thawed meat is a major angst in many home cooks but using a pressure cooker like and Instant Pot can save the day. Crack chicken is the perfect recipe to make when all you have is frozen chicken.

First, liquid must be added to the liner of the Instant Pot. This prevents burning. A pressure cooker will always require at least 1/2 cup of liquid (either chicken broth or water) in order to work properly.

To cook crack chicken with frozen chicken breast or thighs,

• SAUTE bacon in the liner of the Instant Pot until crispy.
• Pour in chicken broth. Sprinkle ranch seasoning on top of the broth. Add frozen chicken and top with cream cheese.
• Pressure cook on high for 25 minutes. Natural release for 5 minutes before manually releasing remaining pressure.
• Remove some of the liquid about 1/4 to 1/2 cup. Shred chicken.

Easy ways to shred chicken

With so many recipes that call for shredded chicken, finding an easy way to do this tedious task is a must! Try these methods for shredding chicken:

• With your hands. This method takes the most time since you must wait for the chicken to cool before shredding it. Using your hands, rip the chicken apart into shreds.
• With two forks. This is still a time-consuming way to shred chicken, but it works. Take two forks and turn them upside down, raking the chicken in opposite directions until it’s shredded.
• With an electric mixer. My favorite way to shred chicken! Just put the chicken in a bowl and apply pressure with an electric hand or stand mixer turned on low until the chicken is shredded.

Storage information & meal prep instructions

Crack chicken can easily be meal prepped to eat throughout the week. If making the chicken in the slow cooker, you can even add everything to the crockpot insert and refrigerate up to 24 hours before turning on.

To store, just let the chicken cool and then place in an airtight container for 3-4 days in the refrigerator. Crack chicken can also be a freezer meal. Add chicken, ranch seasoning and cubed cream chicken to a freezer safe bag and freeze until you want to use it. Follow Instant Pot instructions from above to cook from frozen. 

Reheat by placing it in a pot over medium heat on the stove until heated through or in the microwave for 1-2 minutes.