Crockpot Italian Chicken Sandwiches
Tender and saucy slowcooker Italian chicken sandwich filling piled up in crusty buns makes for an excellent busy night dinner you can prep ahead for the fridge or even freeze for dinner another night.
Ingredients
For the Italian Chicken Sandwich Filling
- 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 1 tablespoon spicy Italian seasoning or a hefty sprinkle each of kosher salt, oregano, fennel seeds, garlic salt, and crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 (28 oz) jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce we used Rao's marinara
For Serving the Sandwiches
- 16 crusty sandwich rolls we used ciabatta rolls
- 8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter softened
- 16 slices provolone cheese
Instructions
Prepare the Italian Chicken Filling
- Spray your Crockpot with cooking spray and place the chicken breasts in the pot.
- Sprinkle the seasoning over the chicken and turn to coat with a fork.
- Pour the spaghetti sauce over the chicken. Nestle the pieces of chicken in the sauce so that the tomato sauce coats the bottom of the slowcooker and is layered between the pieces of meat.
- Cover the lid and cook the chicken for 4 - 5 hours on HIGH or 6 -8 hours on LOW.
- The chicken should be fall-apart tender. Use a pair of tongs to shred the meat and stir it into the sauce.
Prepare the Sandwiches
- Preheat the oven broiler with the top rack 6 inches from the heating element.
- Place the bun halves open face on a large baking sheet. Spread the butter evenly across all the halves.
- Place the buttered bread under the broiler and toast it for 2 - 3 minutes until the butter has melted and the bread is golden brown. Watch them carefully, they can burn quickly.
- Place the provolone cheese slices on one half of each bun and place the bread pan back under the broiler for 30 seconds to melt the cheese.
- Pile the shredded chicken sandwich filling up on the buns and close the sandwiches.