Whole30 Slow Cooker Cajun Chicken Recipe
If you’re looking for a hands-off dinner that’s big on flavor, this slow cooker Cajun chicken is a must-try. It’s as easy as tossing everything into your crockpot and letting it cook all day, no complicated steps, no fancy prep, just bold, smoky flavor from simple pantry ingredients. And if you don’t have Cajun seasoning on hand, don’t worry, I’ll show you how to make your own.
What I love most about this recipe is how versatile it is. The shredded Cajun chicken is perfect for tacos, lettuce wraps, grain bowls, salads, or piled over cauliflower rice. It also happens to be one of my favorite meal prep recipes, the leftovers reheat beautifully, making it easy to build flavorful meals all week long.
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Ingredients
- Boneless, skinless chicken breast (or chicken thighs) – use whatever chicken you have on hand, however if you know you will be reheating this, I recommend boneless, skinless chicken thighs.
- Spices: Cajun seasoning – Cajun seasoning provides so much flavor and will infuse the chicken with flavor making it great in lettuce wraps, tacos or wraps. I always make my own homemade cajun seasoning, but feel free to use your favorite store bought brand too!
- Frozen bell peppers (optional) – adding frozen bell peppers is a great way to add some veggies to this recipe. If you don’t have them on hand, use fresh thinly sliced bell peppers.
Top tips
- You can make the Cajun chicken recipe in the slow cooker without the frozen sliced peppers, however, the peppers add moisture and keep the spices from burning!
- Coat the chicken in olive oil to add more flavor. This also helps the seasoning stick to the chicken, however, the olive oil is not required to make the seasoning stick!
- Be sure to generously coat your chicken breast in Cajun seasoning!
- Make a double or triple batch of Cajun seasoning so you can make this recipe in minutes on days when you are too busy to measure out spices! Be sure to store you extra spices in a glass container! I like to save my spice containers when they are empty and reuse them!
- Make a double batch of this recipe and use the leftovers cold or hot for salads, to add to soups, to put in wraps or to serve in lettuce wraps with your favorite red cabbage slaw or cilantro lime slaw!
How to serve shredded Cajun chicken
- In tacos
- On salads with dairy free ranch or homemade French dressing
- In lettuce wraps
- In wraps or on sandwiches
- On top of cauliflower rice or rice
- With air fryer baby potatoes or creamy mashed potatoes and your favorite veggie.
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Slow Cooker Cajun Chicken Recipe
This slow cooker Cajun chicken recipe is the perfect weeknight dinner! It's easy to prepare and perfect for meal prep! You can serve the shredded Cajun chicken in tacos, on salads, in soup, or on a wrap or sandwich.
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Servings: 4 servings
Ingredients
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breast
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon cajun seasoning
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1 bag frozen sliced bell peppers
- 1 tablespoon cajun seasoning
Cajun Seasoning
- 2 tablespoon paprika
- 1 tablespoon dried chives
- 1 tablespoon dried thyme
- 1 tablespoon fennel seeds
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
Instructions
Cajun Seasoning
- To make the Cajun seasoning, combine all ingredients in a bullet style blender or a coffee grinder dedicated to seasonings. Blend until the fennel seeds are well ground. Store in a glass container2 tablespoon paprika, 1 tablespoon dried chives, 1 tablespoon dried thyme, 1 tablespoon fennel seeds, 1 tsp sea salt, 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
Cajun Chicken Recipe
- Coat the chicken in the olive oil and sprinkle with Cajun seasoning and salt over the chicken.1 pound boneless skinless chicken breast, 1 tablespoon olive oil, 1 tablespoon cajun seasoning, 1 tsp sea salt
- Add the bag of frozen bell peppers and 1 tbsp of Cajun seasoning to the bottom of the crockpot.1 bag frozen sliced bell peppers, 1 tablespoon cajun seasoning
- Add the coated Cajun chicken breasts to over the frozen bell peppers. Cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4-6 hours.
- After cooking, remove the chicken from the crockpot and cut into cubes or shred with 2 forks.
- Serve with the bell peppers over cauliflower rice, rice, in lettuce cups with cole slaw, on salads, soups or in a wrap!
Recipe Notes
The best way to shred chicken is with two forks or if you have a large batch, use your stand kitchen mixer.
Make this in the instant pot:
- Add the chicken breast to the instant pot then sprinkle the Cajun seasoning and salt on top (omit the olive oil). Add frozen bell peppers and additional Cajun seasoning over top.
- Pour 1 cup of water on the side of the chicken then add the lid. Cook high pressure for 15 minutes (chicken breast) or 13 minutes (chicken thighs).
- Once done cooking, manually release pressure, then remove the chicken from the pot and shred in a bowl. Add some of the cooking water to the chicken to help it retain it’s moisture.
- Fridge: Store leftover Cajun chicken in the fridge for up to 3 days. Be sure to put it in an airtight container.
- Freezer: Store leftover shredded Cajun chicken in the freezer up to 2 months. I would not recommend freezing the bell peppers, as they will get really mushy when defrosted. Use 1/2 – 1 cup Soupercubes to store the leftovers in single serving cubes for easy reheating!
Nutrition Information
Nutrition Facts
Amount per Serving
Calories
211
Fat
7
g
Carbohydrates
9
g
Fiber
4
g
Sugar
1
g
Protein
25
g
Where does nutrition info come from? Nutrition facts are provided as a courtesy, sourced from the USDA Food Database.
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Common questions
Is Cajun Chicken Spicy?
When you make Cajun seasoning from scratch, you can control the level of spice by how much cayenne pepper you add. If you want to add more spice, you could also add red pepper flakes to the bell peppers in the slow cooker.
Storing leftovers
- Fridge: Store leftover Cajun chicken in the fridge for up to 3 days. Be sure to put it in an airtight container.
- Freezer: Store leftover shredded Cajun chicken in the freezer up to 2 months. I would not recommend freezing the bell peppers, as they will get really mushy when defrosted. Use 1/2 – 1 cup Soupercubes to store the leftovers in single serving cubes for easy reheating!
Was there supposed to be cumin in the seasoning?
Hi Christina! You can add a 1/2 to 1 tsp. to the seasoning if you’d like! Dave doesn’t like cumin so I didn’t add it to this recipe.
Looks amazing! I love hometown Cajun food more than anything but have had to cut a lot of it out b/c it’s not usually healthy at all. This should satisfy my craving ?
I’m totally making this (with some extras!) for Alex’s lunches this week! And for me. Because yum.