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Crockpot Pumpkin Beer Braised Chicken – with buttery onions and creamy homemade mashed potatoes too! You guys – this is a GOOD recipe! Slow-cooked chicken with fresh herbs and buttery onions. All braised in pumpkin beer and apple cider for even more flavor and the yummiest gravy! If there’s one comforting fall and winter meal you must make, it’s this chicken pot roast. Serve with creamy mashed potatoes that are cooked right along with the chicken! This is a one-pot chicken and potato dinner that’s comforting, flavorful, and so delicious. It’s a quintessential family dinner for a cold night in. Time to cozy up!
I’ve been holding onto this recipe for too long. It’s so special and delicious. I’ve been waiting until our fall days really settled in before sharing this!
And after spending time in Chicago this past weekend, where the changing leaves and mild temperatures made for ideal fall weather, I now know it’s time!
Everyone is ready to enter cozy fall and holiday mode, and I’m right there with you all! In fact, I feel like I’m three steps ahead, which is honestly great! The fall and holiday season is always the busiest, so I’m really trying to get us all prepped and ready to go with easy dinners and great recipes for entertaining!
This brings me to today’s recipe: pot roast chicken made easily in the crockpot! I adore this recipe, and when I get home from traveling this week, I’m definitely making it for my family!
If you love a traditional pot roast, this is very similar. I swapped the beef roast for chicken breasts and thighs and braised them slowly in my favorite seasonal pumpkin beer and cider.
The flavor and tenderness are perfect! While I adore a classic pot roast, the chicken feels a little lighter and simpler for weeknight dinners!
Ok, here are the details
Ingredients
- boneless chicken breasts or thighs, or use a mix, I use skinless chicken
- flour
- chili powder
- garlic
- fresh thyme and sage
- salted butter
- sweet yellow onions
- your favorite beer, I love pumpkin beer (you can also replace the beer with broth or additional apple cider)
- apple cider (or use broth)
- potatoes, I like Yukon Gold
- cream cheese
- garlic powder
Tools
- Crockpot
- Braiser
Step 1: season the chicken
Working in the bowl of your crockpot, season the chicken well with salt and pepper. Then, rub the chicken pieces all over with flour, chili powder, garlic, fresh thyme, and fresh sage.
The flour will slowly thicken the gravy, so don’t skip it. If needed, feel free to use gluten-free flour.
Step 2: the onions
Now that you’ve taken care of the chicken, start the onions. The key is to slice them thinly. I prefer to use a lot of onions, but you do what you and your family will enjoy most!
Arrange the onions around and underneath the chicken. Then add pats of salted butter.
Step 3: add the potatoes and start cooking
Pour over the beer and apple cider, or feel free to use your favorite broth if you prefer not to cook with beer.
Arrange the potatoes over the chicken. Leave them whole; no chopping required.
Cover and slow cook until it’s dinner time!!
Step 3: broil the chicken
When ready, I transfer everything but the potatoes to a roasting pan. Then, finish cooking the chicken at a high temperature in the oven for 15 minutes.
During this time, the onions should darken a bit in color.
Step 4: the potatoes
While you finish the chicken in the oven, mash the potatoes with cream cheese, butter, garlic powder, salt, and pepper!
They are going to be so creamy, buttery and scrumptious!
Step 5: serve and enjoy
Finally, serve the chicken, which should be tender and falling apart into the gravy and onions in the pot.
Serve the mashed potatoes on the side or underneath the chicken and gravy.
It’s the perfect family dinner, so hands off, too.
Of course, I served this with beer bread and a big salad! Great for Sunday nights all fall and winter long.
This pot roast isn’t too difficult, and the potatoes really make the recipe perfect. I’m so excited for you all to make this soon!!
Looking for other simple dinners? Here are my favorites:
Crockpot Thai Short Ribs with Coconut Rice
Baked Chipotle Cheddar Sweet Potato Chowder
One Skillet Creamy Sun-Dried Tomato Chicken and Orzo
Herby Buttered Balsamic Mushroom Ravioli
Smothered Chicken in Mushroom Wine Pan Sauce
Lastly, if you make this Crockpot Pumpkin Beer Braised Chicken, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And, of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Crockpot Pumpkin Beer Braised Chicken
Servings: 6
Calories Per Serving: 598 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 2 pounds boneless, skin on or off chicken breasts or thighs
- salt and black pepper
- 3 tablespoons flour
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 6 cloves garlic, chopped
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage
- 6 tablespoons salted butter
- 3-4 yellow onions, thinly sliced
- 2 cups apple cider (not apple cider vinegar)
- 1 pumpkin beer (or use additional cider/broth)
Mashed Potatoes
- 1 pound small/medium potatoes
- 6 ounces cream cheese at room temperature
- 6 tablespoons salted butter at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
Instructions
Crockpot
- 1. In the bowl of your crockpot, rub the chicken with flour, chili powder, garlic, thyme, and sage—season with salt and pepper. Arrange the onions under and around the chicken. Add pats of butter. Pour over the apple cider and beer. 2. Arrange the potatoes around the chicken. Cover and cook on low for 3-4 hours or on high for 2-3 hours.3. If desired, preheat the oven to 475°. Remove the potatoes and set aside. Transfer the chicken, the onions, and the broth to a roasted pan or brasier. Roast for 15 minutes to caramelize the top of the chicken.4. Drop the potatoes back in the crockpot or a large bowl. Add the cream cheese, butter, and garlic powder. Mash well, I leave the skin on—season with salt and pepper. 5. Serve the chicken topped with gravy, onions, and fresh thyme. Serve the potatoes on the side with bread! Enjoy!
My house smelled amazing! Based on other reviews I put only a small amount of the onion at bottom of the crockpot, cut the chicken breasts in half, cooked the chicken, broth, potatoes on high for 3.5 hrs. During the last half hour I carmelized the remaining onions on the stove. Pulled the potatoes out and mashed – did add some of the liquid to smooth them out. I also whisked in a very small amount of flour to the liquid so it had a thin gravy consistency. Topped the potatoes with the chicken, gravy, and carmelized onions/fresh herbs on top, plus a pear & spinach salad on the side. In was easy, I didn’t have to turn on the oven. The flavors were so delicious and my family loved it!!! I’m a huge huge fan 🙂
Hey Kim,
Awesome! Thanks so much for making this recipe and sharing what worked well for you! So glad it was enjoyed! Have a great autumn Friday! Xx
My family enjoyed this recipe. I do have a few observations. After hours in the crockpot with all those onions, there’s a lot of liquid. Since caramelization doesn’t happen underwater, I only put some of it in with the chicken/onions when they went in the oven. Browning did occur, but I had to leave it in longer than 15 min (more like 25-30). The potatoes were a bit thick and paste-like at first, so I used some of the reserved liquid to loosen them up. It was some of the most tender chicken breast we’ve had from a crockpot recipe, and the flavors were great. I hope this is helpful.
Hey Mandie,
Thanks so much for sharing your helpful notes! So glad to hear this recipe was enjoyed and thanks for making it! Have a great evening! xT
I cooked mine on high for 4 hours, shredded the chicken afterwards, and let cook in the oven like suggested for around 10 minutes afterward. Turned out great! Very yummy
Hey Shan,
Great! So glad to hear this dish turned out nicely for you, thanks for making it! xT
Hi Tieghan,
I love your recipes and blog! You’ve got so many fantastic dishes that my family enjoy regularly. I was surprised to read the comments for this one and see so many people were disappointed because it was so tasty and a perfect weeknight meal on a chilly fall night. I think maybe some people were confused about the results from the crockpot vs. the photos maybe? Crockpots aren’t really known for browning and caramelizing, lol but maybe some folks don’t know that haha.
I’ll share my experience in hopes that it helps your other followers. Cooking the chicken, onions and potatoes in the crock pot makes this a great mostly one pot, hands-off meal. The potatoes had the most amazing flavor by cooking in the cider and beer! For me, the chicken was completely cooked through before the potatoes were barely soft. I chose to cook everything on high for 3 hours. (I used yellow potatoes that I peeled and cut in half) I pulled the chicken out when it was done so it didn’t overcook and let the potatoes continue to cook for about another 2 hours until they were done. Then I removed the potatoes and mashed them in a separate bowl that I served them in. They were soooo good!! The chicken and onions were kind of bland looking when pulled out of the crockpot aka not brown like the photos. The onions definitely don’t caramelize, but again, I didn’t expect them to in a crockpot. With that said, I followed your suggestion and put the onions and chicken in my Le Crueset braiser and popped them under the broiler. I topped them with some shredded cheddar pumpkin beer cheese and got a little brown color. Nothing like your photos, but it was delicious nonetheless. I used the cider/beer from the crockpot as an “au jus” style sauce and spooned it over the chicken and potatoes when I served it. I can’t emphasize enough that the flavor was amazing!
This meal was very comforting. The whole house smelled fantastic! It was nice to have everything cook in the crockpot with the exception of broiling at the very end. I think caramelizing the onions would add an even greater depth of flavor. I would love to try that next time Thank you for continuing to inspire me in the kitchen! All the best!
I decided to shred the chicken after reading some reviews about broth consistency and chicken not browning. (Also didn’t want to use another pan to throw it in the oven lol) I figured the shredded texture would go well with the potatoes which it did! It also probably soaked up the thinner broth better. The beer bread is not necessary as the meal is filling on its own but it’s always a yummy addition. I thought the broth had a good flavor but other reviews almost deterred me from making this meal, glad I went through with it!
Hey Gill,
Perfect! So glad to hear this dish turned out well for you, thanks for trying it! Thanks for sharing what worked well for you. Xx
OK, I really have to give a big shout out for this recipe, there’s some naysayers below but I just made it for dinner in London and it’s a keeper! So glad I wasn’t put off by others’ bad experiences, and can’t figure out what didn’t work for them that worked for me, but this was sooo simple and sooo delicious. I don’t have a crockpot, but I put everything in a china casserole dish with a lid and put it all in the oven at 400F for a couple of hours. Bingo. I left the lid off for a bit so things darkened and thickened up a bit. My goodness what a big result for such small effort. It’s a winner for me Tiegan! I used apple cider as the sole liquid as that’s what I had. Love this site.
Thank you so much, Lisa!! So glad you enjoyed this dish. Thanks for sharing your notes on what worked well for you! Have a great week! xT
How did you get yours to look so orange? I thought maybe I missed can pumpkin. Mine is just all white looking and not nearly as enticing as these photos.
Hi Dana,
Thanks for trying this recipe and your feedback! Did you choose to do step 3? The darker coloring really comes from the roasting. I hope this helps! xT
It’s called professional food styling.
Whoa. This was a fail. Do not use chicken thighs as the fat will not make for a good sauce. I had to do a lot of tricks to serve this to my family including trying to remove the fat layer on top of the sauce, reducing the sauce and adding cornstarch, broiling the chicken and onions with a drizzle of honey, and adding additional seasonings. I was looking for an easy Sunday dinner and ended up spending a lot of time in the kitchen.
Hi Kat,
So sorry to hear this recipe did not turn out for you. Thanks for trying the recipe and sharing your feedback. If there is anything that I can help with, please let me know, but it sounds like the chicken thighs were not the best choice for you. Again, my apologies! xT
Trying to make this tonight and just was confused about the gravy comment. As in the gravy from cooking or making an additional gravy?
Hi Kaitlyn,
The gravy/sauce is from cooking the recipe, no additional gravy is needed to be made:) I hope you love this recipe! xT
Good morning, Tieghan!
I plan on making this recipe today. Sounds delicious! We are super excited about smelling it in the crockpot all day!
As always, I come to your comments section to get feedback from others that have tried it and, I just have to say, your patience and kindness is amazing. Truly amazing! I just have no idea why people bother to comment at all if they don’t think this recipe is for them, and then to insult you because they don’t think it will work and they haven’t even tried it. So far, in five years, you haven’t once disappointed me, my family or my friends, once with your amazing recipes. Some we like better than others, and they become staples in our homes, but all are yummy. You are the first place I go to get inspiration for my meal planning for the week. Every week, for over 5 years! Why people feel the need to be unkind over a recipe is beyond me. The comments section should be helpful feedback. I wish there was a way to filter out the negative, unnecessary and unhelpful comments. It says a lot about them, and your kind responses say a lot about you. It can’t be easy for you not to take it personally, when it’s so obvious this is your passion. It’s all I can do not to reply to each of them to remind them you are a person and they are being unkind. I can only assume they are going through something pretty awful to be so unkind for absolutely no reason at all. I just had to tell you how bad I feel for you, how much I admire you taking the high road, and how much I hope you never give up this forum due to the acts of a few bad apples. There are so many of us that LOVE your recipes, and you inspire us daily to create meals, that don’t just feed our families, but contribute to creating experiences to complement some of our core family memories. I hope you have the best day! You sure do deserve it!
Hi Kippy,
Happy Monday!! Thank you so much for your thoughtful message today:) I truly appreciate you being here and making so many recipes over the years. People like you make this all worth it…and it’s a majority of the readers who follow! I wouldn’t be here without this great community! I hope you are having a great start to your week and enjoying the fall! xT
You’re welcome, and thank you! 😉
Update: The recipe was DELICIOUS! While I do appreciate reading the comments to see adjustments and opinions before making a recipe, I do think that sometimes the problems are caused by not following directions. You are the pro, and it was evident in this recipe. My opinion, and it seems from those that like this recipe, is to follow the instructions for a win! Can’t wait to try the sesame pumpkin butter chicken I saw in my inbox this morning! Take care and enjoy my favorite season for weather and cooking! Happy fall ya’ll! 🙂
I agree that comments that are made just to mean say more about the person making them. However, the comments here are simply taking issue with the recipe. Personally, if I find a lot of comments on a recipe where people made adjustments, I like to know that before making a recipe. It is also totally plausible that the recipe is not a well written one. HBH puts out a recipe every single day. Statistically, they cannot all be winners.
Good morning, Liz,
I do agree that productive feedback is important. That’s why I always come to the comment section to review them before making any recipe. And, you are correct, not all recipes are a win for everyone. That said, there is no reason to be mean, or especially no reason to comment at all if someone hasn’t even made the recipe but just assumes it won’t work without even trying it. I think I just reached my breaking point with the comments yesterday after seeing how they have turned so negative and unkind compared to how productive and respectful they were over 5 years ago when I started following this site. No one is perfect, but it’s so obvious that Tieghan puts her heart and soul into this website and her cookbooks. It makes me sad the so many people have forgotten that she’s a person with feelings, too. It’s ok to give honest and negative feedback but it can, and should, be done in a kind and respectful manner. Honest feedback will help Tieghan to know what works for us and what doesn’t, and it helps those of us following her to have an idea if the recipe will work for us or not. Being unkind and mean doesn’t help anyone.
I will get off my soapbox now. I know you weren’t necessarily disagreeing with me, but I just felt the need to clarify. I suppose I am just missing the way things used to be before people started thinking they can say or do whatever they want with no consequences or concern for the feelings of others. Sad times…
Hope you have a wonderful day and a beautiful fall! 🙂
I had it on high for 3 hours and the onions were still crunchy. I put them in the oven and it helped a little, kind have a bummer.
Hi Amanda,
Thanks for trying this dish and your comment, so sorry to hear the onions were not finished. Please let me know if I can help in anyway! x
Crock pot version is not good at all. The mashed potatoes are great, not a fan of the chicken/sauce at all.
Hi Luis,
Sorry to hear this dish was not enjoyed, thanks for trying it and sharing your feedback. Please let me know if there is anything that I can help with! xT
Super delish autumn recipe!! My husband and kids loved it today. I didn’t have pumpkin beer, so added an amber and some mashed pumpkin. I also added butter beans bc one kid doesn’t like chicken and added a few more tablespoons of flour during braising to thicken everything up.
Hi Giselle,
Happy fall Sunday! Thanks a lot for making this recipe, so glad to hear it turned out well for you:) XxT
Thanks for the butter bean suggestion! That might be a great solution to my family’s various preferences. I wouldn’t have even thought of that.
This one was not a hit, The ‘gravy’ was very thin and watery. The onions did not caramelize even in the oven. The extra time in the oven also drys out the chicken. It also visually didn’t look appetizing. I was testing it for a dish to make when my in laws visit over the holidays, glad I tested it first!
Hi Renee,
Happy Sunday and thanks so much for trying this dish. So sorry to hear it was not enjoyed, if there is anything that I can help with, please let me know! xT
Generally love all of your recipes. But this one was not a hit. I cooked it as instructed, and there were not enough potatoes, and the color was offputting, and there was very little flavor. Calling it pumpkin is a misnomer. It does not taste like pumpkin at all. I had to add a lot of different herbs and some balsamic vinegar to get a little bit of flavor out of it. I don’t think I’ll make this one again. It really had the appearance of boiled chicken over boiled potatoes definitely did not need to be done in a slow cooker at the end of time potatoes were not cooked so I had to take them out and microwave them anyway.
Hi Susan,
Thanks for trying this recipe and sharing your feedback, so sorry to hear it was not enjoyed. If there is anything that I can help clarify please let me know! x