I love waking-up to the delicious aromas of a good crock-pot simmering in my kitchen; the slightly sweet flavor of chicken, plums, and apples is particularly satisfying in the morning. It has just the right amount of sweetness, counterbalanced by the savory tones of carrots and onions. If you are not in too much of a hurry, sit down and enjoy this wholesome meal with your favorite breakfast brew (mine would be a good Earl Grey tea!). Mmmh!
In my opinion, a crock-pot is one of the best small appliances to have in the kitchen. Can you believe that I had no idea what a crock-pot was until we moved the the United-States in 2000? I did a quick little Google search and discovered that the slow cooker was invented by Mr. Irving Naxon and became popular in the US in the 1970s when many women began to work outside of their homes. This guy was a genius!
Slow cookers are really a great help in the kitchen. They basically cook for you and there isn’t a pile of pans to wash afterwards. They are also indispensable if you wish to make bone broth. I was a little bit worried at first that cooking food, even on low temperature, for such a long time would mean a loss of nutrients. However it turns out that almost all slow cookers have a setting that keeps the food under the boiling point of 212°F/100°C, usually around 200°F/93°C. According to Sarah Ballantyne, Ph.D., aka the Paleo Mom, cooking foods for a long time at a low temperature improves the digestibility of the food, while preserving the most nutrients. It is even highly recommended for those with severe gastrointestinal problems. So, all is well!
- 2 lbs chicken breasts
- 5 big carrots, chopped (approx. 1 lb or 3 3/4 cups)
- 1 1/2 big onion, roughly chopped (approx. 1 lb or 4 cups)
- 2 1/2 apples, roughly chopped - skin on (approx. 3/4 lb or 3 cups)
- 10 pitted plums
- 1 can of full fat coconut milk (13.5 FL OZ or 398 ml)
- 2 TSP salt or more to taste
- Some fresh sage, chopped, for the final garnish
- Cut up the chicken into big chunks and place it at the bottom of your slow cooker.
- Add the carrots, the onions and then the apples (the apples must be on top).
- Drop in 10 plums (don't go crazy with the plums or the final result will be way too sweet).
- Pour the coconut milk all over the ingredients.
- Cook for 8 hours in your slow cooker (on low temperature).
- Salt to taste when the crock-pot is almost done, mixing all the ingredients together with 2 big wooden spoons.
- Serve with a sprinkle of fresh sage.
- Bon appétit!
This recipe has been shared on Natural Living Monday – Fat Tuesday – Real Food Wednesday – Allergy Free Wednesdays – Phoenix Helix AIP roundtable.
My family & I really enjoyed this meal. Prep was insanely simple. Flavor was excellent. I used dried plums as I had them on hand. Prepped night before & stored crock in fridge. Cooked 10 hrs on low. Thanks for sharing – surprised there are no other comments!
Hello Kristin,
Thank you so much for giving me your feedback 🙂 I need to post more of these crock pot meals, easy to prepare and big on flavors!
Do you think this recipe would work with fresh plums in stead of the dried? My diet is similar to AIP but modified to fight fungal infection/yeast. I can’t have sweeteners of any kind, dried fruit, juice, vinegar, alcohol, or yeast.
Hello!
Yes, absolutely! You can use fresh plums instead of dried plums! You can add them maybe after 4 hours of cooking in the crockpot so that they don’t turn too mushy at the end 🙂 Good luck!
Thank you Sophie! This really was delicious! The fresh plums worked out just fine; I used five cut into chunks like the fuji apples. I also didn’t have fresh sage so I used dried, added before cooking to rehydrate and let the flavors meld, though I want to make sure I have fresh next time. Coconut milk made the most delightful creamy sauce that I poured over my fresh spinach salad as well. (Incidentally, the coconut sauce got mixed with my lemon juice/olive oil salad dressing and was pretty tasty together. Made me think a lemon-coconut version might be fun to try.) This meal officially has my three-year-old’s stamp of approval. She ate her dinner with enthusiasm.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for sharing your recipes. I was encouraged and inspired by this meal’s success and now feel this new way of eating might actually be, not only possible for me, but enjoyable.
Blessings!
Thank you so much for your positive feedback! You made me smile from one ear to the other!
I have some already (brined, rinsed and) BBQed chicken breasts. How might I use them in this recipe? Just cut down the cooking time?
Hello Katie,
I am not sure that you will be able to reduce the cooking time that much because the vegetables still need to cook thoroughly. You might be able to reduce by 30 to 45 minutes max. Good luck!
Making this tonight for dinner. Looks so good!
I made this Saturday because some old friends were coming and I wanted to focus on them, not dinner. It was so delicious. I told my friend it was a new recipe and they were guinea pigs
We ALL loved it – even my hubby who does not like fruit in his stew.
I can see this will be an easy food staple.
Thank you. I have come back looking for more slow cooker recipes. Are there many in your French Paleo cookbook? I was resisting it because I have so many -sorry!
Hello Noël!
Thank you so much for your positive feedback! Unfortunately, my cookbook Simple French Paleo doesn’t contain many slow cooker recipes. Definitely something I need to work on 🙂
Outstanding; I bet it would also be great with pork tenderloin. What do you think?
I would love some suggestions as to how to bring family members on board. I made this to cook last night, and we had it for breakfast. My husband was not keen on it at all, although he said he thought it would be tasty for lunch or dinner. Eating a non-traditional breakfast is a totally new concept for him, and I am not sure how best to bring him along to enjoy the new foods I need to prepare for my RA support.
Hi ! 🙂
I just got an Instant Pot and am wondering how to adapt this recipe to this fabulous cooker? I am also wondering if I could use the pressure cooker feature with this recipe as well.
Thank you!
I would put all in except plums, apples and coconut milk (chunk the carrots BIG) and 3/4 cup broth or water. Set Manual 10 min. Let sit NPR for 10 min, release any steam, add plums, apples and coconut milk in and bring to pressure and release immediately (so set Manual 0). Ought to work out about right. I’ll be trying this.
Can you sub something for the coconut milk I’m allergic
Try simple chicken broth! – Sophie
I couldn’t find any plums …. do you think I could add cherries (got frozen)? Or would another fruit work? Thanks!
Love this recipe, I crave it all the time! My ASD son is dairy free, gluten free, yeast free, and this fits into his restrictive diet. Thank you for the recipe!! Hope you have more like this!!
Could you use chicken thighs instead of chicken breast?
Absolutely!
Just made this for dinner. I didn’t have plums so substituted with dates. Absolutely delicious on this beautiful fall night. I served it over brown rice and it was perfect. Thank you for this simple yet flavorful recipe.