Chicken Gravy – A Crock-Pot Meal

When I was in elementary school we had some of the BEST homemade lunches. It seems weird that I remember awesome school lunches, that’s not the norm for most people I know, but having meals that were made from scratch might have made all the difference. I also grew up devouring my great grandma’s famous dinner rolls every Thanksgiving. They are legendary in my family. Little did I know, the recipe came from her days as a lunch lady, preparing the some of the same lunches I so fondly remember.

Every year fall and spring, our school would invite families to come to school and join students during lunch. The lunch ladies would pull out all of my favorite meals during this week. One of the meals I could always expect them to make was turkey gravy served over mashed potatoes and dinner rolls. I always loved this meal.

I found a recipe awhile back for a chicken gravy crock pot meal that could be easily made and could be served over mashed potatoes, rice, or even egg noodles. I wondered if this meal would be like to the turkey gravy meal I remember loving so much. The ingredients weren’t anything fancy and I decided it was worth a try. I wasn’t sure if my husband would be a fan of it, or even if I would still be… maybe my memory of it was built up because I was like 7 years old at the time, maybe it would actually be really weird and gross???

The prep for this meal took me literally minutes, it was seriously so simple… a win! I decided to keep it classic and serve it over mashed potatoes. I didn’t add any salt to it, since the gravy mix and cream of chicken soup are already pretty salty in my opinion. My suggestion would be to try it without, and then add salt if you think it needs it. Much to my delight, I once again understood why I remember this meal so well, it was delicious! I would group chicken gravy as a hearty, warming, comforting meal. A perfect meal for our busy, winter night. I served it to my family with steamed vegetables and dinner rolls (although sadly, they were not my grandma’s scratch recipe on this particular date). My entire family approved of the meal, especially my husband. I called my sisters and told them about it. They both remember loving this meal at school too. I’m interested in hearing what they think after they try it…

What was your school lunch experience like? Were there any meals you remember loving? I’ll have to post the Lunch Lady Peanut Butter Bars recipe I also have sometime… those bars are the stuff of dreams!

(Pictures to come….)

Chicken Gravy

Ingredients:

2 packages chicken gravy mix

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 lb chicken breasts

black pepper & garlic powder to taste

2 cups water

2-3 russet potatoes (peeled, boiled and mashed) / rice / egg noodles (whatever you want to serve the chicken gravy over, all are delicious!)

Directions:

1. Season the chicken breasts with black pepper and garlic powder.
2. In a crock-pot, mix both packages of chicken gravy with 2 cups of water and the can of cream of chicken soup. Mix until well blended.
3. Place chicken breasts on top of soup and gravy mixture. You can spoon a little of the  mixture over the chicken breasts, or just turn them over halfway through cooking.
4. Cook in crock-pot over low heat for 8 hours (I make the mashed potatoes right before we are ready to eat, so time this according to when you’ll be eating it).
5. Shred chicken breasts (I just use two forks to pull the breasts apart. They should easily shred after cooking all day).
6. Serve chicken gravy over mashed potatoes, rice or egg noodles. Enjoy!