You can slow-cook this cream cheese, cheddar, and bacon ranch shredded crack chicken in the crockpot or bake it in the oven and make keto crack chicken, but can we please change the name?
What happens when you want to share an easy crockpot shredded chicken recipe for a fabulous dinner, but you cannot bring yourself to call it crack chicken because of the integrity of a Michigan businessman?
You roll the dice, think about calling it Better Than Sex Chicken, then ultimately call it crack and pray nobody gives you hell over it.
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my disclosure page.
Y’all, there’s more to crack chicken than a recipe so good you can’t stop eating it straight out of the bowl. It turns out there’s a damn good feel-good story behind the name.
Feel free to skip to the recipe if you’re in a hurry, but if you have a moment, you need to know about the rare bold move by the owners of Fresh Fish Fry in Lansing, Michigan, and their decision not to use “Crack Chicken” in their branding. It may restore your faith in humanity.
What Is Crack Chicken?
Technically, crack chicken is a general description of any chicken seasoned to perfection. Most recipes you’ll see online are like the one I’m sharing below: a ranch-seasoned cream cheese-topped chicken dish with cheddar, bacon, and more cheddar cheese.
The legit, real-deal old-school version came from Fresh Fish & Fry on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in Lansing, Michigan, and involves zero cheese—it’s a top-secret recipe for their insanely addictive chicken wings, lemon pepper, sugar, flour, and salt.
See, way back in the day (we’re talking 2007:), a reporter tried it and coined the term crack chicken because he could not stop eating it.
Naturally, that caught on, and the wings became a wildly popular order. Snoop Dogg is a fan – how many times do you get to drop that name? So –
Bow wow wow yippy-yo yippy-yay, bow wow wow yippy-yo, yippy-yay.
Business boomed, and if this were the story of a typical company, it would have ended there, but we’re not dealing with your average man.
You see, along with rave reviews, Henry Meyer began to receive calls from older folks, church groups, and individuals whose lives were impacted by drug addiction and the name crack chicken. Here’s what he told The Lansing State Journal
One lady, she had a son, I think, that overdosed on crack, maybe 20 years ago,” Meyer said. “That conversation that she and I had, probably 3 ½ years ago, stopped me from ever advertising my chicken as “crack chicken” or putting it in my advertising.”
The woman asked Meyer how it would feel to know ten years down the road that he made money off something that had hurt so many people.
“And I told myself, it’s not going to feel good,” he said. “I told myself if I can’t grow this company without calling it crack chicken, then I’m not going to grow the company. And look at me now. I did grow it. And I haven’t called it crack chicken, and we’re doing just fine.”
Do you know what else he did? Registered the name with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Boom.
So, how do you do this without offending anyone? What else could you call it? Crazy Good Cream Cheese Chicken? Better Than Sex Chicken? Ranch Chicken? Honestly, the possibilities are endless, and I feel guilty about my decision to use “crack” in the title, but how the heck else were you going to find it?
What do you think of calling it “crack”? How does that make you feel? I seriously want to know – drop a line in the comments:)
What You Need To Make This Keto Crockpot Chicken Recipe
- 2 Pounds Chicken (Thighs or Breasts)
- 2 8-ounce Packages Cream Cheese
- 8 Slices Bacon or ½ Cup Real Bacon Bits
- 1 ½ Cups Cheddar
- 1 Bunch of Green Onions
To Make It Low Carb – Do Not Use The Ranch Packet
You’ll also need some seasonings. I hope I don’t lose you here, but ideally, you will not be dumping a Ranch packet into the crockpot tonight. Could you do it with Ranch packets—yes—and nobody will judge you if you do, but here’s why you should make your own.
I Explain Why Right Here
Add onto that that maltodextrin is the number one ingredient?
(Maltodextrin has been referred to as a Metabolism Death Food by Dr. Axe, who is a not-so-bad-looking doctor of chiropractic, certified doctor of natural medicine, and clinical nutritionist)
Maltodextrin is a highly processed white powder made from starches such as corn, Tapioca, potatoes, rice, or wheat.
Let’s take a hard pass and put together our own. I’ll bet you have the ingredients in your spice cabinet. Here is what you need.
- 2 Tablespoons Dried Chives
- 2 Teaspoons Garlic Powder
- 1 ½ Teaspoons Onion Powder
- 1 Tablespoon Dried Parsley
- 1 Teaspoon Dried Dill
- 1 Teaspoon Crushed Red Pepper
- ½ Teaspoon Salt
- ½ Teaspoon Pepper
Making your own “Ranch” will take you a hot 2 minutes, and it will cut your carbs and sodium. (If you’re trying to keep your salt intake down – this is for you.)
Can You Freeze Keto Crockpot Chicken?
Absolutely! This recipe is perfect if you’re meal planning, and it will last for up to 3 months in an airtight freezer container or zip sealed freezer bags.
How Many Calories Are In Keto Crack Chicken? How Many Carbs?
Fair question. Each serving contains roughly 416 calories, which does not make it a “light meal,” but it is low carb with 3.6 net carbs per serving.
How To Make (This Is Not) Keto Crack Chicken
This recipe is so easy to put together in less than 10 minutes.
All you do is place the chicken in the slow cooker, add seasonings, cream cheese, and walk away. I cooked mine on low for 7 hours, and it was perfect.
Shred the chicken with a fork or a hand mixer, add cheese, bacon or bacon bits, and green onions. Boom. Dinner.
How To Make Keto Crack Chicken In The Oven
Ok, so maybe your crockpot is MIA? Or you need dinner now and can’t wait for hours.
You can make this meal happen in the oven.
Fry the bacon, and then, if you feel like it, brown the chicken right there in the bacon grease. We’re making the most of the fat, and everybody knows bacon grease adds flavor, so you might as well use what you’ve got.
Don’t worry; you won’t be standing over the skillet for long – it takes about 3 minutes.
If you don’t want to brown it – don’t. It is not mandatory.
Just add about 5 minutes to the bake time. It honestly doesn’t make that big of a difference.
Now you need to mix up the seasonings.
You can add all of them to a small bowl and stir them together, OR you can add them directly to the cream cheese, and that’s one less dish to wash.
In a perfect world, your cream cheese would be room temperature, but we both know it’s not, so let’s call mixing the seasonings with the cream cheese an extra arm exercise and call it a day.
Next, put your chicken in a casserole dish, top it with the cream cheese, followed by the cheddar, then the bacon, and bake it for 25 minutes. Or 30 if you skipped the skillet browning step:)
Baked Keto Chicken also freezes well in an airtight container for up to 3 months.
What Do You Serve With Crack Chicken?
The beauty of this meal is that you don’t have to serve it with anything. But, if you’re looking for ideas, I feel you. I’ve been doing keto for over 6 years, and looking for new recipes is a common struggle.
Creamed Spinach – Epic (& easy) low carb side with fresh or frozen spinach, cream cheese, butter, and garlic topped with a layer of Parmesan cheese & pork rinds!
Brussels Sprouts – An easy, healthy low carb side that screams I worked all day on this, but it took less than 40 minutes to pan roast these Brussels Sprouts to perfection in bacon, butter, and olive oil.
Green Beans with Bacon – Stove top or slow cooker green beans with bacon (low carb, keto, Paleo & gluten-free)
Make It A Wrap – You will most likely have leftovers, which is huge – if you have a favorite green, you can make this into a wrap for lunch or dinner.
If You Like This Easy Recipe, You’ll Also Enjoy These Keto Dinner Ideas.
Keto Crockpot Chicken Chili – Another go-to easy dinner recipe that’s low carb and family-friendly.
Easy Keto Cheeseburger Soup with Bacon – The ultimate keto comfort food combining ground beef, cream cheese & cheddar into a creamy low carb soup that makes an easy dinner you can slow cook to perfection, make in minutes using your Instant Pot it or go old-school and prep on the stove!
Slow Cooker Balsamic Chicken – An easy, low carb chicken dinner with chicken, balsamic vinegar, garlic, broth, and a couple of spices with 3.5 net carbs per serving.
Print
How To Make Crack Chicken Into Crockpot or Baked Keto Crack Chicken Without Offending Anyone
- Total Time: 5 hours 10 minutes
- Yield: 10 1x
Description
Better Than Sex chicken is a better name than easy crack chicken, but no matter what you call this low carb, keto-friendly dinner recipe with chicken, cream cheese, bacon, and cheddar, you’ll love it – slow-cooked in the crockpot or baked in the oven. (Low Carb, Keto, Gluten-Free, Paleo & Weight Watchers)
Ingredients
- 2 Pounds Chicken (Thighs or Breasts)
- 2 8-Ounce Packages Cream Cheese
- 8 Slices Bacon or ½ Cup Real Bacon Bits
- 1 ½ Cups Cheddar
- 1 Bunch of Green Onions
- 2 Tablespoons Dried Chives
- 2 Teaspoons Garlic Powder
- 1 ½ Teaspoons Onion Powder
- 1 Tablespoon Dried Parsley
- 1 Teaspoon Dried Dill
- 1 Teaspoon Crushed Red Pepper
- ½ Teaspoon Salt
- ½ Teaspoon Pepper
Instructions
Crockpot or Slow Cooker
- Rinse and chop green onion & fry bacon (or you can do this last – it is up to you)
- Place the chicken in the crockpot
- Add spices
- Cover with cream cheese. You can cut up the cream cheese if you want to, but it’s not necessary, and I honestly think it’s a waste of time
- Cover and cook on low for 7 hours or high for 5
- (Full Disclosure: I did check on mine about two hours in because I read somewhere that you HAD to keep the lid shut, and I wanted to see what would happen. Nothing happened. That is a made-up rule. But while I was in there, I did stir it.)
- Shred chicken with a fork
- Add the cheddar cheese, bacon and green onions
Oven
- Fry the bacon, and then, if you feel like it, brown the chicken right there in the bacon grease. We’re making the most of the fat, and everybody knows bacon grease adds flavor, so you might as well use what you’ve got.
- Don’t worry; you won’t be standing over the skillet for long – it takes about 3 minutes.
- If you don’t want to – don’t.
- Just add about 5 minutes to the bake time. It honestly doesn’t make that big of a difference.
- Now you need to mix up the seasonings.
- You can add all of them to a small bowl and stir them together, OR you can add them directly to the cream cheese, and that’s one less dish to wash.
- In a perfect world, your cream cheese would be room temperature, but we both know it’s not, so let’s call mixing the seasonings with the cream cheese an extra arm exercise and call it a day.
- Next, put your chicken in a casserole dish, top it with the cream cheese, followed by the cheddar, then the bacon, and bake it at 400 for 25 minutes. Or 30 if you skipped the skillet browning step:)
- Top it off with green onions.
Notes
To Freeze: It will last for up to 3 months in an airtight freezer container or zip sealed freezer bags.
*You can fry the bacon before or after or substitute bacon bits
*If you go with the Ranch packet you’ll be fine. But it is better to make your own & you probably have the seasonings in your spice cabinet
*If you’re on a dairy-free Paleo eating plan use Kite Hill Cream Cheese
For my friends on Weight Watchers:
Use low fat cream cheese & cheddar cheese & turkey bacon – and you’re looking at 6 WW SmartPoints!
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 5 Hours
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Crockpot or Oven
- Cuisine: American
Looking For Ways To Make Sticking To Keto Easier?
I get it! I’ve lost 148 pounds on the keto diet and maintained that weight loss for eight years.
My new book, Rebel Keto, explains how I lost weight on keto without doing macro math at every meal. If you are a woman who is tired of trendy diet B.S. and needs a real-world roadmap to help you navigate the keto diet and drop weight like a bad habit, get your copy of Rebel Keto today.
Ok, sales pitch over! I hope you enjoy dinner! Have a great day, and thank you for reading!
Slow Cooker Mississippi Pot Roast (Low Carb, Keto-Friendly)
The Keto Cauliflower Soup That’ll Be Your Slow Cooker’s Favorite Loaded Keto Comfort Food
This Keto Chicken Jalapeno Popper Casserole with Bacon Recipe Makes Family Dinner Easy
Easy Keto Cheeseburger Soup with Bacon! The Best Low Carb Soup [Slow Cooker Instant Pot Stovetop]
Easy Keto Bacon Cheeseburger Casserole
Easy Low Carb Shredded Chicken Chili
500+ Low Carb – Keto Recipes
Please Save & Share This Recipe!
