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Straightforward cranberry hen is made within the gradual cooker for a low-effort weeknight dinner. Serve this candy and tangy hen over rice or mashed potatoes for a meal your loved ones will ask for many times.


This time of yr is completely gradual cooker season, proper?
The gradual cooker is the place it’s at once I need dinner to already be achieved on the finish of the day. Plus, so many gradual cooker meals are simply so comforting and comfortable.
A few of our favorites are gradual cooker beef and barley stew, crockpot taco soup, crockpot spaghetti sauce, and this gradual cooker cranberry hen.


What’s cranberry hen?
This cranberry hen is a recipe that we bought from my husband’s grandmother. She’s been making it for therefore lengthy that nobody remembers the place it initially got here from. Almost definitely, she clipped it out of {a magazine} or the newspaper or one thing like that.
It is a tremendous easy 4-ingredient recipe that you could throw within the crockpot within the morning and dinner might be prepared while you get residence from work.
Rooster will get cooked in a combination of tangy salad dressing, onion soup combine, and cranberry sauce. The ultimate sauce tastes a bit tangy, a bit savory, and a bit candy. It’s additionally an effective way to make use of up leftover cranberry sauce from Thanksgiving dinner!
It’s a very stunning mixture of flavors that all of us love!


Easy methods to make this cranberry hen recipe
Substances you’ll want
You solely want 4 elements to get this cranberry hen getting into your gradual cooker:
- 1 cup Catalina or California French salad dressing
- 1 (1-ounce) packet Lipton onion soup combine
- 1 (14-ounce) can cranberry sauce (or 1 ½ cups home made cranberry sauce)
- 2 kilos boneless/skinless hen breasts or thighs


Catalina dressing, typically known as California vinaigrette, is just like vinaigrette however has extra ketchup in it and has a thinner consistency. You undoubtedly wish to use Catalina dressing on this recipe, not common vinaigrette, particularly because it serves as the primary liquid for cooking the hen.
You need to use any cranberry sauce you want or have available. I like utilizing an entire berry cranberry sauce or my home made cranberry sauce, however jellied will even work!
Be happy to make use of hen breasts or thighs; both one works nice.
Making this recipe
This is very easy, you barely want a recipe for it.
Add the salad dressing, dry soup combine, and cranberry sauce to a 3-quart gradual cooker and stir to mix. In the event you’re utilizing jellied cranberry sauce, you might need to tug out a whisk to get it to combine with the dressing.
Add the hen to the crock and ensure it will get coated with the sauce.
Cowl and cook dinner on excessive for 4 hours or on low for 6-7 hours. It’ll even be okay for as much as 8 hours.


As soon as the hen is cooked, shred it and add it again to the sauce. And that’s it! You’re able to serve your cranberry hen.
We prefer it as-is, however be at liberty to provide it a style and add some black pepper or a pinch of salt should you really feel it wants it.


Serving strategies
So how precisely will we wish to get pleasure from this cranberry hen?
Our favourite method is to serve it with loads of sauce over cooked rice or garlic mashed potatoes. Make some air fryer inexperienced beans or honey glazed carrots to go along with it and also you’ve bought a brilliant straightforward weeknight meal!
You could possibly additionally serve it within the model of gradual cooker pulled pork or crockpot pulled hen and switch it right into a sandwich. High it with somewhat straightforward slaw and you can even serve this as a part of a game-day unfold!
Storage
Retailer leftover cranberry hen in an hermetic container within the fridge for as much as 3 days.
You may also retailer it in a freezer-safe container and freeze for as much as a month. I like to recommend freezing it in particular person parts utilizing Souper Cubes. Then you’ll be able to take out as a lot as you want for a fast dinner or lunch!


Steadily requested questions
I’ve tried making this cranberry hen in a baking dish the oven as a substitute of the gradual cooker and I actually don’t advocate it. The hen doesn’t find yourself as moist or flavorful.
Cooking the hen slowly makes the meat retain its juices, so it doesn’t dry out even should you use hen breasts. It’s price considering somewhat bit forward to make it in your crockpot, belief me!
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Add dressing, onion soup combine and cranberry sauce to the gradual cooker and blend till mixed.
1 cup Catalina or California French bottled salad dressing, 1 packet Lipton onion soup combine, 1 can jellied or complete berry cranberry sauce
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Add within the hen and coat with the sauce combination.
2 kilos boneless/skinless hen breasts or thighs
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Cowl and cook dinner on excessive for 4 hours or on low for 6-7 hours.
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Shred hen and serve with sauce over rice or mashed potatoes.
My home made cranberry sauce works nice on this recipe instead of the canned cranberry sauce.
Energy: 621kcal, Carbohydrates: 63g, Protein: 50g, Fats: 17g, Saturated Fats: 3g, Polyunsaturated Fats: 1g, Monounsaturated Fats: 2g, Trans Fats: 0.03g, Ldl cholesterol: 145mg, Sodium: 1609mg, Potassium: 918mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 48g, Vitamin A: 111IU, Vitamin C: 4mg, Calcium: 24mg, Iron: 1mg
Vitamin info is routinely calculated, so ought to solely be used as an approximation.



