Slow Cooker Chicken Bacon Chowder. Warm and comforting and oh so flavorful.
Next to sushi, low carb soup is my favorite food. Pretty much year round, you can open my fridge or freezer and see at least one or two low carb soups lining the shelves. While I convert a lot of my slow cooker recipes to stovetop recipes because I am impatient and just want to eat my soup NOW, I still really love all the deliciously complex flavors that slow cooking can create. I am a big fan of low carb slow cooker recipes.
At the first hint of fall, I break out both of my slow cookers and get to work on all the delicious low carb slow cooker recipes. In fact, I use my crockpot year round. It is great in the winter when you just want to curl up on the couch and don’t feel like cooking and it is equally as great in the summer for transporting food to cookouts, low carb barbecues or any type of fun get together. BUT, it can be a lifesaver during the really hot months when you don’t want to heat up the stove and make you house even hotter. One of my favorite type of low carb recipes to make in the slow cooker is definitely low carb soups and stews. This low carb chowder being among the top favorite.
This low carb Slow Cooker Chicken Bacon Chowder is deliciously rich and flavorful. If you are looking to impress your friends with your cooking skills, this would be the dish to make them. Although it keeps well in the fridge, good luck having any leftovers. Be sure to also check out my Keto Chili Recipe and my Keto Clam Chowder Recipe. In fact, I love low carb soup recipes so much, that I wrote an entire ebook about them.
I have 3 new low carb / keto cookbooks coming out. Check them out HERE
Hi,
BRAVO BRAVO BRAVO!!! On the recipe, all I had to do was look at the pics!!! Where’s the bread & Butter I know it’s Low Carb, but you just have to make an exception!Ha Ha! Either way, awesome recipe. I’ll definitely spread the word!
P.S.
I’ve already book marked your post.
Thank you. Thank you.
Hi Kyndra,
This is the second time, I get the alert, and when I saw the pics again I almost fell off my chair!!! Hysterical!!! Stop by http://www.crockpotking.com, and feel free to roam around, your more then invited!
This looks great! Seriously Ill have to try this for the winter
This was delicious! I made it today because I had the day off and had the extra time in the morning to do the chopping & early prep work. Do you think it would be ok if next time I did the chopping, the 1 hour of sweating the vegies and browned the chicken the night before? I don’t usually have extra time in the morning before work.
You could always cook it on the stove top.
Do you think I could cook it in high for 4-6 hours instead of low 6-8hr
I have made this on high four hours and it was delicious BUT the chicken wasn’t really tender. It was kind of rubbery, but that happens sometimes anyway. Other than that, it was awesome.
Just wanted to add that I pre-cooked everything before putting in the slow cooker. It’s altogether possible that the chicken was rubbery due to being over-cooked. Also, the dairy ingredients “broke” when cooked on high. Next time I will add the dairy 30 minutes before serving to avoid having tiny chunks of dairy in the chowder. It was still absolutely delicious – it was just not as visually appealing when the dairy broke.
Rotisserie chicken is what I use for soup . Always perfect
I think you could absolutely do the prep work the night before and have it still come out just as delicious.
excellent photo step by step, i agree. looks healthy, lots of veggies!
I made this a few days ago, planning to have some leftovers for lunch. It was so popular that it was all gone in one night. It was really delicious and easy to make. I will definitely be making it again.
Thank you. It is a big hit in my home too
Kyndra – how many servings, and what’s the net carbs per serving? It looks absolutely fabulous…oh who am I kidding.? I haven’t had one of your recipes that I didn’t love!
I calculated 48 grams of carbs for the entire crockpot. It yields 7 cups. So roughly 7 grams of carbs per serving.
I just made this after pinning it awhile ago. It was amazing, directions simple, hearty… can not say enough good things. THANK YOU.
Looks wonderful!
My this soup looks good. I just printed this off to try. We’re BIG soup eaters in this house. Thanks!
I’ve got this in the crock pot now…it’s making me hungry ;.; 6 more hours….*sigh*
Made this tonight, so yummy! Can’t wait to try it on a cold Winter day, instead of a 95 degree summer day 🙂
WOW this looks amazing! I will be making this!
Question, do you use all of the leek? Thanks! Ellen
I’ve been eying this recipe for awhile now…it’s a beautiful fall day. Perfect for chowder! I am working from home today, so it’s a great day to try it! I was able to get it all done and in the crock pot. I don’t like mushrooms and I don’t have shallots or leaks on hand. So hopefully it’ll be ok. It smells FABULOUS! I can’t wait to try it this evening!!!
It’s a gray, rainy New England Sunday…perfect for some chowder! Can’t wait to try this. Beth
This is simmering away as we speak. It smells AMAZING. My only question, which may seem silly, is the cook temp. Should this simmer on low the entire time? I assume yes, but wanted to be sure. Thank you so much for this awesome recipe!
I was wondering the same thing!
It’s in a crock pot….cook 6-8 hours. The instructions don’t get much simpler than that.
There are different settings though, Low and High. It says to put it on low initially and it never mentions to change it so I assume you just leave it on low the whole time.
I have never seen a recipe that cooks for 8 hours on HIGH, so I would definitely leave it on LOW the whole time!
Yes, as the instructions state, this is to be cooked on low. If you wanted to cook it on high, I would definitely cut the time in half
I just made this last night and it was fantastic! I didn’t have the majority of the vegetables but I just used sweet peppers and extra celery for it. Keep up the wonderful work!
Making this tonight with zucchini, yellow squash, and cauliflower! It smells amazing!! Can’t wait to see how it turns out!!!
Way too much leek. It didn’t taste too bad while eating it, but that aftertaste was around for hours and hours. If I did it again, I’d completely remove the leek and put in some broccoli and cauliflower. Probably would have also added a bit more cream and some cheese.
You had me at hello!
This is amazing! Does it freeze well? I want to make extra so I always have some.
I want to know this too, this recipe is a huge hit in my household, but it would be nice to deep freeze some for a quick meal.
I made this a while back and froze the left overs. We ate them tonight, delicious!! I added a little more cream while it was reheating.
Just made this today, Delicious!!!!!!
I’ve made this twice now and it’s excellent. The first time I made it, I followed the directions exactly. The second time, I changed a few steps, but I don’t think my changes changed the outcome.
I used a rotisserie chicken from the grocery-already cooked and seasoned–badabing! I boned the chicken and boiled the bones for the stock. (I only used half the meat from the whole chicken–the rest is for another recipe). I sauteed the veggies in butter, then put them in the crock pot. And, I used pre-cooked bacon. With this route, I didn’t need to wait for the veggies to cook an hour, saute the chicken, fry the bacon or deglaze the pan. All are worthwhile steps, but I didn’t really have time for that.
Also, I cooked this on high for 4 hours instead of low for 6-8 hours. It was great! This is definitely a keeper for our fall and winter meal rotation.
Great shortcuts! Thanks for sharing!!!
Does anyone have experience using dairy alternatives? I’m considering using cashew cream cheese but am not sure how that will work long-term in a slow cooker. Just figured I’d toss it out there and see if anyone knows. Thanks! The recipe looks delish.
Since ‘regular’ chowder has potatoes I added cubed turnips as a low carb alternative. Glad I did b/c otherwise there wouldn’t have been much ‘stuff’ in the soup. The turnips bulked it up and gave it the balance of a reg chowder and it was a good hearty soup; highly doubt I would have liked it as written.
Hint: use unsalted butter, and consider not added the tsp of salt.. unless you like salt! for me personally, the bacon gave off enough salt for the entire crockpot!
Can’t wait to try this, however, was wondering what I might use to sub for cream & cream cheese?
Definitely sub coconut cream for the whole cream, I’m not sure about the cream cheese. Maybe leave it out and use extra coconut cream.
Made this yesterday and it was soooo good, flavorful, and rich. I can’t wait to have leftovers for lunch today. Thanks for posting such a great recipe!
I’m so happy you enjoyed it. Thanks for coming back to let me know 🙂
This was great! I made a batch today by the recipe, but did not get anywhere near 16 cups. — more like 10 or 12. It was a perfect soup to come home to after a day of being out. Very hearty and filling. Worthy of a pound of bacon.
I’m wanting to make this for dinner tomorrow, but was wanting to eliminate the cream cheese what can I use in it’s place?
You can always make it without or just add a little extra heavy cream
How would this work in an oven? I don’t have a crock pot/slow cooker so planned to do it in a casserole dish in the oven. What sort of time/temperature would I need?
I have never made soup in the oven. I would suggest trying to do it stove top if you do not have a slow cooker
This comes out wonderfully on stove top, but as I’m eating this for breakfast today (I couldn’t wait for lunch), about 48 hours later , I can tell you the taste is even more wonderful as the flavors sit and have time to combine in the fridge. Thanks for sharing this!
How many servings does this recipe make? Just wondering if I need to double it to feed a family of 7.
It makes 10-12 servings.
What is the carb count per serving? I want to make this but need to know carb count as I’m in the induction stage of Atkins diet. Thank you so much!
You can pop the ingredients into a site like myfitnesspal or fat secret and you will get a pretty close estimate of the nutritional info 🙂
Made this yesterday, it is the best chowder I have ever had! Everyone loved it! Forget about impressing others, I impressed myself! I will be making this next Sunday for a football party! Thanks!
Looks like a nice hearty recipe. I’ll be making this soon. Thanks so much and for all your other recipes you’ve posted here and on FaceBook. I’ve copied and made so many of them…the best way to thank you is to purchase your book, which I’m about to do. Thanks!
My oh my! This was SOOOO Amazing. My son had almost 3 bowls of it, I had to tell him no more so we had enough for leftovers. Now I’m sharing the recipe with some of my coworkers who wanted to steal my leftovers. So very good, thank you thank you!
Love it!! Even my kids ate it. I cooked my bacon first and sautéed the celery, onions, chicken, and some smoked sausage in some bacon grease before adding. I also added a Knorrs chicken bouillon cube (don’t add salt). I have never bought leeks so I left that out, however, I love mushrooms so I added extra. This will be a favorite at my house this winter!!
This was fabulous! Where can I find the nutrition info?
I have this cooking right now for my lunches for the week. I have a question about the part where you have to wait for the chicken to cool before adding it to the cooked veggies. Forgive my lack of knowledge snout using chicken in a crockpot, is this a food safety thing? (I sound like a total dunce).
Also at this stage it doesn’t look like enough chicken stock (2 cups) for all the veggies and chicken, will it even out? I’m trusting that it will. Can’t wait to taste it.
Seriously. The best food I’ve eaten for the year that I have been on LCHF. Good grief, I can not get enough of this stuff! Incredible recipe, and I hate to cook… Thanks!
I am making this now, and am confused. When I put all my ingredients into my sparkpeeople recipe builder, and in put for 10 servings it said 2.9 carbs?
I did Change the recipe a little I put spinach and a little bit of broc. In it instead of leaks, and mushrooms, and shallots. I did not see your nutritional info, can you tell mehow many carbs per serving you got? Thank you, and it smells great.
Made this today and it was DELICIOUS!! The only things I altered was I used fat-free cream cheese, turkey bacon, Better Balance for butter and I used Greek yogurt instead of heavy whipping cream. I also sautéed my veggies in olive oil instead of cooking alone for one hour on low and I used Progressive Tuscany flavored chicken broth. I cooked on high for 4 hours (because I couldn’t wait to eat it!) and the aroma alone was to die for! Great and filling meal for my diabetic son. Thank you for Pinning!
This is a divine treat! WOW!!!! I made it as the recipe states with the addition of a couple turnips for bulk. Thank you so much for a delicious meal!
I completely agree with the PP, use unsalted butter or DON’t add the tsp of salt. I hesitated before I put it in because the flavors were spot on during prep. But I added it anyway and alas it was way too salty. Even for this salt loving gal.
Also, I did all the prep the night before and instead of cooking the vegetables in the crock pot, I sautéed them on low for 10 minutes in a dutch oven, and added everything in that pot and put in the refrigerator over night. I then added everything to the crock pot in the morning. I just don’t have the time required in the morning to do all this. Turned out fine.
Perfection!! My husband was skeptical when I was putting this together but at dinner he almost fell out of his chair after the first bite. I made some coconut flour bread to accompany and we were set. YUMMY to the MAX
Sounds delicious and beautiful pictures. If I ever find a low-carb blogger who includes the nutritional content of their recipes….fats, carbs, fibers, protein…I will be a fan for life. Thank you.
Patty, if you look through my recipes, about 90% of them include the nutritional information. Thanks
In crock pot now. Just had to to taste it and it’s so good. Too bad I have to wait another 2 hours for it to cook fully. So flavorful and different from a lot recipes I’ve tried.
Would you dare try this dairy free? Like coconut cream/milk? Or would the flavor be affected too much?
You could always try it and see how it turns out. I think it would be substantially different without the cream and the cream cheese though. If you try it, report back and let us know how it turns out! 🙂
OmGosh! I have this recipe simmering in a big stockpot because I can’t wait for the crockpot!! I’ll have to eat this in one hour if I can hold back that long! I’ve never used Leeks before so I’m anxious to try them- (looks & smells like a giant green onion?) Anyway I’m thinking if theres any leftover I’ll refrigerate & put in the crockpot tomorrow for lunch! Thanks Kyndra!
This is soooooo yummy!!
Fantastic recipe – soooo tasty and so easily adapted to what’s in the fridge!
Made in pot on stove top at slow simmer for 3 hours – beautiful!
Hi! This looks amazing! I want to make this but we are trying to stay in ketosis so carb info is critical. Do you happen to know how many carbs per serving? Thanks!
You can drop the ingredients into an app like myfitnesspal and it will quickly calculate it for you. 🙂
Saw this recipe yesterday online. Ran out tjis morning to get all the ingredients and a crockpot. It is simmering as I type. I tasted the sauce…omg it is heavenly!!!!! I sauteed the chicken with the bacon and added it, bacon grease and all, to the rest of the ingredients. Zstill have four hours to go until done. Can’t wait!!
I rarely cook,, because my cooking usually turns out barely edible. But this recipe made me want to give my sad cooking another chance. It turned out amazing! It took me forever to find all the ingredients, and then forever to prepare everything (because I need more cooking practice…..), but it worked out wonderful! I ate two bowls and can’t wait to have more tomorrow! Thanks for the recipe!
This is cooking now and it smells DELICIOUS! I’m very new to crock pot cooking and have a question.
I pan seared the chicken but cooking it longer than I should have – it was almost ready to serve when I started cubing it. Can I just shorten the amount of time I leave it in the cooker as a result? A little bummed that it probably won’t soak in the flavors as much but I think it’ll still turn out okay.
Thanks!
My family hates mushrooms (sad, but true.) What can I substitute? Maybe cauliflower? What if I want to cook the whole thing on the stovetop??
If your family does not like mushrooms, simply omit them
I’m going to try this as a covered dish at work. I would like to make it in my 6 quart slow cooker. Will the recipe fill that or do I need to add/double the recipe?
I made this for a holiday potluck and it was a HUGE hit!! I couldn’t believe how easy it was to put together and how wonderfully it turned out. Since I wasn’t cooking for an entirely ‘low carb’ crowd, I did substitute diced potato for the mushrooms. But it was still fantastic! Next time I make this I’ll definitely play around with some other veggie additions. Thanks for this great recipe! And for making me look like a culinary genius at the potluck! lol 🙂
What do think the time frame would be if I used a pressure cooker?
I doubled the batch the first time I made it so I’d have leftovers. I found that it freezes well and smells and tastes heavenly! I am trying to eat more veggies, so this is a nice addition. I wanted to incorporate broccoli, but did not want it to fall apart completely in the crock pot. I cooked some separately, put them in the bowl, and poured the chowder over them. Delicious! Great recipe! I’ve got my dad and friend hooked too.
How big is your crockpot that you were able to double the recipe?
I just turned the three cups of leftovers into a delicious quiche!
The richness of the chowder filled our bellies and with three cups leftover, I added four eggs, poured into a low carb pre-baked crust and popped it into the oven. I didn’t need to add anything besides the eggs into the filling. Gorgeous and very tasty.
Thank you for this excellent recipe!
WHOA! That is an amazing idea. I feel like I need to get a batch of this in the crock pot right now just so I can try it.
Made this today, as we are having a blizzard here in Long Island NY today, and the whole family loved it! Did not have leek but otherwise had all other ingredients and followed directions. Forget having leftovers, was eaten till it was gone. Will be making again. Thanks for this recipe.
Living in the DC area we had a blizzard this weekend and trying to stay true to my low carb diet while being trapped! This was unbelievably tasty. Do wish the carb count was included but will put it in MyFitnessPal. Assuming that everything in the cookbook is this amazing, so I will be ordering!
I would really like to print out this recipe but I don’t consider 11 pages to be printer freindly! Is there a version I can print without the pictures?
That is why there is a printer friendly button at the bottom of each post 🙂
I’ve looked for the printer friendly button and can’t seem to find it. Heck, I can’t even find a print button! Am I looking through, over or around the darn thing? Has anyone else had this problem? I hope it isn’t just me being a bit dense!
There is a printer friendly bottom at the bottom of every post. In the share bar – It is the light green icon that looks like a printer with a leaf on it.
Mouthwatering photo’s! I’m going to have to copy and paste the text for the recipe as I too do not see a print button here. I’ve gone back to look 3x and no printer friendly button anywhere on the entire page. Just an FYI.
Yes, it is there. At the bottom of every recipe is a share button. On that button is a print friendly button. It looks like a printer with a leaf. I’m sure you have seen this icon on 100’s of sites before but just didn’t know what it was.
Just made this for dinner….it’s so yummy!! Even my picky eaters like it. 🙂 Thanks for a great chowder!
Hi! This is in my cockpot as I type for tomorrow’s supper. I’m going to fully cook it tonight then put it in the fridge and re-heat tomorrow. How long would you recommend to re-heat in the cockpot on low?
I started off making this chowder for MYSELF> that lasted until my 17 year old son had just a taste of “Mom’s soup”..he couldn’t stop eating it. As a previously successful low carb eater I’ve come back to this site after regaining weight and not able to stick to the “no variety” meals I was having. I needed to go back to cooking meals and fun good tasting meals this chowder fits the bill.
I began my journey purchasing the Instant Pot mentioned here previously and this time I’m determined to make the crockpot meals and try them all. I admit I didn’t have mushrooms or leeks and I was determined to not go back to the store so I used an entire bunch of celery instead of a few stalks, an entire medium onion, along with a small amount of “purple” onion for color, a leftover 1/4 or a red pepper, and a bulb of garlic. This recipe is is very flexible and forgiving, different spices, adding different ingredients, all works.
Made this in my instant pot. Sweated the veg on the hob in the butter for 5 to 10 mins (left the garlic whole to keep the flavour), moved to the IP. Cooked the bacon, then seared the diced chicken in the bacon fat. Added the herbs, a few cubes of frozen chicken stock and cooked on high pressure for 20 mins. Quick released the pressure, stirred through the cream and cream cheese on sauté… Done! Cannot describe how delicious it was, thanks so much for the recipe!!!
Yay! So happy you enjoyed it. and I have been curious how this would work out in an Instant Pot. Good to know!
Lawd have mercy!! This was amazing! I had been looking for a low carb chowder/soup and this one hit the spot. Even my hubby, who isn’t a fan of soups, was impressed and went for seconds. He said this one was a “do it again”. Thanks for sharing!
I just made this recipe for my office. We do recipe Tuesdays, and my office staff LOVED it! I can’t thank you enough for the amazing recipes that you post on here. You are such a blessing!
Yay. So happy that everyone enjoyed it. Thank YOU!
So yummy! I have my second batch in the crockpot right now. It was a huge hit around here..even among those who are not low carbers. Thank you for sharing!
Can I use low fat cream cheese and light cream or skim milk to lower the calories???
Amazingly yummy! Everyone in my quilting group loved it enough to ask for the recipe.
i LOVE LOVE this recipe!!! I have a bit of a dairy issue so i skipped the cream and cream cheese and just used a heck of a lot of coconut milk and it still came out awesome! the flavors are just delish…and my fam now demands it in regular rotation!!
I realise this is an old post but I found this recipe on Pinterest last year and we have it all the time!! It’s delish! Tasty as something that’s really bad for you when it’s not bad!! Just put some in the slow cooker for later and can’t wait! Thanks!
You may want to inform people that they should wash the leek after slicing it. The first time I made this MOST EXCELLENT chowder, I washed the leek like I wash green onions and I ended up with a bit of sand in my soup! I still ate every bite of it!
The next time I made it, I washed the slices in a bowl and got all the sand out of the leek. (^.^)
Thank you, I love this recipe. I have made it twice, the second time with ghee. So much richer with the ghee.
3/10/2017 – I made a double batch of this recipe on my stove for a church lunch function. It was a complete hit. I felt kinda bad for the other ladies who also brought soup because everyone was raving about this chowder. One question though, I had trouble getting the cream cheese to thoroughly melt. I ended up microwaving the second brick because I had so much trouble with the first. Why?
uhhh this recipe doesnt include in the ingredients list how much chicken you used. which is suprising as this is an older recipe
Uhhh yes it does.
This is in the crock pot now and ells AMAZING!!! Can’t wait for it to be ready!
Awesome! I hope you enjoy it!! Have a great day!
This soup looks amazing! Has anyone tried it dairy free so it would be paleo? I would love to try it, but wondering what others may have used in place of the dairy?
I just made this and holy crap, it was so flippin good! Wowowow! Perfection!
Made this last week and it was incredible! Definitely a keeper. Thanks for another great recipe.
I was thinking of using chicken thigh instead? Higher in fat content to be a little more keto friendly. What do you think?
Yes, you could absolutely use chicken thighs instead
Has anyone tried coming this in an Instant Pot pressure cooker? I’m curious what the coming time would be? It should potentially cut the cooking time down to an hour ???
Cooking* time
Darn autocorrect
I have been waiting for the first rainy fall day, like today, and now I can’t wait for dinner.
I’m not a soup girl- at all. But something about this made me want to try it and I am SO glad that I did! I meal prep every week and I find myself using this recipe at least twice a month. I use rotisserie chicken instead of cooking my own and I absolutely love it. Seriously, A+.
I made this tonight on the stovetop! It was so yummy! My in laws liked it as well. Next time I will try it in the crockpot but it was also really simple on the stovetop. I am glad that I doubled the recipe so I could have some for lunch tomorrow. Thanks for that awesome recipe!
Wife of a husband :child, & two teen girls. None of which like to eat ANYTHING healthy. Today is Saturday, I got an early start making this at 08:30 this morning. The aroma of the sweating veggies awoke the rest of the family hailing them to the kitchen like salivating zombies. I told them “Not for you!” “This is MY dinner tonight while you guys are scarfing down the pizza!” I only wish I had made it last night so I could have the left overs to try that quiche idea for breakfast this morning. (now I’m stuck drooling over their homemade pancakes while I wait patiently for my revenge tonight!!!) .
Absolutely delicious! If you don’t like this, your taste buds are stupid!
And it’s low carb to boot!
I caved and let my family have a bite, THEY LOVED IT!!
Thank you Kyndra for sharing this marvelous recipe.
This made me giggle “Your taste buds are stupid” Hahaha. Thank you
Kyndra, Another recipe win! It was beyond delicious! I am diabetic and have been on and off my eating plan because I got so tired of a hunk of meat with cheese and veggies. Your recipes are an ACTUAL meal! I am now finding it easy to stay on plan and keep my blood sugar under control. I have 3 of your cookbooks and they are my daily go to. Thanks again!
★★★★★
I know this is a really old post but I just had to comment on how amazing this meal is!! I’ve been making it for my family for about 2 years after finding it on Pinterest and have a big batch in the slow cooker right now and the smell through the house is amazing!! Thanks for a great recipe!
★★★★★
THIS WAS AMAZING! Our whole family devoured it. I didn’t have everything on hand so my vegetables consisted of celery, onions, and fresh garlic. I also made my in my stock pot. Braised the chicken, set it aside to cube and threw everything else in and put it on low in the oven. The house smelled wonderful and it tasted even better. Thank you!
★★★★★
This recipe is the BOMB, so easy and full of flavour, I will definitely be making this again 😁
Made this for adult fam! So fabulous. They loved it. Thank you !