It’s barely 10 am, and dinner is already in the bag. You’ll want to keep your slow cooker on the counter for this quick summer dinner solution that works all year long. Especially if you have fussy eaters at your house, you might just love this little trick for quick summer dinners.

Here’s the secret: even without knowing what dinner is going to be just yet, I’ve already got the chicken cooking in my trusty slow cooker (aka CrockPot, but in this case it’s my beloved Calphalon). On days like this, I can throw these in the slow cooker in the morning with a quarter cup of water, and spices if I feel like it, then cook on low for 6-8 hours.

I always have frozen boneless, skinless chicken breasts in the freezer, but you could do the same with any cut of chicken you prefer. They are economical to buy, and easy to store. They are a better alternative to those baked chickens from the grocery store because they are so much more moist in the slow-cooker, and I don’t have to get out of my jammies to get dinner started.

It works in the summer especially well, because the slow cooker doesn’t heat up the whole kitchen like the oven does, but it will smell like dinnertime just when everyone is ravenous. Score! While dinner is cooking, I can be working, chasing kids, or out running inevitable summertime errands.

10 Quick Summer Dinner Solutions from 1 Pot

Why is this a quick summer dinner solution and not just a recipe, you ask? Because from here, you can do anything! Once a chicken breast cooks in the slow cooker, you can easily shred the chicken with just a fork, and it’s perfect for so many recipes. Here are 10 things you can decide to make later today (or tomorrow) with slow cooker chicken:

1. Chicken with baked potatoes (Start with the obvious, shall we?)
2. Chicken tacos
3. Chicken salad sandwiches
4. Quick chicken Parmesan (Smother in spaghetti sauce and mozzarella, then warm in the microwave.)
5. Chicken sloppy joes (just chop and add your favorite BBQ sauce)
6. Taco salad topped with chicken
7. Mini Chicken pizza (English muffins topped with spaghetti sauce, cheese and chicken)
8. Loaded nachos (Chop the chicken smallish to make this work.)
9. Pasta salad. (Pick your favorite combo of pasta and fresh veggies, add chopped chicken, and cover in Italian salad dressing.)
10. Mini chicken and avocado sandwiches on King’s Hawaiian sweet rolls with red pepper hummus spread

Cooked chicken will store for about 5 days in the fridge, if you don’t gobble it up first!

Kids + Chicken Quick Summer Dinner Solution

If you are trying to wean your kids off of breaded “nugget” chicken, any of these recipes above where they get to assemble their own food can be a winner for the kiddos. Don’t be afraid to let them get messy while they are exploring new flavors and textures. It looks like fork food to us, but let them use their hands, and they’ll be more likely to try it.

I’d love to get your thoughts on what you would do with slow-cooker chicken for even more quick summer dinner solutions. Please share in the comments.