Chicken thighs sit beautifully atop green beans and diced tomatoes in this recipe

Cooktop Cove: Chicken thighs sit beautifully atop green beans and diced tomatoes in this recipe

By Kate Elliott

One-pot meals that come straight out of the slow cooker are a beautiful thing, aren't they? There's no muss, no fuss, and no standing over the stove fiddling with getting a meal just right. And that's why the recipe below is one of my favorites.

If you really want to make it no-fuss, use skinless chicken thighs. But if you don't mind a little bit of fuss at the very end, use thighs with the skin on and just pop them under the broiler for a minute before serving. It's really not that much work, and no one will believe you got such crispy skin in a slow cooker (and we won't tell!) It doesn't take that much longer to get dinner on the table, and you can have your crispy skin, and eat it too!

Slow Cooker Green Beans and Chicken Thighs

10 minutes

8 hours

8 hours, 10 minutes

1 pound green beans, trimmed

1 15-ounce can diced tomatoes

1 onion, cut in a small dice

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon dried dill

Juice of 1 lemon

1 cup chicken broth

4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 1/2 teaspoons salt, divided

1 teaspoon ground black pepper, divided

Place the green beans, diced tomatoes, onion, garlic, lemon juice, and chicken broth in the bottom of a 6-quart slow cooker. Season with 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper. Stir well to combine.

Place the chicken thighs on top of the green beans mixture. Set chicken thighs on top. Drizzle the chicken thighs with olive oil and season with remaining salt and pepper.

Place lid on slow cooker and cook on low for 8 hours or on high for 4 hours.

Preheat broiler. Remove chicken thighs to a metal baking sheet and place under the broiler, about six inches away. Broil for just one or two minutes, until the skins are brown and crispy.

Spoon green bean mixture into a large bowl or onto a large platter and top with chicken thighs.