Chicken, Mushroom & Potato Tear Apart Meal - Crockpot

Simmie Sinow

So What Is a Tear Apart Meal Anyway?

A Tear Apart meal is one that is cooked/baked/made all together but which can be torn apart and made into several different types of other meals.  Tear Apart meals do not always stay together as a unit for future meals.  i.e., in this case, only using the chicken and not the mushrooms or potatoes, or the chicken and mushrooms and not the potatoes, etc. in the future.

In the photo above, I cooked in a crockpot the following:
12 chicken thighs (skinless, boneless--but it doesn't really matter about the skin and bone)
1 large package of mushrooms
A smattering of small potatoes (the size I use, 3 fit in the palm of my hand)--I used about 6 or 7
28 oz can marinara sauce (I use Trader Joe's brand and added some vegetable stock to it)
14 oz can marinara sauce (you may or may not need this--this is to assure all items are covered)

Place just enough marinara sauce on the bottom of your crockpot to cover the bottom.

Put half of your chicken thighs on the bottom of the crockpot, followed by a little more marinara sauce on top, then the potatoes.

The final (top) layer should be the rest of the chicken thighs, and enough marinara sauce to completely cover them.

Set the crockpot on HIGH for 2 hours, then on LOW for about another 2 hours. After the 2 hours on low, dump your mushrooms on top and push down so they are soaking up the marinara sauce; if need be, add more marinara sauce, cover and cook for 1 more hour.

What Other Meals Can Be Made From This?

Just for some ideas:

• Spaghetti squash with the leftover marinara and cut up chicken
• Zoodles with the leftover marinara, cut up chicken, mushrooms, and potatoes on the side