Meet my new love.
Salsa chicken in the cooker.
This meal requires just 2 ingredients (although I threw in a few extra veggies but thats 100% optional), takes 5 minutes to prepare, cooks while you’re away, and can be used 101 different ways.
For real.
Place some boneless skinless chicken breasts into a crockpot with a jar of your favorite salsa. Crank it up to high and 3-4 hours later you have shredded salsa chicken.
I loved it. My hubby devoured it. And my kids couldn’t get enough.
This makes a great head start ingredient and can be used lots of different ways.
Some of my favorites to enjoy it during a busy week are (all of these recipes are demonstrated in the video below!).
Simple Weeknight Chicken Quesadilla
Grab a non-stick skillet and heat your favorite whole grain tortilla. Flip it over and sprinkle a bit of shredded cheese on half of the tortilla. Layer on some salsa chicken (make sure you heat it first and drain any excess liquid) and top with a bit more cheese.
Fold the tortilla on to itself and cook for a couple of minutes until the cheese begin to melt. Flip it over and cook for an extra minute. Serve and enjoy.
Easy Chicken Taco Salad
For this salad, you can literally grab your personal favorite salad veggies. Here’s what I used; romaine, red cabbage, frozen corn, and black olives. Then I scoop on some chicken and top with diced avocado and eat it up!
*Note: you could always add some extra salsa, greek yogurt, or ranch dressing if you like dressing.
Salsa Chicken with Brown Rice and Avocado
This is little concoction is literally a 2-minute meal.
I heat up some frozen brown rice (whichI usually buy at Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods). You can also cook and freeze your own brown rice if you have the time.
Then I season my rice with coconut oil, garlic powder, salt and pepper and top with the shredded salsa chicken and diced avocado.
Easy-peasy and this is a kid favorite as well.
I’d love to hear how you like to your salsa chicken down in the comments below!
HELPFUL KITCHEN TOOLS
6-Quart Slow Cooker
Glass Storage Bowls
12 Inch Non Stick Saute Pan
Ingredients
- 1.25 lbs. boneless chicken breast
- 1 bell pepper cut into strips
- 1 onion cut into thin half moons
- 1 14 oz. jar 1.5cups salsa (I love chipotle flavored salsa)
Instructions
- Place everything in the crockpot and cook on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 3-4 hours.
- Thirtyminutes before the chicken is done, remove it from the pot and shred with two forks. Place the chicken back in the pot, mixing it into the salsa, and let it cook for another 30 minutes. Serve and enjoy!
Comments
Steve Rose says
My crock pot (Rival) must be hot. On high, it only took about 3 hours. The juice had been boiling away for a while by then.
Dani says
Yes! I think this recipe cooks up pretty fast – but it works on low for longer as well.
Kaz says
Could you clarify further for me the quantity of chicken breast you used? Sometimes “boneless chicken breast” means one of cutlet-sized pieces in a multi-piece package, and other times it means two pieces, since one of those cutlets is really about half of an actual chicken breast. Thanks.
Dani says
I usually use between 1-1.5 pounds of chicken breast.
Jessica says
I think cooking boneless skinless chicken breasts in the crockpot on high for six hours is too long. The chicken will get dried out. Maybe six hours on low? Otherwise, this recipe looks delicious.
Dani says
You are probably right about that! It does tend to cook up faster…. I’m going to adjust the recipe:)
Michaela says
I’ve just made this tonight with salad, beans, homemade tortillas and guacamole. It was wonderful, thank you. Makes a lovely change from mince.
Dani says
so glad you liked it!
Jenny says
Would you say this recipe makes for a good make ahead and freeze meal?
Dani says
I have never tried to freeze this but I bet it would work just fine 🙂
Debbie says
I LOVE this recipe -my crock pot does not take this long -I can even use frozen breasts and put on low for 6-8 hrs…or if I use frozen tenderloins it usually is no more than 4 hrs
Dani says
Good know. Thanks for sharing Debbie.
Chuck says
Sounds lean and licious, do you have a similar recipe for electric pressure cookers?
Dani says
You know, I’ve never worked with a pressure cooker before (although my Dad keeps telling me I need to get one). I would imagine you could do this in a pressure cooker and it would cook a lot faster.
tamara says
Great ideas! I’m definitely going to make this salsa chicken and use it in so many different ways. Another thing you could do with it, add some chicken stock to it, some rice and top it with crunchy tortilla chips for a nice soup.
Dani says
Great idea! Thanks for sharing Tamara:)
Coleen says
Is there a video? Sorry, I’m not seeing it. Great idea, I can’t wait to try it! Thanks for sharing!
Dani says
Yes! If scroll to the bottom of the post you will see the video:)
Sarah White says
I made this, this weekend, and it was so good! Thank you so much for sharing this with us! Anything that is delicious, quick and easy works for me thanks again Dani.
Dani says
I hear ya, Sarah! I’m so happy you enjoyed it 🙂
Tamar says
Just made this in a dutch oven in the oven at 150 C for three hours with bone-in skinless chicken thighs and legs. The meat falls right off. Its great! Thanks Dani!
Dani says
Yay! So happy it worked and thank you for sharing 😉
Calli says
When making this into a salad, how much lettuce, olives, corn, and avocado do you recommend using? As well as how much chicken? I plan on trying this!
Dani says
It depends on how many people you are serving, but basically, you can’t go wrong with any measurements in a salad 😉
Lauren says
I have tried cooking chicken with salsa in crock pot before and came home from work to dried out chicken. Any tips on how to keep it moist?
Dani says
It may be because you are going past 6 hours? I would cook as low as you can and if possible, set a timer so the chicken only cooks for 4-6 hours.
Fran says
I just made this in the Instant Pot and it took about 4o minutes total. Right now it’s cooling, ready to be stored and used this coming week. Excited to be meal prepping!
Shea S says
Love this recipe!! I used my pressure cooker and used cut up boneless chicken thighs since that is what I had thawed out. I used roasted peppers from a jar and Chipotle salsa from Thrive market. I only cooked it for about 3 min and natural release about 5-10 min.. This was surperb! It was great with tacos and in taco bowls. Definitely will make again!!
Dani says
Yay! love hearing how you adapted the recipe to make it work for you.
Carrie L. Thatcher says
Made it yesterday. Serving it tonight. I love your website, videos, the works. Thank you.
Jeannette says
Hi Dani,
This was one of the very first recipes of your that I tried and I cook it on low for 6-8 hours and it’s delicious and so easy to make. I’ve used it in various way, my favorite are the quesadillas.
Sheila says
Your recipes look and sound so good. What would it cost to get your recipe’s?
Dani Spies says
Thank you! I don’t sell them, I just share the recpes so you can recreate them!