Southwest Chicken Crockpot Recipe
This southwest chicken crockpot recipe is one of my most popular recipes of all time!
Southwest Chicken is a mouthwatering, wholesome meal of seasoned shredded chicken, black beans, corn, and tomatoes. This chicken dinner recipe cooks to perfection in your slow cooker!
Why Are Slow Cookers So Popular?
Slow cookers are one of human’s greatest inventions in my book. No other appliance is quite as low maintenance and no other appliance will cook your dinner for you without any concern at all. Don’t get me wrong, I have an Instant Pot too and I love it. But pressure cookers still make me a little nervous and I never like leaving it alone to cook. Plus, it cooks food so fast that there’s no point in really leaving it anyway unless you are using the slow cooking function, which brings me back full circle to how amazing slow cookers are!
Now I will say that older crockpots are not always trustworthy. But the newer ones are pretty darn safe and I regularly leave the house for hours while it does my cooking for me. My slow cooker is my best friend in the kitchen and I don’t see that ever-changing!
Somehow, over the years, I got it in my head that using a slow cooker was a cold-weather affair. Probably because I usually make slow cooker soups and stews when I’m using it. But after many reader comments, I’ve decided to use my slow cooker this summer. Apparently, many of you use them year-round and avoid that hot stove/oven thing during the hot summer months. This is very wise.
About Southwest Chicken Ingredients
Chicken breasts – You’ll want these to be boneless and skinless. You can also use chicken thighs if you prefer.
Pinto beans – Or you can use 1 ⅓ cup of home-cooked beans. If using canned beans, drain and rinse them. If you want to use a different bean, a great substitute here is kidney beans.
Black beans – Or you can use 1 ⅓ cup of home-cooked beans. If using canned beans, drain and rinse them.
Fire-roasted diced tomatoes in juice – If you can only find plain diced tomatoes, that’s fine too. That’s how I originally made this recipe. But I have since switched to the fire-roasted diced tomatoes because I like the flavor they impart. Either will work though.
Frozen corn – You can put this in thawed or frozen. While food safety rules will always tell you to never put frozen food in a slow cooker, I have personally found that, because everything else is raw, the corn being frozen doesn’t seem to make any impact at all. The choice is yours. Do what feels right.
Salsa – Opt for salsa with no added sugar and pick one that you enjoy the flavor of. The salsa does a lot to flavor this recipe, so the more you like the salsa, the more you’ll like the finished dish.
How To Make Southwest Chicken
This is a super simple dish to throw together last minute before you leave the house.
Place the chicken breasts on the bottom of your slow cooker.
Pour the tomatoes and salsa over that.
Layer on the beans.
And lastly, add the corn.
Secure the lid on your slow cooker.
Cook on low for 5-7 hours, or until the chicken easily falls apart when the pot is stirred. I used an electric mixer on the slowest setting to easily and quickly shred the chicken without crushing the beans.
Serving Suggestions
Another way to enjoy this is to drain off a bit of the liquid and use it to fill tacos. It’s a small twist on the usual taco chicken you make in a slow cooker (see below). It’ll keep your taco night interesting without doing much of anything different. Although if you are using corn tortillas, the added corn may be a bit redundant. But I leave that up to you and your tortillas.
If you’re having a get-together, just set the crock on the warm setting (for up to 1 1/2 hours) and let folks help themselves. A big serving spoon will do the trick and everyone can enjoy it as they like it if you serve some small dishes of toppings like avocado or guacamole and sour cream (greek yogurt?) and even a little fresh, chopped cilantro if you like cilantro. (It’s amazing how many people out there think cilantro tastes like soap! Glad that hasn’t been my experience because I love it so much!!!)
I like to serve southwest chicken and beans over brown rice with a selection of yummy toppings. It’s a really versatile dish and the leftovers (if there are any!) are fabulous the next day.
So bust out that slow cooker this summer and enjoy a home-cooked meal without ever heating up your kitchen. It’s the best of both worlds and everyone will be asking for a second helping!
More Slow Cooker Chicken Recipes
Easy Slow Cooker Mexican Chicken – This easy-to-make dish will cook itself, and is wonderful for filling tacos, burritos, or adding to a taco salad!
Italian Stuffed Chicken Breasts – Delicious chicken that pairs well with pasta, rice, or just veggies.
2 Ingredients Slow Cooker Taco Chicken – A quick and easy prep that makes plenty of filling for tacos!
Tools For Making This Crock Pot Recipe
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Southwest Chicken Crock Pot Recipe Card + Video
Southwest Chicken Crockpot Recipe
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Ingredients
- 2 lb. chicken breasts (boneless, skinless)
- 15 oz. can pinto beans (rinsed and drained, or 1 ⅓ cup home cooked beans)
- 15 oz. can black beans (rinsed and drained, or 1 ⅓ cup home cooked beans)
- 28 oz. can diced tomatoes in juice (low sodium is best)
- 1 lb. frozen and thawed organic corn
- 12 oz. jar of your favorite salsa (no sugar added)
Instructions
- Place the chicken breasts on the bottom of your slow cooker.
- Pour the tomatoes and salsa over that.
- Layer on the beans.
- And finally, the corn.
- Cover securely with lid.
- Set to low temp. Cook on low for 5-7 hours, or until the chicken easily falls apart when the pot is stirred.
- When done, shred the chicken simply by stirring everything. If that doesn't do an effective job for you, use either forks, or an electric mixer set to it's lowest speed so as not to crush the beans.
- Serve on its own, with corn chips, over rice, or even as a burrito filling.
Notes
Nutrition
This post from the Gracious Pantry® archives, originally posted 4/23/12.
I make this often. It is so, so fabulous. We usually eat it over brown rice with some FF sour cream.
Emily – It’s good stuff!
Do we stir it thru the 5-7 hours cooking it? I’m making it now, and not sure if I can or not…lol
No, don’t lift the lid until the cooking time is up. You can check it at 5 hours. Stir it. If it doesn’t fall apart, cook for another hour, and so on.
Did you serve it over anything or with tortillas? Any sires with it?
Balove – I just ate it as it was. Made a great dinner. But you can add some brown rice if you want.
Looks good but how/with what do you serve it? Just in a cup? Over something? Thanks!
Bek – You can eat it by itself, or put if over rice, pasta, add extra broth for soup, anything really.
Sounds delish….I can’t wait to try it!!
KD – I hope you enjoy it!
worst food spillage? I exploded my turkey on Thanksgiving Day! AMazingly loud! I must have always used the metal pan before to roast the turkey but this year when I added a bit of water to the roasting turkey, it truly exploded because it was a glass pan. WOW! Made for a good story later but I don’t remember now what I fed everyone. I was around 45 years old & had been cooking forever so you would think I would have known better.
Martisullan – Oh goodness!!! That sounds awful!
Shannonc – My pleasure, and congrats!!!
Deb – I don’t believe so, no.
Hmorgan – No, you want the chicken to be whole, not cut up. That’s how you know it’s really done, when it falls apart. You could add some other veggie like zucchini if you wanted.
Lizakemp – You’ll have to read the label to be sure, but I believe the Pace, chunky, medium heat is clean.
Do you also have the 505 brand in your stores. They sell it at wal-mart. It’s the only one I’ve found that doesn’t have those mystery “spices”.
Jen4 – Never heard of it! I’ll have to look, thanks!
It’s a colorado based company and I’m in Colorado, so it may only be sold here. But, it’s good stuff!
just got back from the store and the pace has mystery flavorings in it… but the herdez salsa (http://www.herdeztraditions.com/) is clean as clean gets without being organic. 5 ingredients (at least on the mild one) all of which i could find easily in my kitchen and tasty too! Plus I’ve seen this salsa here in NC, TX and back home in AZ and at a variety of grocery stores!
my medium Pace is clean. no mystery ingredients
Awesome!
Balove – I hope you enjoy it!
Sounds great! Can the chicken be frozen when I put it in the crock pot?
Jamie – No. You should never use frozen food in a slow cooker for food safety reasons.
sooooo good! made this tonight and sprinkled it with a little cilantro, cheese and avocado. Even my 3 yr. old ate it up. Thanks for the recipe!
Lynda – I’m happy you enjoyed it!
Cally – That’s wonderful! Thank you so much!
I made this yesterday for dinner with a few slight changes. Wow, it was amazing. My boyfriend loved it too. I made some brown rice to put it over. YUM!
buggin – Glad you both enjoyed it!
Littleluwho – The reason you aren’t supposed to use frozen food in a slow cooker is that it slows the amount of time it takes for the cooker to reach the proper temperature. This leaves a large window of time for bacteria to grow on your food.
But glad you enjoyed the recipe!
Both my wife and I thought is was very good. Will recommend it on my website using your guidelines. Thanks and keep the easy to make recipes coming.
Jgelder – Thank you! I’m so happy you enjoyed it!
You could try it on the stove, but I the chicken won’t shred the same. You’ll have to stand there with two forks and shred it all. It doesn’t get as tender on the stove.
put this in a stock pot in the oven covered at 350 for 3 or more hours. this is how I convert all my crock pot recipes and the chicken will still be moist and fall apart.
Awesome! Thanks!
Oh no!!! That’s sound awful!!!!
Is there anyway to make this without salsa? I’m not a fan of it but this dish sounds delish.
Not sure it would be the same dish if you did that. Have you tried my slow cooker spinach and chicken?
Yum!