4 Ingredient Salsa Chicken Crockpot Recipe

Here is an easy 4 ingredient salsa chicken crockpot recipe that only requires a few ingredients and is a healthy slow cooker dinner for sure! Shred it and make tacos or serve it on top of rice for a delicious meal packed with vegetables. You can use fresh, defrosted or even Crockpot frozen chicken breasts or thighs for this one!

4 ingredient Crockpot Salsa Chicken

I am all about dinner cooking by itself all day, thus I’m a little obsessed with my Instant Pot and slow cooker! If you’re in a hurry you can shorten the cooking time by using our Instant Pot salsa chicken recipe. Both ways are fantastic but some days you may just not have time to get this going in the morning, I get it.

This nifty pot just makes our busy lives easier for sure right? I can make really cheap and healthy recipes that take no time at all. That means we can eat together as a family more often and take care of our health, big win win. Using chicken thighs or breasts you will love this one.

Let’s talk a little bit about slow cooking shall we?? First off I have a few different varieties and I love them all. Each one has an occasion to be used like….

1. This is my favorite 6 quart programmable one with a locking lid so it’s great for bringing to a potluck too.
2. I prefer not to use liners, but rather just spray olive oil inside before adding my food for easier cleanups.

Let me give you a peek of my pretty thang I bought recently. It goes with my kitchen so I can just leave it out on the countertop all the time. 😉

Crockpot Chicken and Salsa

We’re a huge fan of our pressure cooker but if I remember in the morning to put everything together and allow it to cook all day it is great too.

• Either way you decide to go you just throw everything in, cover and cook! You can serve your chicken and salsa dinner on top of white or brown rice.
• This creates burrito bowls in essence. Or put your salsa shredded chicken inside small flour tortillas to make soft tacos topped with lettuce and cheese.

Both ways are delicious but we love tacos with this or with our Crockpot jerk chicken so we opt for that choice most of the time.

Salsa Chicken Crockpot Frozen

You can really load this slow cooker salsa chicken recipe up with lots of bell peppers and onions, or add just a few. They add great flavor even if you don’t eat them when the chicken is done. It’s super easy because you only need a few items with little prep beforehand. This is what you need to make this crockpot salsa chicken recipe

Ingredients

1. Boneless skinless chicken breasts or use chicken thighs if you prefer, frozen either one will work too without a change to the cook time
2. Salsa – any heat level, chunky is best
3. Taco seasoning – use a packet or make your own
4. Onions sliced thick are best

Variations

There are lots of other things you could add to make this heartier, above are the basics. You could also add;

• Sliced bell peppers
• Drained can of black beans
• Can of diced tomatoes will make more sauce
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Chiles diced right out of the can
• Sour cream is a great topping once it is done! We love sliced avocado too. 😉

Can you make salsa chicken with frozen chicken?

Yes! If you want to make this with Crockpot frozen chicken you will want to make sure the pieces are separated. If they are in a solid block, run under cool water until you can pull them apart and then lay inside. The timing won’t even change!!

If I am in a bind I have made frozen chicken breasts in a slow cooker before I always try to thaw out my meat in the fridge the night before though

How can I quickly defrost chicken?

Put meat into a bowl and run hot water over it. Submerge chicken and allow it to thaw. Check internal temperature, you want it to be 140 degrees. This should take 30 minutes or less to do.

Crockpot Salsa Shredded Chicken

The amount of chicken breasts you use depends on how many people you’re feeding but I usually use 4 medium size breasts. I don’t like using really large thick breasts because they won’t become as tender. If that is all I can find though I will just cut them in half before putting them in.

Can you put raw chicken in a slow cooker?

Yes! We do so for this recipe and many others. You will need just a bit of liquid or salsa in Crock pot works just as well, about 1 cup does it. You don’t need much as the meat will let out some broth.

BUT do not put raw ground beef. Instead precook it like we did with our 5 ingredient chili.

Salsa Chicken Crockpot Recipe

Why we love this chicken in the Crockpot

1. It is probably one of the cheapest recipes I have in my back pocket.
2. It’s healthy and low in saturated fat.
3. You can add in as many onions and peppers as you’d like.
4. There is tons of flavor with just 3 ingredients.

Served over pressure cooker rice or this is How to Make Flour Tortillas with Oil homemade. It is a versatile meal, and super healthy too!

How do you keep chicken from drying out in a Crockpot?

You have the option to cook on high or low temp. I prefer a lower slower for the ideal texture and to keep it moist, but it depends on what you have time for I guess.  This is not the case when meat is added to casseroles or dishes like this one with other ingredients and liquid.

1. One way is to use chicken thighs instead of breasts, they are more tender.
2. Cook on low vs. high temperature to avoid drying out.
3. Make sure you have enough liquid in your slow cooker to keep it moist.
4. Do not keep in too long.
   1. Chicken thighs alone shouldn’t be in for longer than 6 hours
   2. Breasts should cook for a maximum of 5 hours

Leftover Shredded Salsa Chicken Ideas

If you do have some left, allow it to cool and store in freezer bags or containers in the fridge. Day after you can make a sort of quick version of our slow cooker chicken cacciatore with adding some more sauce, tossing and making fresh rice. After you enjoy this one here are a few other slow cooker dinners you will love;

• Healthy Crock pot chicken noodle soup
• You can try these slow cooker chicken thighs.