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4 Ingredient Salsa Chicken Crockpot Recipe

Here is an easy 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 frozen chicken breasts or thighs for this one!

Salsa Chicken Crockpot Recipe

This easy salsa chicken crockpot recipe only costs about $10 total and feeds all 5 of us. Everyone loved it! Bonus!! It’s one of our favorite healthy crockpot recipes here on The Typical Mom. Let us know what you think when you try it. (originally published 5/18, affiliate links present)

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.

FIRST – You should sign up for my free newsletter so you get new posts emailed to you twice a week and never miss out on anything! 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. If you just want to serve a few appetizers you should get this one that sit side by side one another.
  3. 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

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 Recipe 3

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

  1. Boneless skinless chicken breasts
    1. use chicken thighs if you prefer
    2. 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. Bell peppers
  5. Onion

I mean you could add several things into this if you didn’t think it was enough, which it is. If you go for something like corn I would use the frozen variety so it doesn’t get too soft with the heat over time.

  • Drained can of black beans
  • Can of diced tomatoes will make more sauce
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • Chiles

Sour cream is a great topping once it is done! We love sliced avocado too. 😉

Salsa Chicken Crockpot Recipe 4

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 I put frozen meat in a slow cooker?

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.

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

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

Instant Pot Salsa Chicken

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 rice or in tortillas 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
crockpot salsa chicken

After you enjoy this one here are a few other slow cooker dinners you will love;

Want to see a few of my favorite things that I am totally obsessed with?? Take a peek and see how many you might already have…twinsies!

Looking for more easy family recipes and tips? LIKE The Typical Mom Facebook page?

Then sign up for my free newsletter, and follow me on Pinterest! 😉

***** If you LOVED this recipe give it 5 Stars below and let everyone know what you thought about it. 😉

the typical mom
Salsa Chicken Crockpot Recipe 2
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5 from 6 votes

Salsa Chicken Crockpot Recipe

Here is an easy 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. If you need an easy family friendly dinner that is inexpensive but super flavorful this is it.
Course Entree, Main Course
Cuisine American, Mexican
Keyword chicken, crockpot, easy, healthy, salsa, slow cooker
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 4 hours
Total Time 4 hours 10 minutes
Servings 5
Calories 94kcal
Author The Typical Mom

Ingredients

Instructions

  • Put chicken breasts on bottom of your crockpot. If you have very large breasts cut in half and make sure all pieces are the same size so they cook evenly.
  • Sprinkle sliced onion and bell peppers on top, sprinkle taco seasoning if you are adding that, then pour salsa over the top of everything.
  • Put lid on and set on high for 4 hours or low for 6-8 hours. Serve on top of rice or shred and serve inside small tortillas for soft tacos.
    * Longer time on low turns out best.

Video

Nutrition Facts
Salsa Chicken Crockpot Recipe
Amount Per Serving (4 oz)
Calories 94 Calories from Fat 9
% Daily Value*
Fat 1g2%
Cholesterol 28mg9%
Sodium 693mg30%
Potassium 508mg15%
Carbohydrates 9g3%
Fiber 2g8%
Sugar 5g6%
Protein 11g22%
Vitamin A 1195IU24%
Vitamin C 34.3mg42%
Calcium 35mg4%
Iron 0.7mg4%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
slow cooker salsa chicken
Recipe Rating




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Nan

Friday 5th of May 2023

How would I make this with cooked chicken. Thank You

The Typical Mom

Friday 5th of May 2023

If it is already cooked and just left over you wouldn't want to cook in crockpot because it would dry it out. I would just fold in enough salsa with shredded cooked meat until coated. Then heat in microwave until warm or in a pot on the stove on medium

Lisa

Thursday 2nd of March 2023

We just had this for dinner and I just had to come back right away to leave a review. This chicken is amazing. I'm iron deficient so I added a drained can of black beans to the recipe so upped the salsa to a 24 oz jar of Walmart's garlic and lime salsa. I used chicken tenderloins from wal-mart and put one diced (large chopped) yellow onion on top and then two chopped (large chop) red peppers. I then added the drained beans and sprinkled the taco seasoning over the top. I poured the entire jar of salsa over it and cooked on high for about 4 - 4.5 hours. I didn't stir at all before cooking it. This recipe is truly as easy as it says it is. I only added a little shredded cheddar when serving. I'll make this at least a few times a month. Lots of leftovers. I use my slow cooker all the time, but this recipe is one of the best I've tried. I'm going to pass it along to family too. I didn't serve it with rice or tortillas, but I'm sure it would taste fantastic with them as sides. It's actually great just by itself.

Thank you so much or posting it.

The Typical Mom

Friday 3rd of March 2023

Oh yeah so glad it was a hit

ciera

Saturday 18th of April 2020

white or yellow onion?

The Typical Mom

Saturday 18th of April 2020

I always use yellow but it is preference

Ashley

Tuesday 28th of May 2019

It doesn't get much easier than this! On dinner rotation in our house.

Jessica Formicola

Tuesday 28th of May 2019

This is one of my family's favorite recipes! We make it at least 3 times a month!

The Typical Mom

Wednesday 29th of May 2019

Yeah!!

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