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Guest Post by Tiffany at Don’t Waste the Crumbs
You know the saying, “You can’t believe everything you hear?” Well, the same is true for what you read on the Internet.
Last month, I shared with you what a typical day was like for my family. It was a glimpse into how we do homeschool, how we’re teaching the kids responsibility and independence, and how a real food family eats healthy without spending hours in the kitchen or breaking their budget. I didn’t plan it to happen this way, but the day I posted about was one of those good, average days.
But let me assure you – not every day goes as smoothly. There are many days when we’re scrambling for time… pushing to finish a science page so we can FINALLY make it to library before story-time starts, followed by quickly swinging by the market for chicken, so we can get home to make a dinner only to get back in the car to deliver it to a new mom at church who lives more than 20 minutes away… and so, you know as well as I do, how one of these busy days goes.
That’s why I’ve dusted off my slow-cooker and opted to put it to good use during this busy season. It’s just another way we’re keeping it simple! I’m a big fan of the slow-cooker and why not? You can put in raw, frozen food and at the end of the day, you magically have a hot, delicious meal. Meanwhile, you don’t have to stand at the stove and stir, monitor the temperature or timer, or even be at home at all! And yet you still take all the credit for a home-cooked meal? Goodness, what’s not to love?
So I thought it would be helpful to share our favorite slow-cooker salsa chicken recipe, so other busy families can benefit from this great go-to recipe. I stumbled across a similar recipe years ago, but have adapted and changed it to increase the nutrition and flavor while reducing the cost.
- Beans are a nutrition powerhouse and a frugal source of protein.
- Even though the recipe only calls for just one pound of chicken, this meal can easily serve 4-6.
- Most ingredients are pantry staples, making it easy to put this together.
- A simple dinner salad and a bed of rice make this dinner easy, even on the busiest of nights. Take it one step further by working smarter: Make a double salad and double batch of rice from a meal earlier in the week and set it aside for this meal so everything’s ready to go.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups garbanzo beans (either soaked and cooked, or canned)
- 1 1/2 cups cooked black beans (either soaked and cooked, or canned)
- 1 1/2 cups corn kernels
- 1 cup homemade salsa (or just throw all of those ingredients in the slow-cooker)
- 1/2 cup salsa verde
- 1 lb. uncooked chicken (any pieces)
- 1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
Instructions
- Place all ingredients in a 6-quart slow cooker. Turn on low, cook for 4-6 hours. Serve over a bed of rice, or with a side of GF cornbread or warm tortillas.
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Looking for more amazingly delicious and easy Crockpot Recipes,
check out these reader-favorites:
What’s your favorite go-to crockpot recipe for busy, hustle-bustle days?
Meet Tiffany!
Tiffany is a frugal foodie – passionate about feeding her family healthy food, while being a good steward of her family’s finances. She’s a homeschooling mother of two, loving wife to one and a child of God blessed in more ways than she can count. She shares her enthusiasm for affording real food without going broke, and documents her baby-sized strides at Don’t Waste the Crumbs. Join Tiffany and the Crumbs Community on Facebook or Google+ for encouragement and small, simple steps to healthier living.
Are those dry beans or canned? If dry, do you need to add a liquid?
Great catch, Jackie! I asked Tiffany about this and then forgot to make the edit – so it’s my fault. Apologies to you and Tiffany! The beans are precooked. So you can use beans you’ve already cooked and frozen for use in recipes or you can use canned beans. I’ve made the correction in the recipe. As far as a liquid, the salsas serve that purpose (as well as provide a wealth of flavor). Blessings, Kelly 🙂
I love the crock pot too! Making pot roast this week, takes maybe 10 min to prepare 🙂
3-4 pound butt beef roast
Carrots
Celery
Onion
Some people use potatoes (I don’t)
For a sweeter roast use seasonings with balsamic vinegar and water, for more beefy-salty use Au jus sauce. Cook on low for 8-9 hours (don’t over cook though!!!)
So funny, Jacci. I have a crockpot beef stew we love that uses balsamic vinegar (http://thenourishinghome.com/2013/01/easy-crockpot-beef-stew-gf-df/). It gives such a rich flavor to the stew. Thanks for popping over to say hello and share your favorite slow cooker meal! Lots of blessings, Kelly 🙂
I use a similar recipe but add 8 oz of cream cheese at the very end. Just long enough to melt it. Break up the chicken, stir in the cheese, and voila: Creamy Salsa Chicken. Yummers!
Oooh! That sounds so delicious! Thank you for sharing! 🙂 Blessings, Kelly
This looks amazing, I can’t wait to make it. I love that it uses fresh salsa. I have a ton of tomatoes at the moment so have been making a lot of salsa. This will be a great dinner dish. Thank you so much.
Thanks for your kind words, Monica. It would be a great way to use those fresh tomatoes of yours. Many blessings, Kelly 🙂
This is the easiest dinner ever! I am trying it tonight and I am sure it will be wonderful!
I recently made it and we all loved it. We had it with a huge heaping scoop of guacamole on top, which I highly recommend! 🙂 Blessings, Kelly
I just made this last night Kelly with your Baja-style Cilantro rice! Thanks to you and Tiffany we had the perfect most delicious dinner combo!!! We actually are not big fans of beans in our house, but we are now!!! This was so yummy!! Thank you both for supplying such easy, healthy, and delicious recipes!
I just made this last night Kelly with your Baja-Style Cilantro rice. Thanks to you and Tiffany we had the perfect dinner combo! It was so yummy!!1 We are actually not fans of beans in this house, but we are now! This will definitely be part of our regular menus!
Oops! So sorry for posting twice! For some reason I didn’t think the first one went through so I did it again! My bad!
No worries! Who doesn’t like to receive a compliment – twice!! You are the best! 🙂
Thanks, Faith! Appreciate you taking the time to leave two kind notes. LOL! No worries at all. I totally appreciate the fact that you are so sweet and encouraging. God bless you!! 🙂
This looks so yummy! One question though:
Im new to slow cooking and have no idea how to convert times or measurements when I’m wanting to make more of something, so I was wondering you could help me out with that! 🙂
I have a family of 5 and I’m wondering how I can double this recipe and/or if I need to increase the cooking time.
I’m planning my meals for the week today so I hope I hear back from you soon! 🙂
Hi, Allison. It really depends on each recipe of course. You can find some general tips here: http://www.crockpotseasonings.com/cooking-tips.html You’ll notice that most crockpot recipes have a time range since crockpots can vary in the temperatures they hold at low and high. So I always recommend checking food at the lowest temp first for doneness and then proceed on with cooking further if necessary.
With regard to doubling this recipe, I would start by cooking it for the full 6 hours and then check the chicken for doneness. If not done, continue to cook in half-hour increments until the chicken reaches desired level of doneness. Then you’ll know for the next time the right cook time for your particular crockpot and meat quantity used.
I am confident you are going to love crockpot cooking! It’s an especially easy way to get a home cooked meal on the table with little effort and time expenditure. That’s why I have many crockpot recipes here.
Many blessings, Kelly 🙂