Tex-Mex Chicken Chili

This month is being called “Crocktober” in the food blog circles. It’s a challenge to use your crock-pot to cook a meal every day.  I jumped on the idea of this challenge because I love the idea of coming home to dinner being done.  The recipe I want to share with you today was our Crocktober Day #3.  

Chicken Chili was born during my first year living in a college apartment. My two roommates and I would often host a huge group of our dorm-dwelling friends for weekly dinners in our tiny apartment. Those nights are some of my fondest memories. Sometimes people pitched in for food costs and we got fancy, but other times we had to get creative with what we already had on hand. This was one of those throw a combination into the crock-pot, hope it tastes okay, and hope it feeds 8-10 people kind of meals. Thankfully, it turned out great and I had people asking me for the recipe at the end of the night (which I had to admit to making up on the spot). I wrote it down and tweaked it a bit as we made it a few more times. My husband, who was just a friend over for dinner at the debut night of this recipe, still requests this chili any time I ask him to help me meal plan almost 5 years later.  I think he might be willing to eat it every day.  (Which is not recommended, by the way, due to the black bean content.)

If you look at the picture above you can see what looks like a plastic bag in my crock-pot.  This, my friends, is a slow-cooker liner.  One of the best things ever invented (after the invention of sliced bread and the crock-pot itself that is.)  It’s basically a heat-resistant (BPA-free) plastic bag that goes between your food and the crock so clean up is a breeze at the end of the meal: just pull it out, toss it and rinse the crock-pot. I love easy!  You can find them next to the foil in the grocery store.

So, on to the recipe: The first step in this is to cook the chicken in the crock-pot.  Pour in the broth, stir in the spices and salsa, toss in the (defrosted) raw chicken, and set it for 4 hours on High or 8 on Low.  Mine has a timer that switches to warm when it ends, but you don’t have to be super-exact with slow cooker timing.  When the chicken is done, I have a Pinterest tip to share with you:  If you have a stand mixer, pull it out at this point and toss in the hot, cooked chicken breasts with the paddle attachment.  Turn it to speed 2 and watch as your chicken is shredded in just a few seconds before your eyes.  I actually had to stop the mixer to take a few of the photos below because it shredded them so fast!  I will never use forks to shred again.

If you don’t have a stand mixer, you’ll have to pull out the two forks and shred the chicken the old fashioned way.  When it’s shredded, put it back in the broth mixture and add in the 2 cans of black beans and 2 of mexicorn:

At this point, it’s technically “done” but I like to let everything simmer for another hour so the beans and corn can absorb the flavors. I use the extra time to make some mexicornbread and clean up around my kitchen or prep a side salad.

I like to serve this up with a dollop of plain Greek yogurt (our favorite healthy substitution for sour cream), some shredded cheddar jack, and a bit of cilantro with a piece of Mexicornbread on the side.

Tex-Mex Chicken Chili

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• Author: Stephanie Powers
• Prep Time: 10 min
• Cook Time: 8 hours
• Total Time: 8 hours 10 minutes

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Description

An easy to prepare slow cooker chicken chili.

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Ingredients

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• 4–6 skinless, boneless chicken breasts (about 2 lbs)
• 3–4 cups chicken broth (you want to cover the chicken, but not make soup)
• 1 (21 ounce) jar Wal-Mart black bean and corn salsa (or your favorite kind)
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 (11 ounce) cans Mexican-style corn (drained)
• 2 (15 ounce) cans black beans (rinsed and drained)
• 1 slow-cooker liner (optional)

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Instructions

1. Put liner in slow cooker.
2. Add broth and stir in garlic powder, cumin, chili powder, salt, pepper, and salsa.
3. Add the chicken and cook 6 to 8 hours on low setting or until chicken is fully cooked and shreds easily.
4. About an hour before you want to eat, shred the chicken with the paddle attachment of your stand mixer on the stir setting or use 2 forks.
5. Return the meat to the pot, and add the corn and the black beans into the slow cooker.
6. Leave it on the Warm (or Low) setting until ready to serve.
7. Top with sour cream and shredded cheese. Serve with Microwave Mexicornbread

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Notes

• I prefer to add the black beans and corn after shredding the chicken because it’s easier to pull it out without digging through the other stuff and I’m usually in a hurry to start this before leaving for work. I’m sure it will turn out just fine if you throw everything in at the beginning of the cook time.

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Nutrition

• Serving Size: 8