Quick Easy Dinner: Crockpot Chicken Chili

Who doesn’t love a crockpot dinner?! This is honestly my first year using our crockpot for dinners and I can’t believe I’ve gone this long without it! Lately, my go-to meal is this crockpot chicken chili recipe. It’s super simple to make and absolutely delicious! 

Like most crockpot meals, this recipe needs to be prepared and started earlier in the day. Prep work for this meal isn’t that difficult though and to be honest you can save yourself a lot of time by using canned beans and corn or even opting to not use fresh produce (onions, garlic etc.). On lazy days, I’m guilty of paying a little extra for onions already diced in the produce section!

Toppings

Toppings for this crockpot chili recipe are completely according to your preferences. Like traditional chili, we love to top our crockpot chicken chili with shredded cheese and sour cream. I’ve also seen toppings like lime, avocado, extra cilantro, mozzarella, or even tortilla chips! My toddler loves it when we put her chicken chili on top of a bed of rice and my mother-in-law prefers to have extra beans added to this recipe. 

Slow Cookers

I’ve linked below the slow-cookers we love as well as a couple of other options if you’re in the market for a new crockpot. The one we use is a little pricy compared to most slow-cookers, but I love it because it has so many options. For example, if I’m slow-cooking brisket I’m able to sear and slow cook the meat in the same pot. I hate washing dishes so anything I can do to cut back on dishes is a win in my book lol! For this recipe and really any crockpot recipe, a traditional crockpot will totally do as well. I don’t want you to feel like you have to get this specific crockpot for your chili to come out amazing. If you are a forgetful person like myself though, I would recommend getting a programmable crockpot over a manual crockpot.

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Crockpot Chicken Chili Ingredients 

• Chicken breast 
• Chopped onion
• Minced garlic
• Chopped jalapeño
• Chopped cilantro
• 1 ranch dressing packet
• 32 oz chicken broth (you can buy low sodium chicken broth if you’re looking to cut back on sodium)
• 2 cans of 15 oz great northern beans 
• 15 oz sweet corn
• 2 cans of 4 oz diced green chili
• 8 oz block of cream cheese
• 3/4 cup of half and half 

Seasonings I use on my chicken: salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, cumin, chilli powder

Directions

1. Season chicken breast with the ranch seasoning packet and your own desired seasonings and place at the bottom of your crockpot.
2. Add in chopped onions, garlic, jalapeños, and cilantro.
3. Pour in chicken broth as well as your cans of drained/rinsed canned beans, corn and green chili.
4. Cook in a crockpot for 4-6 hours on high or 8 hours on low. I always cook mine on high for 5 hours exactly.
5. An hour before time is up or once chicken is tender and done, remove chicken and shred. A pro tip I learned this year, shred chicken on low with a hand mixer ?! Two forks will totally do, but I’ve just found this so much easier!
6. Add the chicken back in and also add in 1-8 oz block of cream cheese and 3/4 cup of half and half.
7. Let sit for another hour or until everything is well incorporated together.

XO

Michelle