Salsa Verde Crock Pot Chicken

We have been on a salsa verde kick for the past few months ever since our friends Patrick and Laura brought some homemade salsa on a weekend trip we took together in September.  I've been a big fan of the regular salsa chicken and figured I could try making it with salsa verde.  I decided to add a little lime juice and cilantro for a little extra something and it turned out just perfectly.  I think I even like it better than the regular salsa chicken and it is almost as easy!

Salsa Verde Crock Pot Chicken
From: Elizabeth's Dutch Oven
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 8 hrs on low

Ingredients:
1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 jar salsa verde
1 large handfull of cilantro chopped
1 lime

Directions:
1. Place chicken in the crock pot.  Pour salsa verde over chicken.  Squeeze half a lime and sprinkle chopped cilantro over top.

2. Cook on low for 8 hours.  Pull out chicken and shred.  Return shredded chicken to crock pot and stir into salsa mixture.  Keep on warm until time to serve.  Serve on tortillas or over lettuce with fixings of your choice.

Crock Pot Baked Potato Soup

My friend Jorie made this soup for our small group a couple weeks ago and it hit the spot on a cool fall day.  So I got the recipe from her and gave it a shot.  My cream cheese took a lot longer to melt than I thought (I even used the regular as directed, not low fat), so next time I will try bringing the cream cheese to room temperature before adding it instead of straight from the fridge.  Everyone really liked it, but I do have to say that the toppings really make the soup, so make sure you have some!

Crock Pot Baked Potato Soup
From: Jorie Meyer
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 6-8 hrs
Serves: 4-6

Ingredients:
1 30 oz bag of frozen, shredded hash browns
3 14oz cans of chicken broth
1 can of cream of chicken soup
1 onion, chopped
1/4 tsp ground pepper
1 pkg cream cheese (do not use fat free, it won't melt)

Directions:
1. In a crock pot, combine everything except for the cream cheese.  Cook for 6-8 hours on low.

2. About an hour before serving stir and add the cream cheese and turn to high until thoroughly melted (it will melt faster if it is already softened and not straight out of the fridge).

3.  Serve with shredded cheese, bacon bits, sour cream, and green onions.

Crock Pot Beef & Broccoli

Whenever we get Chinese food, Bill almost always orders Beef and Broccoli.  When I saw this easy recipe that could be done in the slow cooker, I knew I had to make it.  It turned out really good.  The red pepper flakes give it a little spice that you don't expect, but if you aren't into spice you could easily leave that out and it would still be really flavorful.  I'm sure I will be making this again soon!

Crock Pot Beef and Broccoli
From: A Year of Slow Cooking
Prep Time: 10 min
Cook Time: 6-8 hrs on low

Ingredients:
1 lb thin beef
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 Tbsp white wine
2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 Tbsp brown sugar
2 tsp sesame oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 bag frozen broccoli florets, thawed

Directions:
1. Add the liquid to the crockpot. Add garlic and spices to mixture.

2.  Slice meat into thin strips, toss in liquid and spices.

3. Cook on low fro 6-8 hours.

4.  A 1/2 hr to an hour before hand, add bag of broccoli and cook on high for 1/2 hr to an hour until warm.

5. Serve over white or brown rice.

Crock Pot Baked Potatoes

This recipe might be the easiest recipe I've ever made.  I like baked potatoes, but I don't really want to wait on a week night for them to cook in the oven, or I just don't want to heat the house up with the oven.  This is the perfect solution and the potatoes are cooked just perfectly!

Crock Pot Baked Potatoes
From: Skip to my Lou
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 8 hrs

Ingredients:
Potatoes
Aluminum foil

Directions:
1. Wash potatoes and wrap each potato in aluminum foil.

2.  Place potatoes in crock pot and cook on low for at least 8 hrs.

Freezer Meal - Crock Pot Hawaiian Chicken

This is another freezer meal I made a while back.  When I cooked it, I added some green pepper chunks  since I had them on hand. I have to be honest, this wasn't my favorite.  It wasn't bad per say, it was just kind of boring.  I might try to come up with a variation of this though because I like a good sweet and sour chicken, and in the crock pot even better.

Freezer Meal - Crock Pot Hawaiian Chicken
From: Making our Marx
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 6-7 hrs

Ingredients:
2-3 chicken breasts
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup vinegar
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tbs soy sauce
1 can of large pineapple chunks
2 cup of pineapple juice (from can)

Directions:
1. Place all ingredients into gallon freezer bag.  Get out as much air as possible when closing.  Freeze.

2.  To cook: Thaw, place contents of bag in crock pot and cook on low for 6-7 hours.  Shred and serve over rice.

*** I didn't read very closely since I was doing a bunch of these and cut the chicken into pieces instead of leaving them whole.  I think they should turn out fine though ****

Freezer Meal - Crock Pot Cilantro Lime Chicken

Here is another freezer meal I made a while back.  When I put it in the crock pot, I ended up adding about 1/4 cup water to the pot because I didn't think it looked very moist.  Not sure if it needed it or not though.  This was very easy and tasty.

Freezer Meal - Crock Pot Cilantro Lime Chicken
From: Making our Marx
Prep Time: 15 min
Cook Time: 8 hours

Ingredients:
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
juice from 2 limes
1 bunch cilantro, chopped
1 (16oz) bag frozen corn
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 red onion, chopped
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 tsp cumin
salt and pepper

Directions:
1. Prep all ingredients and place in a 1 gallon freezer bag.  Remove as much air as possible and close.  Freeze.

2.  To cook, thaw and place contents of bag in crock pot.  Cook on low for 8 hours.  Shred meat and serve on tortillas with fixings.

Freezer Meal - Crock Pot Chicken Fajitas

Here is another meal I made when I did my Freezer Meal extravaganza.  After making it I realized it is really similar to my other Crock Pot Fajitas. I actually didn't end up making these myself, I gave them away, but I do have another one in my freezer to try someday.  I assume they taste similar to the other recipe and the recipients of the meal (my in-laws) said it was quite tasty.


Freezer Meal - Crock Pot Chicken Fajitas
From: Making our Marx
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 5-6 hours

Ingredients:
2 green peppers, sliced
1 onion, sliced
3 chicken breasts
1/2 cup chicken broth
taco seasoning packet (or 2-3 Tbsp taco seasoning)
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp paprika
1 tsp salt

Directions:
1. Slice green peppers and onions.  Combine all ingredients in gallon freezer bag.  Get as much air out when closing bag.  Freeze.

2. To Cook: Thaw, place contents of bag in crock pot and cook for 5-6 hours on low.  Shred meat and serve on tortillas with fixings.

*** This is actually from my other recipe, but I assume they look very similar!

Crock Pot Chicken Fajitas

These crock pot Fajitas were beyond easy (although regular fajitas aren't exactly taxing either) and had good flavor.  The only thing is that they don't really come out exactly like regular fajitas.  The chicken is shredded and the peppers and onions are softer than I usually like in my fajitas. The flavor is there, but don't expect it to look exactly like a fajita.  I ended up making a fajita bowl with some brown rice and black beans, as you can see in the pictures, and I thought it was really good.

Crock Pot Chicken Fajitas
From: Stacy Makes Cents
Prep Time: 10 min
Cook time: 6-8 hours

Ingredients:
1 yellow onion, sliced
3 peppers (green, red, yellow, or orange), sliced
1 1/2 lbs boneless chicken breast
1/4 - 1/2 cup chicken broth
1/2 tsp salt
2 Tbsp cumin
1 1/2 Tbsp Chili powder
Squirt of lime juice
Tortillas
Fajita fixins

Directions:
1. Combine sliced onion and peppers in the bottom of a greased crockpot.

2. Lay chicken on top of veggies

3. Pour broth over top, sprinkle with cumin, salt, chili powder and squirt of lime juice.

4.  Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours.

5. When meat is done, shred with two forks and stir back into juices.  Serve meat mixture with slotted spoon on tortillas with your choice of fixings.  Or serve over rice and black beans for a fajita bowl like I did. :) 

Slow Cooker Spicy Lime Shredded Chicken Lettuce Wraps with Avocado Salsa

A slow cooker recipe that is Mexican and is for South Beach diet phase 1? Sign me up.  This turned out really tasty and I LOVED the avocado salsa on top.  It really added to the dish.  We ate this in lettuce cups, but you could easily serve this with regular taco shells.  It was very similar to the Santa Fe Chicken Tacos, but without the corn and black beans.  I'll make this again, maybe in some tacos next time!

Chicken Ingredients

Avocado Salsa Ingredients

Slow Cooker Spicy Lime Shredded Chicken Lettuce Wraps with Avocado Salsa
From: Kalyn's Kitchen
Prep Time: 5 min for chicken, 5-10 min for salsa
Cook time: 8 hrs on low

Ingredients:
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 cup mild or medium tomato salsa (I actually used a whole 16oz jar)
1 tsp onion powder
1 can (4oz) diced green chiles, not drained
1-2 Tbsp Cholula, or Tapatio or other hot sauce
2 T fresh squeezed lime juice
Iceberg lettuce

Avocado Salsa Ingredients:
2 avocados, diced
3/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro (who am I kidding, I got tired of pulling off the leaves so I probably only used 1/2 cup)
1/4 cup red onion, chopped
1/4 cup fresh squeezed lime juice

Directions:
1. Trim visible fat from chicken breasts.  Spray the inside of slow cooker with cooking spray and lay chicken in the bottom.   Mix together salsa, onion powder, diced green chiles, lime juice, and hot sauce.  pour mixture over chicken.  Cook for 8 hours on low.

2. When chicken is done, remove each piece witha  slotted spoon and lay it on a plate or cutting board.  Turn the slow cooker to high and leave the lid partly off so steam can evaporate.  Shred chicken with 2 forks, or let cool enough to shred with fingers.   Put chicken back in crock pot and mix with sauce.

3. Mix together avocados, lime, onion, and cilantro in a bowl.  Wash lettuce but keep in bowl shapes.

4. Fill each bowl with a scoop of chicken mixture and a scoop of avocado salsa and eat like a taco.

If not on on SB diet Phase one, you can eat in a taco shell instead of lettuce wrap.

 

Dry Black Beans in a Slow Cooker

This is a super easy recipe that will give you a bunch of black beans to eat right away or freeze.  I think they turned out just as good as a can of beans, if not better, and a bag of beans is cheaper and yields more beans!

Dry Black Beans in a Slow Cooker
From: Jacki and John Ate This
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 6 hrs

Ingredients:
1 lb bag of dry black beans (I actually used a 2lb bag)
6 cups of water per pound of beans

Directions:
1. Spread the beans out on a big tray to weed out any debris or bad looking beans.

2. Rinse beans in colander and add to slow cooker. Add 6 cups of water per pound of beans to slow cooker.

Don't they just look so good freshly rinsed!

3. Set Crock Pot to high and let cook for about 6 hours.

4. When beans are soft, put in a colander and rinse. (Alternately, I didn't rinse some mine so I could use the beans and juice in some recipes).

5. Serve or divide into meal size containers and freeze.  Use them just like canned beans in any recipe.

Chicken Nacho Dip

I wanted to try a new dip for the Superbowl and you can't go wrong with a cheesy nacho dip.  While I realize the pictures of these are horrible (possibly my worst yet), I assure you that it was very tasty.  I did leave out the jalapeno because one of our guests doesn't like spicy food, but I think it would be great with them so I'll add them next time.  It was creamy and cheesy with good flavor.  Great for dipping chips or putting on Nachos!  In general I think I prefer the spicy sausage rotel I usually make, but this is a nice new one to add to the rotation.

Chicken Nacho Dip
From: The Swain Family
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 2 hours

Ingredients:
3-4 chicken breasts (cooked and shredded)
1 lb velveeta (cut in cubes)
taco seasoning packet
1 can rotel
1/2 cup green onions
1 jalapeno (diced)
1/3 cup sour cream
1 can black beans (drained and rinsed)

Directions:
1. Combine all ingredients except the beans int he crockpot for 1 1/2 - 2 hours on high (stirring occasionally)  - I actually did it on low for about 3 hrs.

2. Stir in black beans for the last 20 minutes.  Serve with tortilla chips.

Slow Cooker Sweet Barbacoa Pork

I make all sorts of tacos (Chicken, steak, ground beef, fish) but had yet make a pork taco/burrito.  So I thought I would give this Barbacoa Pork a shot.  It was quite good, but is on the sweeter side.  Another thing to note is that I made this full recipe for 6 people and still had leftovers for days.  So be warned, this makes a LOT.  I will probably cut it in half next time. This can be used for tacos, burritos, burrito bowl, or salad.  I served it with brown rice and black beans and made mine into a bowl with everything (even though it is hard to see the rice and black beans under everything), others made it into more of a taco/burrito. I think they would be tasty in anything!

Slow Cooker Sweet Barbacoa Pork
From: Heat Oven to 350
Prep time: 5-10 min (refrigerate a few hours or overnight)
Cook time: 4-5 hrs on high + 1/2 hr, or 7-8 hrs on low, + 2 hrs

Ingredients:
5-6 lb pork roast (can use bone in)
3 cans (12oz) Coke, divided
1 - 1 1/4 cup brown sugar, divided
1/4 cup water
2 cloves of garlic, minced
7oz can chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (sauce only, not the peppers, I poured the can into a strainer, and poured the coke over the peppers to rinse off the sauce into the crockpot)
3/4 cup red taco sauce
1 tsp ground mustard
1 tsp cumin

Directions:
1. Put the pork, 1 can of Coke and 1/4 cup brown sugar in a ziploc bag to marinade.  Marinade in the refrigerator for a few hours or overnight.

2. Pour meat and marinade into crock pot.  Add the water and cook for 4-5 hrs on high, or 7-8 hrs on low.

3. Drain liquid. Shred meat with two forks into bite sized peaces.

4. Place pork back in crock pot with 1 1/2 cans of coke, 3/4 - 1 cup brown sugar (I used 3/4 cup and it was plenty sweet), garlic, adobo sauce from the peppers, taco sauce, ground mustard and cumin.  Cover and cook on low for 2 hours or high for 30 min.

5. Stir up the shredded pork and serve over rice, in a burrito, or on a salad.

Slow Cooker Quinoa Chicken Chili

It is winter here in Chicago and even though we have had hardly any snow so far and the temps have been higher than normal, it still means it is crock pot weather for me.  Southwest flavor + Chili + Crock pot = Must make.  This has all the ingredients I love and turned out fantastic.  The quinoa cooked up just right while leaving a chili consistency that is very hearty plus the added bonus that it really only takes 10 min to prepare!   We had this for dinner and so many leftovers I ate them for several days after.   There is something to be said for a warm hearty soup/chili in the middle of winter that warms your bones and your heart.

***Please ignore the taco sauce, as I purchased it for another recipe but it somehow managed to find it's way into this picture.  In fact, imagine it to be another can of black beans that I not only forgot in the picture but forgot to put in the chili.***

Slow Cooker Quinoa Chicken Chili
From: Sweet Treats and More
Prep Time: 5-10 min
Cook Time:  5-7 hrs

Ingredients:
1 cup quinoa, rinsed
1 (28oz) can crushed tomatoes
1 (14oz) can diced tomatoes with green chilies
2 (16 oz) can black beans
1 (15 oz) corn, drained
2 1/2 - 3 cups chicken stock
2 large chicken breasts
1 large bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 tsp minced onion
1 tsp garlic
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp crushed red pepper
1 tsp chili powder

Instructions:
1. Season chicken with salt and pepper

2. Place everything in a 6 qt slow cooker and cook for 5-7 hours on low.

3. Remove chicken, shred it and return to slow cooker.  Keep warm until ready to serve.  Garnish with Cheese and/or sour cream.

Crock Pot Minestrone Soup

When my mom came to visit she was just getting over being sick so I wanted to make her some soup, but wanted it to be ready when I got home because she would already be there and probably be hungry.  I've seen a lot of crock pot chili recipes, but wanted something lighter.  When I saw this recipe for Minestrone Soup, I knew it would be perfect.  I didn't have vegetable juice, but did have some tomato juice so I used that instead and I think it turned out pretty good! Not perfect, but considering I spent all of 15 minutes chopping and putting it together, I'd say it was a success!

Crock Pot Minestrone Soup
From: Smashed Peas and Carrots
Prep Time: 15 min
Cook Time: 6-8 hours

Ingredients:
4 cups chicken broth
 1 1/2 cup vegetable juice (like V8)
14.5oz can diced tomatoes, undtrained
2 cups fresh spinach
1 cup chopped green onions
1 cup chopped celery
1 1/2 cups chopped potatoes
1 can cannellini beans
1 tsp dry parsley
salt and Peper
1/3 cup dry ditalini pasta or other small pasta noodle

Directions: 
1.  Prep all vegetables.  Place everything in crock pot except the pasta and stir well to combine.  Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 4-6.

2. Add Ditalini Pasta and stir well.  Cover and cook for an additional 20 minutes before serving.

Crock Pot Basil Chicken with Feta, Tomatoes, Garbanzos, and Olives

I really liked the salty savoriness of this dish - plus it is in the crockpot so that makes it even better. The only problem with this dish is that I'm gone longer than 7 hours so the chicken was a little drier than it probably should be.  Even with that, I will definitely make this again. But if you have a crockpot with a timer or can turn it to warm after 7 or 8 hours I think it would be just perfect. 

Crock Pot Basil Chicken with Feta, Tomatoes, Garbanzos, and Olives
From: A Year of Slow Cooking
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 6-7 hours

Ingredients:
2 lbs of boneless skinless chicken thighs (I actually used chicken breasts
1 can (14.5 oz) can fire roasted tomatoes
1 can (14.5 oz) Garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup pitted green olives
1/4 cup tightly packed basil leaves
8 oz crumbled feta cheese

Directions:
1. Place chicken into the bottom of your slow cooker, add entire can of tomatoes, garbanzo beans, green olives, basil leaves (can leave them whole - I did) and crumble on feta cheese.

2. Cover and cook on low for 6-7 hours or on high for about 3 hours.

Crock Pot Creamy Corn

I made this a long time ago, but forgot to post it.  I thought it was delicious and easy but made a lot.  It was creamy and is good comfort food.  Bill thought it was only ok.  He thought it was a little heavy plus he doesn't love corn the way that I do.

Crock Pot Creamy Corn
From: deme7 via Tasty kitchen
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 1 hour

Ingredients:
1 bag frozen corn (large bag)
1 block cream cheese
5 Tbsp Sugar

Directions:
1. Throw everything into a crock pot set on high for 1 hour.  Cream cheese will melt into a creamy sauce.  Salt and pepper to taste.

Crock Pot Santa Fe Chicken Tacos

I love Crock Pot meals, even in the summer. Give me a Mexican/southwest crock pot recipe and you better believe I'm going to try it.  As you can probably see from my picture that I forgot scallions and what you probably can't see is that I didn't have any onion powder (but I think I disguised it well since all my spices are in my tiny bowl). So I used some dried onion instead.  Figured it would be ok, and guess what it was better than ok... it was delicious (I really need to find new words to describe my meals... I use delicious a LOT)!  And best part is that it made so much that we had left overs for lunch for the next couple of days. This is a great one to keep in my back pocket when having guests... easy to make, tastes great, and makes enough for a decent sized group.

Crock Pot Santa Fe Chicken Tacos
From: Chef in Training
Prep Time: 10 min
Cook Time:10 hours on low

Ingredients:
1 1/2 lb chicken
1 (14oz) can diced tomatoes with mild green chiles
1 (15oz) can black beans
1 can corn (drained) or frozen
1/4 cup fresh cilantro chopped
1 (14oz) can chicken broth
3 scallions, chopped
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp cayenne pepper
Salt & Pepper

Directions:
1. Combine chicken broth, beans, corn, tomatoes, cilantro, scallions, garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, cayenne pepper and salt in the crock pot.

2. Season chicken breast with salt and lay on top.

3. Cook on low for 10 hours or on high for 6 hours.

4.  Half hour before serving, remove chicken and shred. Return chicken to slow cooker and stir in.  Adjust salt and seasoning.  Serve over rice or in tacos.