No pre-cooking? No chopping? You know you want to make this easy-peasy slow cooker green salsa chicken for your family tonight! (Double it for leftovers!)
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This new recipe is at the top of the list when it comes to quick and easy (and tasty)! Not only is there no precooking required, but there’s no chopping either! You literally just dump a few items into the slow cooker, turn it on to cook, and – voila! – just one small set of measuring spoons left to clean.
Not to mention it was even easier to serve this finished dish over brown rice (love those little bags of the pre-cooked stuff) with a few colorful items on top. This dish was a big hit with the family. I think I’ll be doubling this recipe next time for more leftovers! :)
Slow Cooker Green Salsa Chicken
No pre-cooking? No chopping? You know you want to make this easy-peasy slow cooker green salsa chicken for your family tonight! (Double it for leftovers!)
Print Recipe
Servings: 6 people
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Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds chicken thighs (boneless, skinless)
- 1 tablespoon oregano
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1 15 ounce can pinto beans (drained and rinsed)
- 1 1/2 cups frozen corn
- 1 12 ounce jar tomatillo salsa ( (I like Trader Joe’s brand) or other salsa verde, or about 1 1/3 cups homemade)
For Serving
- brown rice
- Monterey Jack cheese (grated)
- avocado (sliced)
- sour cream
- cilantro
- jalapeño (diced (if you like spice!))
Instructions
- Place the chicken in the bottom of the slow cooker. Sprinkle the oregano, cumin, salt and pepper on top. Pour in the beans, corn and salsa and cook on high for 3 to 4 hours or low for 6 hours.
- Spoon over brown rice (we used 2 bags of pre-cooked rice) and top with cheese, avocado, sour cream, cilantro and diced jalapenos.
Notes
Dairy-free if optional sour cream and cheese are omitted.
We recommend organic ingredients when feasible.
Nutrition Facts
Nutrition Facts
Slow Cooker Green Salsa Chicken
Amount Per Serving
Calories 293
Calories from Fat 171
% Daily Value*
Fat 19g29%
Saturated Fat 5g31%
Cholesterol 111mg37%
Sodium 285mg12%
Potassium 370mg11%
Carbohydrates 11g4%
Fiber 2g8%
Sugar 1g1%
Protein 20g40%
Vitamin A 105IU2%
Vitamin C 3mg4%
Calcium 25mg3%
Iron 1.6mg9%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
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So easy to make and super tasty! It was a hit with the whole family, even my picky 3 year old loved it. 10/10 must try!
This is just as easy as promised and oh, so delicious. Have served it many times to guests and it’s always a hit! When I make it for my husband and myself, we enjoy it for a few days! Thank you for such a tasty and healthy dish.
I’m plant based so I subbed chickpeas for the chicken. This was so quick and easy. I cooked it in the Instant Pot for 8 minutes. It will definitely be on our short list of recipes. It’s good on rice, in a salad, or with chips.
Glad you were able to make some delicious changes to suit your needs. – Nicole
Thank you for resharing this! We made it this week and it was a huge hit. I told my kiddos that it was so easy, they could make it ANYTIME they wanted!! :D Mine was also swimming in juices, but I used some homemade salsa instead. Maybe that was the difference. I’m not complaining :)! Thank you again!
Awesome! Glad everyone enjoyed it. – Nicole
One of our favorites we cook weekly. I use boneless skinless chicken thighs and I am subbing with black beans tonight
Yum! Glad to hear you love it. – Nicole
Just made this tonight, and it turned out fantastic! Thank you for re-sharing this one.
Glad you enjoyed it! – Nicole
I had a lot of liquid when it was done, is that normal?
There will be some liquid once cooked. Shouldn’t be drowning in it though. – Nicole
I’d like to know if anyone has tried making this in the instant pot (with the pressure cook function) and how long they cooked it.
We haven’t tried it in the Instant Pot yet, but as someone who uses theirs often, it would probably work great in there. – Nicole
I did this in the instant pot yesterday. Prepare as directed the. Cook with the valve sealed on manual for 11 minutes. Mine released naturally out of necessity…not sure if a quick release would also work.
Haven’t tried this yet, but will because it looks good!
Instead of bought pre-cooked rice, I bake a two pound bag of brown rice (there are recipes on the web) and freeze them in serving sizes. I do the same thing with dried pinto beans. Then I have the beans to drop into whatever I’m making and don’t have to deal with cooking brown rice every time (which takes a while).
This was fabulous! The only thing different I did was shred the chicken after it was done and mix it back in. I will make this over and over!
Glad you liked it! – Nicole
I cut the chicken up into small bite sized pieces before putting them in the slow cooker.
Any idea how much more time if using bone-in thighs?
Thanks!
Looks like some of our readers have used bone-in and didn’t need to adjust the time. Just keep an eye on it. – Nicole
Made this over the weekend and doubled the recipe. I didn’t have thighs on hand so used chicken breasts. Would have been moister with thighs, but was just fine with the breasts. 4 out of 6 of my family members enjoyed this meal. To use some of the leftovers up I made a sour cream enchilada sauce and threw the chicken mix in tortillas. Used a slotted spoon for the mix so it wasn’t so wet in the tortillas. That turned out very yummy. Might be a great way to repurpose any leftovers you have. Thanks for the great recipes!
Made this for our dinner last night and it was a hit! I even used my Instant Pot to make the pinto beans and the rice.
I bought organic beans from the bulk section at Whole Foods and then followed a recipe I found online to cook them earlier in the day. Did the same with the rice. Bought it in bulk at Whole Foods and then while the chicken was finishing up in the slow cooker, I cooked the rice in my Instant Pot.
We loved this! Thank you, Lisa! I cut the amount of chicken in half and added diced zucchini and squash and 1/4 cup chia seeds to compensate. It was delicious!
SO GOOD!
This is a regular favorite in our house. loved by the whole family. So easy to throw together and tastes great over brown rice.
This is SO good! All 3 of my kids ask for seconds! IF there are any leftovers, they are AMAZING for lunch the next day. One of my family faves!
Can I use boneless skinless chicken breasts? Do I need to adjust the time?
I just made it today and used boneless, skinless chicken breasts. I cooked it on high for 3 1/2 hours and it was delicious! I shredded the chicken after it was cooked and mixed it back in. I think the chicken was probably done sooner, but it hadn’t dried out. I used two cans of pinto beans because I really like them.
Do you leave the chicken whole or cut it into pieces?
Hi. This one is made with 1 1/2 pounds chicken thighs, boneless, skinless, not a whole chicken.
Has anyone tried this in instant pot?
The slow cook feature on the Instant Pot is not very good. I have been very disappointed with it. After doing an internet search about using in Instant Pot to replace my slow cooker I discovered that it was not recommend. So I still have both appliances in my house.
Loved this flavor! I’ve been on a slow cooker binge for some weeks now and this is one of the top recipes I’ve tried so far. Keep ’em coming!
This is quick and easy. we might go one step further, though, and cook the rice (3 ingredients but still processed). On a weekend, we’ll make the tomatillo salsa. Week nights, TJ’s salsa verde has fewer ingredients so we’ll use that.
Making this now!!
This recipe is so yummy like so many others on this website! I followed the ingredients to a T and it is delicious! I’m sitting on the couch eating it right now. :) I did omit brown rice for quinoa and I think next time I’m going to try black beans next! Thanks for sharing Lisa!
Looks and sounds delicious!!
Sorry, my rating did not show up on my previous comments. Gave this five stars.
Found this on your blog and asked my hubby what he thought. He said it sounds good. I made this for tonight’s supper. Had to leave it in the crock pot longer because of my work hours but tasted fine. I use my insta-pot to make a big batch of rice ahead and then bag and freeze for meals like this. Hubby said “this one’s a keeper”, so I guess we will be using it regularly during these cold months.
This turned out great, I added about 2lbs chicken thighs and because I have little ones I cut all meat off bones after a couple hours of cooking on high. Then I mixed my rice right in with it all. I drained it a wee bit too before adding the rice in. It was a hit served with fresh salad! Kids gave thumbs up!
This was one of my favorite recipes from this site! I doubled it and served it with quinoa instead of rice. There was quite a bit of liquid in the crockpot after cooking, so I spooned that out and used it in place of water to cook the quinoa which gave it so much flavor. Great recipe!
Great idea!!
This is probably one of my new favorite recipes! So good!!
Our whole family loved this! Which meant not much leftover for lunches, which is our usual lunch strategy. Do you think it could be doubled easily? Need to adjust cooking time?
Hi. As long as you have room in your crock pot. :)
So just to clarify (because I have the same question), if I double it, do I increase the cooking time at all? (We have a large crockpot so there is room.) Thanks so much! This is one of our family favorites and we hope to make it for a large family gathering coming up…
Jen, there should not be any need to increase the cooking time, just be sure to check it.
I made this yesterday, and my husband and I absolutely love this!!! Just the right amount of spice, and the flavor combinations are amazing. I used chicken breasts, and it still came out perfect. This recipe will be shared and is going in our rotation. Excellent! Thank you, Lisa.
Very good! I just used regular salsa, and black beans instead of pintos (because that’s what I had…) and it turned out as a quick, simple, but tasteful dinner.
Is there a way to modify this for an instapot?
Hi there. I think these will help: https://www.pressurecookingtoday.com/how-to-convert-a-recipe-into-a-pressure-cooker-recipe/ and https://mycrazygoodlife.com/convert-recipes-instant-pot/.
This was one of the best and easiest meals I have made. My whole family ate it and I have a very picky daughter. I substituted the pinto beans for black beans as that is what I had. Delicious. Thanks for this one!
can i use frozen chicken breast ?
Definitely thaw your chicken first.
I use chicken breasts, corn, black beans and salsa. If serving for company I add low fat cream cheese block near end. My family keeps it healthy and omits the cream cheese. So easy and good. I add extra black beans.
We are not big bean eaters so is there something else we can substitute for beans or would it be ok just to omit?
You could omit or replace by adding more corn or another favorite veggie. I’ve used mushrooms to replace beans in southwest paleo recipes.
This is one of my family’s absolute favorites!! Although I don’t not put corn in. Looks like a yummy addition!
This sounds tasty and healthy too! OK to sub boneless skinless chicken breasts instead of the thighs? If so, how many would you recommend?
I made this last night with chicken breasts and it was delicious. Maybe add a little extra salsa and spice, but works fine.
I make something very similar to this. I use chicken breasts and black beans instead. I also add some chopped onion and a little chopped jalepeno.
Thabks. We don’t eat pinto beans so was wondering if I could substitute black beans. Done!