Slow Cooker Season – Finally
It has finally starting feeling like Autumn here in NC, cooling to the 60s, and setting the mood for cooking good, warm comfort foods.
One of my favorite ways to cook these great Fall comfort foods is in the slow cooker. Not only does it make life a lot easier in the evening, but it fills the house with the smell of home-cooking.
One of our favorite go-to slow cooker meals is Slow Cooker Chicken Chili. It is full of flavor, makes enough to share or have leftovers, and is made with things I usually always have on hand.
This recipe requires a little bit of prep before setting the slow cooker, but not too much. The hardest part for me is remembering to take some chicken out of the freezer beforehand.
Some people may balk at frozen chicken, but our family likes to buy fresh chicken breasts or tenderloins in bulk at Costco, then freeze them. I pay about $25 for 6-7 lbs. of chicken. They even sell their chicken in packages ready for freezing. It couldn’t be easier to stock your freezer for a month or 2.
But if you prefer fresh chicken, that’s great, too. Just cut up your chicken into pieces that are about 1 inch, and dice your onion as small as you like. Since my family is not overly fond of onions, I dice mine quite small.
Set these aside for just a moment while you prepare the rest of the chili in the slow cooker. Simply dump in the tomato sauce, salsa, beans, a little water and chili powder and give it a good stir.
Once the tomato bean mixture looks well-mixed, layer the chicken on top of the mix. Next, layer the onion and frozen corn on top of the chicken. Do not mix.
Set your slow cooker on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 4-5 hours. Stir before serving. It’s just that simple.
If you have not jumped on the slow cooker bandwagon yet, or you are in the market for a new one, I recommend the Hamilton Beach 6 qt. model I use. You can get an updated version of mine here on Amazon. I love this model because it comes with a heat probe or temperature tracker. But it also has sealing clips that hold the lid in place for taking your slow cooker on the road, like to the local chili cook-off.
The best part of this chili recipe is that it is extremely flexible. You can alter the flavor with the kind of salsa you use, and you can use whatever kind of bean you prefer in your chili. I used all black beans in mine because the family doesn’t love the texture of the larger kidney beans.
Serve it hot, topped with some sour cream and shredded cheese. Corn muffins taste delicious with it, or you can serve tortilla chips with your chili for crumbling into the bowl or scooping up spoonfuls.
Try this recipe this weekend and I am sure it will become a regular request with your family.
AuthorMelissa JoyDifficultyBeginnerChop up the chicken and return to the fridge until ready to use again.
Dice the onion and set aside.
In your slow cooker, add the rinsed and drained beans, the tomato sauce, salsa and water and stir to combine.
Add the chopped chicken on top of the tomato bean mix.
Sprinkle the onion and the frozen corn evenly on top of the chicken. Do not stir.
Set your slow cooker on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 4-5 hours.
Stir just before serving. Top with shredded cheese and/or sour cream and enjoy!
Ingredients
Directions
Chop up the chicken and return to the fridge until ready to use again.
Dice the onion and set aside.
In your slow cooker, add the rinsed and drained beans, the tomato sauce, salsa and water and stir to combine.
Add the chopped chicken on top of the tomato bean mix.
Sprinkle the onion and the frozen corn evenly on top of the chicken. Do not stir.
Set your slow cooker on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 4-5 hours.
Stir just before serving. Top with shredded cheese and/or sour cream and enjoy!
Recipe adapted from http://www.myfoodandfamily.com.
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