Slow cooker green chile chicken recipe
Chelsea, my summer intern, returns to college this week. It hardly seems possible that we've been cooking together for three months, or that we've made dozens of great recipes with only two toss-in-the-compost failures. This slow cooker green chile chicken typifies the budget-friendly recipes we've created with college students in mind. Throw a few ingredients into the slow cooker on the way to classes in the morning, and come back to a ready-to-eat dinner at the end of the day. We paired this chicken with quick and easy black beans and rice, and rolled everything in a tortilla with a bit of salsa on top. It's nutritious and economical, as a small bit of chicken is all you need with rice and beans, and you'll have plenty of time left to do homework -- or play with your kids, or read a book, or watch reruns of The Good Wife on television.
Slow cooker green chile chicken
From the pantry, you'll need: frozen chicken breasts (or thighs), garlic, cumin, canned green chiles.
Serves 8-10 or more, if rolled in a burrito.
Ingredients
2-1/2 to 3 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breast or boneless, skinless chicken thigh, cubed
8 oz store-bought or homemade tomatillo (green) salsa
2 cloves garlic, smashed
1 tsp ground cumin
4-oz can roasted green chiles
Directions
Stir all ingredients together in a 3-quart slow cooker. Set the cooker to LOW for 6-8 hours. Taste, and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.
If you would like a thicker sauce, remove chicken pieces and turn the slow cooker to HIGH. Cook for 30 minutes, or until the sauce has reduced to the desired consistency.
You can shred the chicken with two forks, or leave in chunks. Serve with black beans and rice, and salsa fresca, in or out of a burrito.
More recipes in The Perfect Pantry:
Turkey green chile chili
Green chile turkey meatballs
Green chile, cheese and egg breakfast or lunch muffins
Black bean, green chile and tomato frittata
Slow-cooked beef and green chile stew
Rhode Island white corn and green chile cheese muffins
Other recipes that use these pantry ingredients:
Fish tacos with creamy green chile and cilantro sauce, from Cookin' Canuck
Beer chicken green chile enchiladas, from Use Real Butter
Chayote with tomato and green chile, from Simply Recipes
Black bean, green chile and sharp cheddar baked flautas, from For the Love of Cooking
Green chile hummus, from 28 Cooks
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I'm sure Chelsea is excited to go back to school, but I bet you will really miss her! Love the sound of this recipe. I'd love to have this to eat while I was watching re-runs of The Good Wife!
Will definitely give this one a try - I've fallen in love with green chiles this year, such fantastic flavor.
I'm wondering how you have fared through Irene, Lydia. Fingers crossed that all is okay! We're fine here. Just a couple of trees down and they fell away from the house thankfully.
This meal looks delicious and easy as you say. I know Chelsea will be sorry to leave your fine tutelage! And I can't stop watching those reruns of The Good Wife either. ;-)
Shirley
Sounds delicious - - I have had a hankering for green chile something since I have seen so many posts about hatch chiles. I think this just fits the bill. My kitchen remodel is complete and I am trying to get everything in drawers, cabinets etc. - so cooking this in the slow cooker is a great idea. Yum - thanks for the great sounding recipe. Hope that you are still high and dry in R.I. and that Irene caused you no grief.
I would love to have someone to cook with regularly, and come up with these fantastic recipes. Could I watch "Hot in Cleveland" while the chicken is cooking?
I wish I had a slower cooker when I was in College. You could totally make this dish in a dorm room. And if you are in a dorm room, you don't even have to cut the chicken. Looks fabulous!
As much as I love to cook and eat (and I love this recipe)....In college the only ingredients I "threw into anything" was beer in the minifridge! :-D
I'm sure Chelsea enjoyed her time with you as much as you did with her. Love how simple this recipe is perfect for the college student. I was just reminiscing about the crock pot meals I made when I was in college (which was eons ago!). This recipe would have come in handy.
The Hatch Chile crop is in! All over town roasters are fired up and ready to go. Folks arrive with 30 lb burlap sacks of
Hatch Chiles, stand around and visit while their chiles
are roasted. The aroma is wonderful.....
Fortunately the food co-op roasts and sells smaller bags so I
snagged a few bags, peeled and froze them. Well, except
for the ones I put in black bean burger.
So, once again your post is timely for New Mexico seasons.
Not bad I like it a lot. Not even in Los Angeles, were the Meca for Mexican food. You just don't find a lot of Green Chile recipes
Kalyn, sadly Chelsea and I missed our last cooking date because of Hurricane Irene. She promised to come back and cook with me during her winter break. I loved cooking with her this summer, and this is one of the recipes I hope she'll make at college.
Kathy, same here. I'm putting green chiles in everything.
Shirley, see above. Irene knocked out our power, water, etc., and we're now into day three of "camping out" at home. Hope to get back to cooking by the end of the week.
Susan, thanks for the good wishes. Keep them coming -- we're still in the dark. I have made a real effort to use the slow cooker more this summer, and it's really helped keep the heat down in the kitchen.
TW, you can, but I'm sure that people who watch The Good Wife are better cooks. Can't prove it, but that's how I feel.
Julia, I feel like I've wasted decades of my cooking life because I'm still so new to slow cookers. I would have loved one in my college apartment.
Carol, we're not too old to atone for our wayward younger years! (Notice that I say "we".)
Jeanette, maybe your off-to-college son will be able to use this recipe!
Marcia, I'm completely jealous of your proximity to Hatch chiles. You know that.
Ben, hope this recipe works for you.
I love the simplicity of this dish. AND it's made in a slow cooker! It's on my list of recipes to try. Thanks!
Okay, I really need to get a slow cooker! And remember to start some tomatillo seeds next year. Isn't tomatillo salsa is the best? Especially with green chiles and cumin. I bet this chile tastes great. :)
Deliciously Organic, I'm using my slow cooker more and more. And I hope to get better and more creative as I learn more about how to use it.
Susan, yes you do. I'm hoping to convince one of my friends with a vegetable garden to grow some tomatillos for me next summer.
This looks amazing. I am going to print it and try to make it in a week or so. I haven't used my crockpot in awhile and now that our A/C went out again, it is the perfect thing to cook in so I don't heat up the house any further. Thanks a lot for a yummy looking dinner.
Just tried this tonight. Oh my gosh,for once something I made in the crockpot came out so moist. I actually only had to cook it for 4 hours. Thank you!!!! This one's a keeper and a frequent repeat.
Green Chile isn't really Mexcan. Mexicans eat a different variety of chile, usually Poblanos and jalapenos. New Mexico green chile is usually Big Jim or Sandia which are specifically adapted to our soils. This is why it's hard to find green chile outside of New Mexico. New Mexican cuisine and Mexican cuisine are different, since most New Mexicans who've been here a long time are descendants of European Spanish Conquistadors. Our dialect is even completely different.