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Health & Fitness

Slow Cooker Salsa Chicken: Easy To Make, Easy To Clean Up

Ever have one of those days when you really don't feel like cooking?  So much so that you are dreading making dinner before you even eat lunch?  I cook almost six days a week and sometimes it's not just the cooking I dread, it's the cleanup too.  On days like that, I turn to my slow cooker.  There is nothing better than throwing minimally-prepped ingredients into the pot, pressing a few buttons, and in a couple of hours, having a dinner that is enjoyed by everyone - even my Miss Picky!   Best of all, I use the Reynold's brand slow cooker liners, so I just move my leftovers into a container and throw the liner in the trash.  Not the most eco-friendly (well maybe it is because it saves me the hot water), but once in a while, my sanity comes first.

Enter the Slow Cooker Salsa Chicken recipe:  Really the most easy dish to make.  Even my bestie who can't cook can cook this (oh boy am I going to hear it for that one!)  It consists of 4 ingredients and cooks up quickly if you prepare it after lunch, or cook it on the slow setting if you prepare it before lunch.

Slow Cooker Salsa Chicken

Serves 6

1 1/2 lbs of boneless chicken breast

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1 sweet onion, sliced into thin rings

1 jar (16 oz) of Newman's Own Tequila Lime salsa

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1/2 jar (8oz) of Newman's Own Peach salsa

 

Optional serving suggestion ingredients

1 head Butterhead, Boston, or Bibb lettuce (optional serving suggestion)

2 cups brown rice, prepared as instructed on package

Taco shells or tortillas

 

First, slice the onions into rings and place them into your beautifully lined slow cooker.  Next, layer the chicken on top of the onions.  Add the salsa on top of the chicken.  Set your slow cooker to either 3 hours on high or 6 hours on low.  You may have to adjust your cooking time depending on how fast or slow your brand of cooker cooks. 

When the chicken is cooked (always test your chicken with a meat thermometer; it's ready at 160 F degrees), it will shred easily.  To do this, put the chicken in a bowl and use two forks to pull the meat apart.  Add it back to the salsa and onion mixture to serve.

On the night I made these, I planned to serve them to my kids in taco shells, but when they saw me preparing mine in the Bibb lettuce, they wanted to have it that way too.  The sauce has a high water content, so use a slotted spoon when serving it.  I layered some rice over the lettuce and then added the Slow Cooker Salsa Chicken on top and we ate them like tacos!

This is a great meal that everyone can eat, even if you are gluten-free.  It was so nice to eat dinner as a family without having to make something different for me, and without having to bargain with Miss Picky to finish her dinner.

Don't feel trapped into using the salsa flavors I used, but it did turn out really well on multiple occasions.  If you really don't feel like cooking and you don't feel like food shopping, use what you have!

Do you ever have a night where you don't want to cook?  If so, what's your go-to meal?

For more photos from this post and more, go to to Goodness Gracious Living!
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