One of our favorite things to do with friends is to get together and cook. We pick a theme and then cook way too much food while we hang out and snack for the evening – usually sneaking in a few games along the way. But I also happen to like to get together with one of those same friends and work on projects – like painting her new house. On days and visits like that we look for quicker meals to make but are still mighty tasty. On one adventure to her house for a forgotten reason, this tasty meal was hanging out in the crockpot for us to enjoy at dinner time!
Those of your who know me well, or have read enough of my posts know that I don’t like beans – although I have learned to like black beans. A little bit. If there aren’t too many in a dish. So, while the flavor profile of a white chicken chili really appeals to me, I never order it out because it’s usually chock full of beans. Now, when my friend told me what she had in the crockpot, I couldn’t very well turn my nose up at it – and she assured me they were black beans. Well it turns out that if you pair black beans with enough other yummy things like, chicken, corn, taco seasoning, and make it creamy with a block of cream cheese before topping it with goodies like cilantro, avocado, sour cream, cheese, and maybe even tortilla chip the end result is pretty darn tasty! Tasty enough that I asked for the recipe, did a couple of little of my own tweaks including my homemade taco seasoning and promptly photographed it for the blog!
The warm spices in this chicken chili will warm you up on these cold winter days.
Here’s what you need:
This is a REALLY simple recipe. You just add a bunch of stuff to a crock put, set it to cook, stir it together and shred the chicken, cut up a few toppings and you’re done!
I ALWAYS line my slow cooker with slow cooker liners (#CommissionEarned) because it makes the clean-up so much easier. Sometimes I accidentally pierce it when spearing the chicken out or you get some condensation – but you will never have that cooked on food around the top edge.
Start by placing 3 to 4 chicken breasts into a slow cooker. I look for about 24 ounces of chicken (the way today’s chicken breasts are increasing in size that is often 3). Top them with a can of black beans that you’ve rinsed.
Now add a 16 ounce bag of frozen sweet corn – fire roasted corn would be fun to try! And a can of Rotel – don’t bother draining it.
Sprinkle on your seasoning, use 3 T (about 1 pkgs) of Ranch Seasoning and 3 T of taco seasoning (you can use store bought if you prefer, but I always have lots of this around. If you make mine you should double or triple the batch – I keep some in a shaker jar in a drawer and extra in the freezer to stay fresher).
Gently stir together all the stuff on top of the chicken (leave the chicken on the bottom). Pour in some chicken broth and lay a block of cream cheese on the top.
Cook it on low for 6 to 8 hours. Crock pot meals don’t look like much after they’ve cooked – hang in there with me until the plated picture!
Pull the chicken out and shred it with a couple of forks. Return to the crockpot and stir everything together. The cream cheese will melt in as you stir it.
At this point you can add some extra warm chicken broth if you want – I ended up adding another can. This brought me up to a total of about 29 ounces of chicken broth – about a full box.
Ladle the chili into bowls and serve with sliced avocado, a dallop of sour cream, cheese, and a sprinkle of fresh cilantro.
Like most of the soups I make, when I finished this up, I put the extras into 2 cups containers and froze them for later. Some crunched up tortilla chips would also be fun to add some crunch.
Enjoy!
- 24 ounces of boneless, skinless, chicken breast, about 3-4
- 2 – 14.5 oz cans of black beans, rinsed
- 1 – 16 oz bag of frozen sweet corn
- 1 can Rotel, undrained
- 3 T ranch seasoning (about 1 package)
- 3 T taco seasoning
- 1 - 8 oz pkg cream cheese
- 14.5 to 29 ounces of chicken broth
- Garnishes:
- Sliced avocado
- Cheese
- Sour cream
- Cilantro, roughly chopped
- Line a slow cooker with a slow cooker bag (optional but highly recommended.)
- Place the chicken breast on the bottom of the slow cooker.
- Add black beans, corn, rotel, ranch and taco seasonings. Gently stir this on top of the chicken.
- Pour on about a cup and a half (or a 14.5 oz can if you have cans).
- Lay a block of cream cheese on top.
- Cook on low for 6 to 8 hours.
- Remove and shred chicken. Return chicken to crock pot and stir in along with the cream cheese.
- Add additional (warmed) chicken broth if desired to thin to the consistency you like.
- Serve with avocado, cheese, sour cream and cilantro for garnish.
Leave a Reply