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Home » Chicken

Slow Cooker Salsa Chicken and Rice

June 29, 2022 by Jordan Smith 37 Comments

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This is a pinterest pin for salsa chicken and rice. There is a bowl filled with chicken and rice in front of a crock pot filled with the delicious rice.
This is a slow cooker filled with salsa chicken & rice. There are two bowls filled with the delicious recipe next to the slow cooker.
This is two bowls of salsa chicken and rice. The bowls are filled with chicken, rice, and topped with cilantro. Tortilla chips surround the bowl.
This is a pinterest pin for salsa chicken and rice. There is a bowl filled with chicken and rice in front of a crock pot filled with the delicious rice.

In a world of quick and easy recipes, this slow cooker salsa chicken and rice deserves a place among the quickest and easiest. Your favorite salsa deserves to be enjoyed this way.

These are two bowls of salsa chicken & rice. There is shredded chicken mixed with rice and topped with cilantro. There are tortilla chips surrounding the bowls.
Jump to Recipe

Slow cooker salsa chicken

Chicken and rice show up as staples in many different cuisines, and for good reason. While each ingredient is great on its own merit, the combination basically acts as a blank slate for delicious spices and flavor combinations.

From curries to cream-of-mushroom casseroles, the chicken-rice duo is certainly versatile. This slow cooker recipe takes your favorite salsa and turns it into a full-on meal.

If you're skeptical that this is a winning combination, hear me out for a second. Do you like chicken? What about rice?

Now imagine your favorite salsa. Mouth watering yet? Just throw it together, add some broth to nail the consistency, and you're on your way to dinner (and lunches/dinners for the week, if you meal prep)!

Slow cooker salsa chicken ingredients

Salsa. Chicken. Instant Rice. Broth.

In bullet form:

  • Chicken Breast
  • Salsa
  • Low-Sodium Chicken Broth
  • Instant Rice

Still looks the same right? Yeah. Just those ingredients.

Those form the core of the recipe. You can serve this with cilantro, chips, cheese, tortillas, avocados—whatever you want! Toppings make this awesome, but it's also perfectly good as-is.

This is a slow cooker filled with salsa chicken & rice. There are two bowls of chicken and rice next to the slow cooker.

How to make slow cooker salsa chicken

You'll sometimes see this category of recipe called "dump and bake" because, well... you dump it all together and then bake.

This is basically one of those recipes but for whatever a slow cooker does. So... "dump and cook," I guess! Dump and cook. It's a thing.

Here's what's going to happen:

  • Gather ingredients.
  • Add chicken breast, salsa, and chicken broth to a slow cooker.
  • Cook on high for 4 hours.
  • Shred chicken and place back into the slow cooker. Cut the heat of the slow cooker to warm.
  • Add instant rice to slow cooker and cook for about 10 mins.
  • Stir together well. Serve with tortillas, cilantro, chips, cheese, avocado, or whatever you want!

Not too bad, right? The most work you'll do is shred the chicken, which isn't that much work at all, especially if you follow the hack I share below.

What can I do with a lot of salsa?

Imagine you find yourself with about 24 ounces of salsa. Perhaps you bought a giant jug of the stuff at the store and only used a little bit at the party. Maybe the farmer's market had some extra masons jars.

Whatever the reason, even the most dedicated struggle to down a ton of salsa with tortilla chips alone. Sometimes, you need to call in the heavy hitters, like this slow cooker salsa chicken recipe, to get the job done.

How do I thicken slow cooker salsa chicken?

Sometimes, in recipes involving chicken and some kind of liquid, it's hard to know whether you're in for some tender meat or a full-blown soup (not that soup's a bad thing). I've tried to set up the ratios in this recipe so you don't have excess broth/salsa hanging around after the cooking is done, but your mileage may vary.

The rice sets the textural tone here. If you've got an extra thin salsa, you may need to use less of it to avoid excess liquid. If it's chunky, maybe add some more broth.

Generally stick to the ratios here and you should be in the ballpark.

This is a bowl of salsa chicken & rice. There is shredded chicken mixed with rice and topped with cilantro. There are tortilla chips surrounding the bowls.

How long do you cook boneless skinless chicken breast in crock pot?

Four hours on high is plenty to cook this chicken breast all the way through, but it's a good idea for you to check the temperature using a thermometer to make sure it's come up to 165F, the recommended temperature for chicken.

Food safety. It's important!

How do I shred a chicken breast?

This depends on how much chicken you're making. For small recipes, I'll pull the chicken out onto a baking sheet or into a large bowl and shred it with forks.

If you're making a larger batch of chicken, it's possible to shred it using your stand mixer. Yes, I'm serious—I do it all the time! You still might want to go in stages so as not to overwhelm your KitchenAid.

This is a bowl of salsa chicken & rice. There is shredded chicken mixed with rice and topped with cilantro. There are tortilla chips surrounding the bowls.

Looking for more recipes?

Check out one of these Jordo's World staples:

  • Slow Cooker Pork Carnitas
  • Chicken Parmesan Casserole
  • Simple Side Salad
These are two bowls of salsa chicken & rice. There is shredded chicken mixed with rice and topped with cilantro. There are tortilla chips surrounding the bowls.
Print Recipe
5 from 19 votes

Slow Cooker Salsa Chicken and Rice

In a world of quick and easy recipes, this slow cooker salsa chicken deserves a place among the quickest and easiest. Your favorite salsa deserves to be enjoyed this way.
Prep Time5 minutes mins
Cook Time4 hours hrs
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Mexican
Keyword: chicken and rice, salsa chicken, slow cooker chicken
Servings: 6
Calories: 364kcal
Author: Jordan Smith

Equipment

  • Slow Cooker

Ingredients

  • 3 lbs chicken breast boneless skinless
  • 24 oz salsa whatever spice level
  • 2 cups low sodium chicken broth
  • 2 cups instant Rice
  • serve with: cilantro, chips, cheese, tortillas, avocado, etc.

Instructions

  • Gather ingredients.
  • Add chicken breast, salsa, and chicken broth to a slow cooker.
  • Cook on high for 4 hours.
  • Shred chicken and place back into the slow cooker. Cut the heat of the slow cooker to warm.
  • Add instant rice to slow cooker and cook for about 10 mins.
  • Stir together well. Serve with tortillas, cilantro, chips, cheese, avocado, or whatever you want!

Nutrition

Calories: 364kcal | Carbohydrates: 31g | Protein: 50g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 130mg | Sodium: 847mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin C: 4mg | Calcium: 4mg | Iron: 14mg

Use This Recipe in a Meal Plan

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Comments

  1. Melissa says

    January 17, 2023 at 7:37 am

    5 stars
    This is delicious!!! I made a batch today and shared some with my son to take to college for easy meal prep and kept some for me. It’s a definite addition to my regular rotation.

    Reply
  2. Tanya says

    January 17, 2023 at 8:24 pm

    5 stars
    IYKYK.. this is so easy my husband made it for me!!! I love I can use any flavor salsa to change the taste. Just used a peach salsa and it turned out great!!

    Reply
  3. Tiffany Cantrell says

    January 26, 2023 at 12:32 pm

    4 stars
    Love this recipe! So easy and good! The only thing I wish I had was the serving size - it says 6 servings and no where has the size in grams or ounces or cups even so trying to figure that out is a little hard. I love your recipes so much I wish you would use grams to calculate the nutrition so it’s easy to log in macros first or MyFitnessPal. Please consider this as I know a lot of other people would like that too! Thanks so much!

    Reply
  4. KarynV says

    March 08, 2023 at 7:44 pm

    5 stars
    OMG, this was so super easy to make and absolutely delicious! Hubby could not get enough. We ate it straight out of the crockpot with shredded cheddar cheese on top. I am thinking of all the wonderful ways to eat the leftovers. Burritos, Bowls, Nachos. Oh, the possibilities are endless. This recipe will definitely be in the rotation for sure. Hubby just said again that was so good! ❤️

    Reply
  5. Cat says

    June 18, 2023 at 1:27 pm

    5 stars
    I used this as a jumping off point. I has excess green peppers and a can of beans and an ear of corn, so I added that. I used chicken thighs instead of breasts. This is a perfect recipe to make on Sunday and eat on all week

    Reply
    • Jordan Smith says

      June 28, 2023 at 9:24 am

      Hi Cat, I'm so glad you were able to modify this recipe for ingredients you had on hand! I've made using the original recipe and then added in a can of corn and can of black beans. I love that this recipe is one you can easily make and enjoy all week long!

      Reply
  6. Cindy Gillen says

    December 06, 2023 at 10:28 am

    Can you use frozen chicken or does it have to be thawed

    Reply
    • Jordan Smith says

      December 11, 2023 at 7:55 pm

      Hi Cindy, it's recommended to thaw frozen chicken before using in a crock pot. Here's an article that explains a bit more on why: https://ask.usda.gov/s/article/Is-it-safe-to-cook-frozen-foods-in-a-slow-cooker-or-crock-pot

      Reply
  7. TR says

    December 29, 2023 at 6:00 pm

    I don’t have a slow cooker can you make this on a stove top?

    Reply
    • Jordan Smith says

      December 31, 2023 at 12:58 pm

      Hi, I bet you could make something similar! I've never tried this method on the stovetop so I don't have specific instructions to share. My guess would be you could make the chicken in a skillet and then mix in a jar of salsa after cooking. I'd cook the rice in a separate pot and then mix everything together. Let me know if you try something and it works well!

      Reply
    • TR says

      January 04, 2024 at 8:55 am

      @Jordan Smith, sounds good thanks

      Reply
  8. Hope Gustafson says

    April 01, 2024 at 1:59 pm

    5 stars
    We really enjoyed this with some tortilla chips & avocado on top! Delicious!!!

    Reply
  9. Maayan says

    April 21, 2024 at 10:45 pm

    5 stars
    Love this recipe! I made it in the instant pot and set it for 5 minutes which turned out great.

    Reply
  10. Logan says

    May 12, 2024 at 3:51 pm

    This was super easy to make and taste great! The directions were accurate.

    Reply
    • Jordan Smith says

      May 24, 2024 at 7:10 pm

      Thanks for leaving a positive review and I'm glad you enjoyed the recipe!

      Reply
  11. Jennifer Callaway says

    December 22, 2024 at 5:28 am

    5 stars
    This meal is really tasty! Perfect for meal prepping!

    Reply
  12. Jennifer Callaway says

    December 22, 2024 at 5:30 am

    5 stars
    Love this one! Perfect for meal prepping.

    Reply
  13. Katie says

    December 22, 2024 at 5:02 pm

    5 stars
    One of my favorite recipes to meal prep with some homemade salsa from my garden. Delicious! Even got my mother addicted to it as well. Highly recommend.

    Reply
  14. Kathryn says

    February 03, 2025 at 9:11 am

    5 stars
    This recipe is amazing!! I love it wrapped in a tortilla or just by itself with some extra salsa!

    Reply
  15. Olivia says

    February 18, 2025 at 9:14 pm

    Planning on making this tomorrow with extra salsa from a Super Bowl party! Can I freeze this?

    Reply
    • Jordan Smith says

      February 19, 2025 at 10:53 am

      This is a great way to use extra salsa! Yes, you can freeze!

      Reply
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5 from 19 votes (3 ratings without comment)

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Hi, I'm Jordo!

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