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.
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.
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.
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.
Looking for more recipes?
Check out one of these Jordo's World staples:
Slow Cooker Salsa Chicken and Rice
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!
Al says
This is one of my favorite of recent Jordo recipes. So fast! So yummy! I can't wait to try it out with different salsas.
Kara Metz says
I made this today and it is so simple (cheap) and flavorful! My husband said it’s the first time I made rice correctly. 😂 I love a good “dump” recipe, so this will get added to our monthly rotation of meals. I came here to also say we are excited to try this with different salsas too!
Tara says
I literally cannot get enough of this. Made it last week…making it again this week! 😍
Millie Baker says
So simple and delicious! Can enjoy it several different ways and stores in the fridge like a dream!
Katie says
I've made this several times since Jordo put out the recipe. It is fast, easy, makes for perfect meal prep, and takes all the worry about of cooking. LOVE IT!
Marie says
So easy + delish! Topped it off with some cilantro, Greek plain yogurt and a few Late July jalapeno lime chips and voila! So good!
Chelsea Coretti says
Jordo, I am obsessed with this super duper easy recipe. I throw some shredded cheese on top and eat with tortilla chips, and sometimes I eat it like a stew! The macros are insane, and this easily helps me hit my protein goal.
Kim says
So easy to make and so tasty! This is one of my favorite recipes.
Dawn says
We made the salsa chicken this past Sunday. The chicken and rice combo was perfect. I can’t wait to make it again!
Jena says
Such a simple easy meal prep recipe!! So good!
Jess Covington says
This one has become a staple at my house. You want tacos? Done. You want nachos? Done. You want to eat it plain? DONE. I get so sick of the same thing so I love that this can be so versatile!
Katie Crabill says
So easy that even my fiancé can make it haha. I love this for meal prep for the week, and it's so delicious.
Kelsey W says
I have made this Salsa chicken and rice several times and it never disappoints! Minimal ingredients and lots of flavor! So tasty.
Hannah M says
This is sooo good! Made this for dinner and my husband and my 9 month old devoured it!
Ashley says
Can't wait to try this recipe as it is cooking in my crock pot right know. I changed the servings to 8 but I'm wondering what the serving size is?
Jordan Smith says
Hi Ashley! This recipe makes 6 servings and the nutrition corresponds to 1 of the 6 servings. You can totally split to 8 servings instead! To figure out the nutrition for 8 serving, I recommend calculating in a nutrition app with the exact ingredients you use. That way no matter how many servings you break it down to, you'll know the nutrition! Hope that makes sense!