I made this chicken recipe again a couple weeks ago (on a Sunday) and was telling a friend from church how simple it was. She asked if it was on my blog, and I said, “No… it’s so simple, it’s not really even a real recipe.”
She insisted that the majority of busy parents are looking for ridiculously simple recipes, and told me to share it ASAP!
Today’s recipe will not win me any awards for presentation, photography, or “best recipe”… but it IS super quick, ridiculously simple, and quite tasty!
If you’re looking for another slow cooker meal that requires no chopping, mixing, stirring, or any other prep work… THIS recipe is for you!
Recipe for 3 Ingredient Slow Cooker Mexican Chicken
Serves 4
INGREDIENTS:
- 1-2 lbs. boneless chicken pieces
- 1 jar salsa (any variety — 16 oz)
- 1 c. shredded cheese
DIRECTIONS:
- Put chicken in the bottom of a slow cooker (I put mine in still frozen)
- Pour salsa over chicken
- Cook on low for 4 hours (or until chicken is cooked through
- Sprinkle cheese over chicken and cover for 5-10 minutes, or until cheese is melted
You can also easily make this recipe in the oven — just put the chicken + salsa in an oven-safe baking dish and bake, uncovered, for about an hour. Top with cheese for the last 5-10 minutes and serve.
Serving Suggestions
We almost always serve this chicken with a lettuce salad, tortilla chips, and salsa.
Sometimes I’ll make Spanish rice and beans to go with it. Other times, I’ll make cheese quesadillas or chips and cheese.
There are also times when I make a double or triple batch of the chicken and shred it to use for chicken tacos, enchiladas, quesadillas, or any other Mexican casserole.
When I make it for dinner, I’ll throw it in the slow cooker as I’m cleaning up the lunch dishes… and when I make it for my no-cook Sunday afternoon meal, I’ll turn the slow cooker on before we leave for church.
Not only it this recipe simple, it makes the whole house smell great, and there’s hardly any cleanup!
What are your favorite super simple recipes?
Visit my virtual recipe box for more simple, delicious, family friendly recipes!
Barb says
This simple recipe sounds great! Your friend is right. So glad you shared it!
Andrea says
Thanks Barb! based on the comments and emails I’ve gotten the past few days, people love the idea of a 3-ingredient, dump and serve meal 🙂
Tina says
Doing this tomorrow! Thanks Andrea!
Pat says
I love easy recipes. Here’s another one – only 2 ingredients: chicken and bloody mary mix. Put your chicken in the crock pot and pour the whole bottle of bloddy mary mix over it and cook on low for 6-8 hours. Serve with rice. This was the first thing my son “learned” to cook. He bragged to all of his friends and would invite them over for the dinner he cooked!
Andrea says
sounds yummy Pat! I’ll have to try this sometime — especially since the kids LOVE rice and I can make the rice at lunch time and keep it warm in our rice cooker until dinner. Thanks!
Terra says
YUM! This sounds like a no-brainer. Definately going to have to try.
Can you share how you freeze your chicken breasts? We’ve tried a couple different ways but always get freezer burn within the month. Chicken is on a great sale for us about every 6 weeks so I like to stock up, but we just end up cooking it all in the slow cooker, shredding and freezing that way. Sometimes you just need the bigger chunks for recipes though so I am hopeful we will find a method that works to do that.
Thanks! Love your posts 🙂
Terra
Andrea says
Thanks Terra, I actually just cut the chicken breasts into 3 smaller pieces and put them in zip top bags or small storage containers (like the one pictured in this post).
We keep our chicken in our deep freezer — which is a “manual defrost freezer” meaning that it helps to prevent freezer burn — so we’ve never had an issue.
Have you tried actual freezer bags? That might help??
Shantel says
I also buy chicken breasts when they are on sale. I like to trim it up and cut the breasts into smaller pieces. I portion them out into 1 lb. packages using quart-size freezer bags (I love my kitchen scale for this!). Then I put the 1 lb. packages into a gallon freezer bag. It’s easy to pull out a package at a time and I think the double bagging helps to keep them from freezer burn. Also remember to push all the air out of the bag with the chicken. Hope that helps!
Andrea says
Thanks for the tips Shantel — I too LOVE my little kitchen scale 🙂
Sheri says
I agree with your friend. I love it when people share easy recipes. I’m always on the hunt for ways to simplify dinner, so thank you for this. BTW – I love seeing the can of Diet Dr Pepper in the pictures. That’s my favorite treat. In fact, my (almost) three-year-old calls it “momma juice.”
Andrea says
I’m so glad I decided to share this recipe — I’ve gotten so many thankful emails from people today! Glad to help out the other people with full schedules 🙂
Laurel says
Sounds easy. Is the chicken already cooked? You didn’t specify and when I read “until the chicken is cooked” I assumed it was not cooked beforehand.I will pass this on to my 2 early twenty-something kids who are just setting up housekeeping and need simple recipes!
Andrea says
nope, the chicken is raw — straight from the store or even frozen (I usually put it into the slow cooker frozen). I definitely think your kids will appreciate this simple meal!!
Amy says
Oh….I’m going to make this!! Yum! You can’t beat that for an easy dinner:)
Andrea says
I know! It’s SO easy!
Ashley says
Here’s another super easy crock pot chicken recipe that my family absolutely loves.
1 can chicken broth
1 packet taco seasoning
1 packet ranch seasoning
4-6 chicken breasts
Cook on low 4-6 hours, then shred the chicken with a fork. It really just falls apart. Cook another 20-30 minutes to let it soak up the juices, and you’re good to go. We use it for chicken tacos, quesadillas, taco salads, or just by itself. It’s that good!
Andrea says
Yum… this sounds awesome! Thanks for sharing!
Beth says
This is very similar to a recipe on Allrecipes called Salsa Chicken. It is baked in the oven but the only difference is that you rub taco seasoning on the chicken and then add the salsa. It is amazing. Now, seeing your recipe, I’m going to try it in the slow cooker. Thank you!
Andrea says
Yes, I’m sure you could do it in the oven too — but I like the ease of the slow cooker. It can stay in a little longer if I need it to without overcooking or getting dried out!