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This Slow Cooker Cheesy Southwestern Chicken couldn’t be easier to make and with just six ingredients most people have in their pantry and fridge, it’s a no-brainer for filling and healthy dinner. It’s packed with black beans, corn, your favorite salsa, and chicken and then topped with melted cheese. Plus it only has 1 Freestyle Smartpoints for those following Weight Watchers.
I am a big fan of what the internet lovingly calls, dump crockpot recipes. Essentially they are recipes where you basically dump a bunch of ingredients in the slow cooker and walk away. No dicing, chopping, browning, or prepping. Just dump it in, walk away, and four hours later dinner is ready. It’s that easy, and this Slow Cook Southwestern Chicken covered with cheese is quickly becoming one of my favorites.
Now this recipe has a common cast of ingredients in Southwestern style recipes. You will want to reach for black beans, corn, your favorite thick and chunky salsa, and chicken breasts or chicken thighs. Then it is important to season up the chicken to make sure it is really flavorful. I used a Pampered Chef Southwestern seasoning, but since that can be hard to find, you can use a store bought Southwestern spice blend of just grab some taco seasoning. Here is a homemade option. Then during the last few minutes of cooking, add the cheese until it’s gooey and melted.
Tips for Tricks for the Slow Cooker Southwestern Chicken
- Make it creamy: Add in some reduced fat cream cheese before serving. When I make this option, I drain off some of the liquid before so that the cream cheese is able to make a nice creamy sauce.
- Turn it into soup: Add chicken or vegetable broth to turn this into a soup.
- Add freshness: Think about this like a burrito bowl. Top it with fresh lettuce, tomatoes, cilantro, and avocado.
- Kick up the spice: Add some diced chipotle peppers, chili powder, fresh jalapenos, or canned diced green chilies.
- Dairy-free: Leave off the cheese and top with diced avocado and fresh cilantro.
What to Serve with Slow Cooker Southwestern Chicken with Cheese
- Cauliflower rice: Since this recipe already has beans and corn, I like to pair it with a vegetable like cauliflower rice. It’s nice and light and you won’t even miss the regular rice.
- Cilantro lime rice: When I make regular rice to serve with this recipe, I almost always make this cilantro lime version. It’s a copycat of Chipotle’s famous rice.
- Green salad: A nice green salad is another great and light option.
- Tortillas or wraps: This can easily turn into a taco or burrito by pairing it with regular or low carb tortillas.
- Lettuce wraps: Another light option is to make lettuce wraps. I like to chops some fresh tomatoes, cilantro, and onion for these.
- Zucchini boats: If you have leftovers, think about making some zucchini boats. So good! If I think I may go in this direction, I usually add the cheese to individual portions for our first meal so I can melt fresh cheese on the zucchini boats.
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