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Santa Fe Chicken Crock Pot Recipe is a one pot meal perfect for busy weeknights. This meal is loaded with lots of chicken, cheese, tomatoes and more for a dinner everyone will love.

Slow Cooker Santa Fe Chicken Recipe:

This recipe is a hit around here and even the kids go crazy over it. The chicken is so tender and the cream cheese and tomatoes have the best flavor.

Lots of beans, corn and more come together to make this meal filling and delicious. The crock pot does all the work and tastes wonderful from being slow cooked all day.

If your schedule is crazy like mine, give this recipe a try to get dinner on the table with very little work. You are going to love it!

Santa Fe Chicken Crock Pot Recipe is so easy!

Toss everything in the slow cooker and come home to dinner ready and waiting. It really is that simple. We love recipes that can cook in the crock pot all day. There is no guessing what is for dinner when it is already done.

Santa Fe Chicken can be eaten so many different ways and that is why I fix it so much. You can shred the chicken or keep the chicken whole, it really is all in your preference.

Crock Pot Recommendation:

If you are needing a good crock pot recommendation, then this is the one we love. The Instant Pot Aura is the one we have been using and love it. It is a multicooker Slow Cooker and it can do so much.

If you have been searching for one that you can can ground your beef in, then this is the one to get. This Aura Crock Pot has saved me so much time being able to do everything in the crock pot. A lot less dishes too.

Can you put frozen chicken in the crockpot?

Yes, you absolutely can. I am terrible at remembering to take the chicken out of the freezer. Just toss the frozen chicken in the crockpot and get ready to enjoy a fabulous dinner.

I use frozen chicken in most of my recipes. No need to thaw it before hand. Just take it out of the freeze, and place in the crock pot with your other ingredients.

Why we love Santa Fe Chicken:

Kid-Friendly – My kids love Santa Fe Chicken Recipe. They will even eat the beans that is in this recipe. I think they like it so much because they can either eat as a burrito bowl or as a burrito and I let them choose.
Make it different ways – If I am short on time, I can make it in the skillet or the instant pot. But the crock pot is my favorite way to make this recipe.
All Ingredients go in the Crock Pot – There is not separate bowl to mix ingredients, you can throw everything in the crock pot and it cooks perfectly.

Ingredients

Chicken Breast
Green Chilies and Diced Tomatoes
Black Beans
Corn
Cilantro
Minced Garlic
Taco Seasoning
Salt and Pepper

You only need a few simple ingredients to make such an amazing meal.

How to make Crock Pot Santa Fe Chicken:

Add all Ingredients – Mix lightly all the ingredients in a crock pot.

Cook Ingredients – Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 3-4 hours.
Remove Chicken and Place in bowl – Shred the chicken and stir it back into the mixture.

Serve and enjoy – Serve over rice or in a tortilla and enjoy.

What to serve with Santa Fe Chicken:

This meal is so versatile. You can enjoy this recipe lots of different ways.

Serve it with Cornbread – You can serve it on cornbread and we have a fabulous cornbread recipe here. You are going to love how yummy this is together.
Have it with Rice – We have served it over rice and that is one of our favorite ways to enjoy this chicken. Make this meal even easier by learning how to freeze rice. It is so nice to be able to grab the rice from the freezer and dinner really comes together quickly. We do this for lots of meals and it helps put together a quick meal.
Serve it with Pasta – Another tasty idea is to use pasta. The creamy sauce and melty cheese taste amazing blended with the pasta. Yum!
Make Tacos or Burittos – We have even served this delicious chicken mixture in tacos or burritos. It is so good and one of our favorite ways to eat this meal.
Make Queso – We love chips and queso so anytime we make this Santa Fe Chicken recipe, I always make queso and salsa.

Variation Ideas:

Make is Creamier – If you like your Santa Fe Chicken creamier, add in some cream cheese.
Change the Meat – You can use chicken thighs instead of chicken breast. You can also use chicken tenderloins. We usually whatever we have.
Change the Beans – If you don’t like black beans, you can use pinto beans or kidney beans.
Try Salsa – I have used salsa instead of rotel and it worked great.
Grill Santa Fe Chicken – Put the ingredients in a foil pack and make Foil Pack Santa Fe Chicken. This is the perfect meal for when you don’t want to heat up the kitchen.
Make a Salad – Top the Santa Fe Chicken on a some Romain Lettuce for a low carb option.
Make it in the Instant Pot – Place ingredients in the instant pot for a quick meal idea.
Add in a little spice – If you prefer that this recipe be spicier, then add in medium or hot rotel. We like the extra spice it gives without it being to much.

How to easily shred chicken

You can use 2 forks to shred the chicken but I use a hand mixer to shred the chicken faster. It is so easy and one of my best time saving kitchen tips!

If you are not shredding your chicken this way, you are missing out. It can be done in a fraction of the time by doing it by hand.

Plus, I love the texture of the chicken when you use the hand mixer. One you have shredded the chicken this way, it is so quick and easy.

Make Santa Fe Chicken Casserole:

We love baking Santa Fe Chicken in a casserole dish or 9-inch pie plate top. Once it is done cooking in the crock pot, dish into a casserole dish to make santa fe chicken casserole.

Place tortilla down in casserole dish then top with chicken mixture. Then cover with second tortilla remaining chicken mixture ¼ cup shredded cheese and remaining tortilla. Then top with tortilla and half the remaining cheese. Top with more cheese and bake at 350 degrees until cheese is melted it is usually less than 30 minutes.

Spoon Santa Fe Chicken over rice for a complete meal.

How to use leftovers:

If you have leftover Santa Fe Chicken here are some of our favorite ways to use them. My family is always surprised that this is actually leftovers, because I really try and change it up.

Make a Burrito – This Santa Fe Chicken ingredients make a great burrito or a quesadilla. We love to heat the tortilla on the stove to get it a little crispy and roll up the ingredients and top with cheese.
Add Chicken Broth – Adding chicken broth to make a soup is one of my favorite ways to eat Santa Fe Chicken a second time. We love to top with tortilla chips and chips on a cold day.
Mix in Vegetables – When I make this a second time, I will add in some chopped zucchini and diced green peppers for a change. I can usually hide these extra vegetables from the kids.
Burrito Bowls – We love making burrito bowls with this chicken recipe. We add rice and top with cilantro and cheese. It mixes well together to make the best leftover meal.

Meal Prep and Freezing Tips:

Meal Prep – I like to double this recipe as it is perfect for leftovers. This is one of our favorite recipes to meal prep with. We place ingredients in a large bowl then divide.

We put the sante fe chicken in a microwave and air tight dish with white, brown or cauliflower rice and you have a perfect lunch the next day.
To Freeze – Freeze any leftovers in a freezer safe container. We put about a ⅓ if the chicken mixture in individual containers and freeze.

When we are ready to serve, we thaw overnight in the refrigerator and then reheat in the microwave. This is a great recipe to freeze.

Make Homemade Taco Seasoning:

We love making Homemade Taco Seasoning. Taco Seasoning is so easy to make and you probably already have all the ingredients to make it. It taste so much better than the packet stuff you buy at the store.

It saves you time and money making it at home. We love it because I know exactly what I am using and how much of it. No adding ingredients that we can’t pronounce.

We love making homemade seasoning. It has become part of our meal prep for the week so I don’t run out.

Easy Weeknight Meal:

This Santa Fe Chicken salad recipe is so filling and delicious but not too heavy. The ingredients are easy and you can use what you have. Plus, the slow cooker does all the work.

You can literally toss the ingredients in the slow cooker and come home to dinner ready to enjoy. Make some rice and set out some tortilla and everyone can make their own. It is the best dinner and a recipe we make frequently.

It is also the perfect meal for a crowd. We love making this recipe when friends come over. It is the perfect meal for my friends that are eating low carb or if they are not. We aim to please when we have friends over.

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