I’m taking this week off to be with my family, so I’m thankful to have Sarah from Sidetracked Sarah (love that name!) guest posting today. She’s sharing three super-easy (just the kind I like!) chicken recipes for the crock pot.
Cook Dinner?
ugh….
Again? Time flies by and my family seems to be hungry all the time!
I have so much to do! I don’t have time to spend hours cooking in the kitchen each day. I can barely keep my house clean!
While I realize that I have to cook dinner almost every day, I’ve been aiming to spend less time in the kitchen so I can get some decluttering and organizing done in my house. One of the ways that I’m able to do that is by utilizing a great tool that I can’t imagine living life without. My slow cooker! You may call it a crock pot. Whatever you call it, it has got to be one of my favorite kitchen tools. I am a lover of delivering tasty foods the easy way.
When I’m really in a time crunch, I have 3 very easy chicken meals that I can throw into the slow cooker in minutes. They are:
- BBQ Chicken
- Italian Chicken
- Mexican Chicken
If you’re at all like me, you forget to defrost in time for supper. I buy frozen bags of boneless, skinless chicken breasts and throw the amount that I need into the slow cooker when it’s still hard as a rock. It turns out great every time. If you want it to be thawed out first, that’s totally fine. Do what you’re comfortable with.
Now, on to the recipes!
BBQ Chicken
Ingredients:
Boneless, skinless chicken breast (or other cut if you prefer)
One Bottle of your favorite BBQ sauce
1 onion, chopped (optional)Directions: Chop onions. Put them in with chicken breast and top with Barbecue sauce. Cook on high for 4 hours or low for 8. If you’re cooking from frozen, add an additional hour.
Often, we will serve this with a side of peas and mashed potatoes. Sometimes, we’ll turn into BBQ chicken sandwiches. Just buy some hamburger buns and some chips and you’ll have a complete meal.
Italian Chicken
Ingredients:
Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breast (enough for your family)
1 Bottle of Italian DressingDirections: Put your chicken in the slow cooker and cover with Italian dressing. Cook on high for 4 hours or low for 8. If you’re cooking from frozen, add an additional hour.
I was skeptical of trying this one, but it turned out really good. Serve with a garden salad and your favorite side.
Mexican Chicken
Ingredients:
Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breast (enough for your family)
1 can of diced tomatoes and green chilies
1 packet of taco seasoningDirections:
Mix diced tomatoes and green chilies with the taco seasoning until it’s blended well. Place chicken in the slow cooker and then cover with the tomatoes/green chilies mixture. Cook on high for 4 hours or on low for 8 hours. If you’re cooking from frozen, you may want to add an extra hour.
There are several ways that we have eaten this Mexican chicken recipe. We generally shred it with a fork, then put it in taco shells for chicken tacos. Sometimes we shred it and put it over chips and make a chicken taco salad out of it.
Be aware that all slow cookers cook differently. Sometimes the newer ones cook faster than the older ones.
What is your favorite time saving slow cooker recipe?
Sarah blogs at Sidetracked Sarah. She gets easily distracted and “sidetracked” by so many things. Being the mother of 6 children will do that to you. Being a lover of crafts and a collector of things will do that to you, too. She has several more “dump it in” type recipes in the Freezer to Slow Cooker section of her blog.
I’m going to be trying out the Mexican Chicken next month! sounds yummy, and I can stock up ready-to-serve chicken in the freezer on my Big Cooking Day.
That’s a great idea! I may have to do the same thing.
simplicity.. aaaaahhhh… i do this w/ chicken all the time. any kind of chicken.. bone in. bone out. whole… even from frozen (I just kick it up to high) .. then dump in whatevs… and whooop whoop.. dinner.
That’s great Amy! What’s your favorite thing that you add to it? I’m open to more suggestions.
The first 2 recipes I know from the “Fix It and Forget It” book I have. Never saw the mexican chicken one. I have also put the BBQ chicken on plain white rice with a spinache salad on the side. Yum!
Great idea to serve the BBQ chicken over rice. Thanks for sharing!
Those sound good. I use my crock pot all the time – sometimes two or three at once.
I love cooking baked potatoes in the crock pot. So easy & it doesn’t tie up the oven or heat up the kitchen. I also like doing round steak with gravy – family pack of round steak cut in serving size pieces, can of cream of mushroom soup, packet of dry onion soup, half cup water. Cook on low for 6 to 8 hours. Delicious! Serve with mashed potatoes & salad.
I agree, baked potatoes in the crock pot are wonderful! Your round steak recipe sounds delicious, too!
I love the Italian Chicken – I like to add a chunk of cream cheese the last 30 min, stir, then serve over noodles. 🙂
mmm, good idea! :I’ll have to try that.
I do Mexican chicken like that all the time. (I’ve taken to throwing a can of rinsed black beans and a can of drained corn into it too. So yummy!) My husband and son love it. We’ve done the BBQ chicken as well. I like the simplicity of it. 🙂
Yes, love adding beans and corn to it as well! Sometimes these meals are my absolute life saver and the only reason we get fed!
I’ve done the BBQ chicken and the Italian chicken in my oven but never in my crock pot. I’ll have to try that. For my Italian chicken I usually add some cut up green onions.