Crock Pot SouthWestern Chicken Chili with Rice
Warm up this winter with a crock pot full of SouthWestern Chicken Chili. I love homemade chili when it is cold outside.
I have been trying to get into the habit of using my crock pot. This as you know if you have ever used a crock pot usually takes some planning. Last Sunday I decided on the spur of the moment at about noon that I was going to cook something in my crock pot and use things I had at home already. I had to come up with something that was not going to take 12 hours in the crock pot because by that time it would be after midnight and no one wants to wait until midnight to eat dinner.
I took an inventory of the pantry and freezer. I always have canned beans on hand because I love making soup so my recipe had to have beans. That pretty much set the tone for this recipe because I would have to make either a soup or a chili. I also had a bag of Tyson Grill & Ready South Fully Cooked Western Chicken Breast Strips in my freezer. These are sold in the refrigerator section not the frozen section of the store. I put mine in the freezer because I knew I would be using just a few pieces at a time.
I had been eating out of this bag so it wasn't an entire bag, more like half a bag but worked fine for my recipe. I don't need a lot of meat in my meals.
You'll notice in the ingredient list I have ¾ of a bag. That will load this chili up with chicken. You can adjust the amount of chicken to your liking.
A side note........this chicken is awesome. It tastes just like grilled chicken. I have been using it to make myself chicken fajita's for lunch when the mood strikes me. I am going to have to get more because I used the last for this recipe!
Sorry I do not have a picture of this recipe. I had too much going on the day I made it and also the next day so I never had a chance to snap a photo before the chili was gone. Next time I whip it up I will update this post.
CrockPot South Western Chicken Chili ingredients
6 cup water
1 bag Tyson Grilled and Ready South Western Chicken Breast Strips
½ onion, minced
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 small red bell pepper
1 can diced tomatoes
1 small can corn
1 can black beans
1 can kidney beans
1 can cannellini beans
6 large chicken bouillon cubes or 2 cans chicken broth
1 tsp garlic salt
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp cumin
½ tsp red pepper flakes
salt and pepper to taste
1 tbs oil
To thicken
3 tbs cornstarch
½ cup water
Turn your crock pot on high and put the oil in to heat up. Dice the onion, garlic and red pepper and put in the crock pot. Let the onion, garlic and red pepper cook for about five minutes to soften.
Add water, tomatoes and all of the seasonings and chicken bouillon to the crock pot. Allow to come to a simmer. This takes about 2 hours. Add all of the beans. Cook for another 2 hours. Add about ¾ of the bag of chicken strips. You can add the entire bag if you like. Judge the amount of room you have in your crock pot. You don’t want to get the pot too full. Leave about a 2 inch head space. Allow to cook for two more hours. During the last hour add the cornstarch and water mixture to the crock pot. The pot will need to come to a hard simmer again to thicken.
If you like a thicker chili you can adjust the amount of corn starch to make it thicker. Serve over white rice with a side of corn bread.
Yum!
