Slow Cooker Mexican Chicken And Rice Recipe

Mexican food is one of the most popular cuisines out there, and we'd be lying if we said that Taco Tuesday wasn't one of the best days of the week. The great part about Mexican meals is that they are usually packed with flavor, and if you are a lover of spice, it's a great excuse to grab your favorite bottle of hot sauce and drizzle it on top of pretty much anything. However, there can be drawbacks when it comes to this cuisine. Often, Mexican meals can be time-consuming and require a lot of prep, which makes it hard to cook on weeknights.

Luckily, recipe developer and owner of Camelback Wellness and Nutrition, Kristen Carli, has come up with a wonderful slow cooker Mexican chicken and rice recipe that requires little time and effort. "I love a slow cooker meal," Carli raves. "It's truly what I make most often because you can set it and forget it." We couldn't agree more! This would be great for a family dinner or a quick meal prep for lunches. Keep reading to find out how to make this fantastic dish.

The first thing you need to do is make a list of the ingredients necessary to whip together this dish. For starters, head to the store and pick up some boneless, skinless chicken breasts. White rice is the other main ingredient in this recipe, along with some chicken broth. Moving onto the canned goods, pick up some diced tomatoes. You will also need a packet of taco seasoning, a can of black beans, and yellow corn. Then, get some salsa and cheddar cheese for serving.

Once you have all of the ingredients together, you can begin assembling the dish. Start by taking out your slow cooker. Be sure to put it in a safe place on your counter that's out of the way, since this will be cooking for a little bit of time. You won't be able to move the slow cooker because it will be really hot.

Now, toss in the white rice. "You can substitute the rice, but brown rice and wild rice tend to take a bit longer to cook through — they may still work perfectly in this dish," Carli notes. You can also add the chicken broth and diced tomatoes. "I would recommend using canned diced tomatoes in this dish," Carli explains. "You need the extra liquid found in the can to help cook the rice." Be sure to stir well to combine.

There are still a few more items you need to add to the mix, so let's just get right to it. Grab your taco seasoning and sprinkle it over the top. "I love a traditional taco seasoning packet, but you can bump up the heat if you wish by adding extra chili powder and cayenne," Carli notes. Then, add the canned black beans followed by the corn. As a reminder, you should have rinsed and drained both of these items ahead of time. Stir everything well again to combine. Easy as pie, right? 

If you're keeping track, there's still one more ingredient that you need to add to the mix, and it also happens to be one of the most important ingredient: the chicken breasts. If you want, you could trim these ahead of time, but usually, the chicken breasts don't have a lot of fatty pieces, so you can just throw them in as is. Once you have added the breasts to the top of the veggies and broth, place the lid on top of your slow cooker and crank the heat up to high. Let everything cook for three hours — luckily, you can just sit back and watch as the slow cooker does all the work!

Once the timer goes off, remove the lid from the slow cooker. Grab two forks and shred the chicken well. Then, give the entire dish a good stir. Now, you can plate and serve this slow cooker Mexican chicken and rice as you wish. "I love serving this in a bowl topped with salsa and shredded cheese," Carli says. "It would be excellent topped with sour cream as well. It would be good in a tortilla, but I didn't serve it this way as we already have the carbs from the rice."

You can keep any extras for a bonus lunch or for something later in the week. "Leftovers store well in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days," Carli notes. Cheers to this easy, hearty, and delicious dish!