Slow Cooker Chunky Chicken Chili

Book Update:  Still taking my vacation time to watch “The Good Wife”!

Recipe:  This recipe gets to the heart about why I can’t stand most slow cooker recipes – they turn the food to mush.  Leaving most of our food to cook for 8 hours a day is really, really gross.  But, I’ve learned that if you pick the right meat or the right timing, then some things can be made in the slow cooker. This recipe uses chicken thighs which hold up a lot better in the slow cooker than chicken breasts.  Chicken breasts always turn out dry or break down into shreds for me.  If chicken shreds in lots of liquid are what you want, then slow cooking is fine.

I highly recommend seeing if you can get your butcher to chop the chicken thighs before leaving the grocery store.  This is rather time consuming and more mess to clean up at home.

Since chicken doesn’t have a lot of flavor on its own, a lot of the flavor will come from what kind of salsa you use.  Trader Joe’s has a lot of fun ones like Peach and Pineapple that would be delicious.  Jack’s Fresh Salsa at the store is our family’s favorite for chips.  It tastes as close to homemade as I have ever found.

This recipe is very thick.  You can make it thinner by adding chicken broth or leave as is.  I used it as chili, in taco shells and tortillas!  Very versatile stuff!

Slow Cooker Chunky Chicken Chili
serves 6-8

2 cans (15 oz. each) red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 and 1/2 cups salsa
1 can (15 oz.) tomato sauce
2 Tb. chili powder
1 tsp. ground cumin (optional)
1 and 1/2 lbs. boneless skinless chicken thighs, trimmed and cut into 1″ chunks
1 onion, chopped
1 cup frozen corn

In slow cooker:  mix the beans, salsa, sauce, chili powder and cumin.  Place the chicken on top.  Place the onion on top of the chicken.
Cook 6-8 hours on LOW or 4-5 hours on HIGH.  30 minutes before cooking is finished, add the frozen corn and stir.
To serve, top with cheese, sour cream, more salsa, tortilla chips, etc.

Recipe from Kraft