Crockpot Fiesta Chicken is the chicken meal your crockpot was made for. You'll love the easy preparation, the fork-tender chicken, and the classic Mexican ingredients—this no-prep slow cooker Mexican chicken has black beans, corn, fire-roasted diced tomatoes with green chilies, and cream cheese. But the real plus is how many ways you can serve it!
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Serve this dish over rice, pair it with tortillas for nachos, or use it as a filling for quesadillas, burritos, or enchiladas. No matter how you serve it, garnish it with any combination of sour cream, fresh green cilantro, shredded cheese, sliced avocados, my super easy homemade guacamole and lime wedges.
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What you need to make Crockpot Fiesta Chicken
- Boneless skinless chicken breasts. You can use boneless skinless chicken thighs if you prefer.
- Canned black beans. Canned beans are easiest for this recipe, but if you have cooked black beans that were prepared from dry you can substitute an equivalent amount. Do not use uncooked beans.
- Rotel tomatoes and green chilies. Rotel, the secret ingredient that's not so secret, does its magic with this recipe, not only providing essential flavor but saving you time by chopping tomatoes and handling the chilies for you. Use any canned diced tomatoes with chilies—but try the fire-roasted Rotel for an extra pop of flavor.
- Canned whole corn kernels. You can substitute frozen corn (thawed and drained) or fire-roasted corn.
- Cream cheese. Light cream cheese (neufchâtel) saves on calories, but you can use regular cream cheese if you prefer.
- Garlic salt.
- Accompaniments (not shown). Rice, flour or corn tortillas, tortilla chips.
- Garnishes (not shown). Your preferred combination of fresh cilantro, lime wedges, avocado, guacamole, sour cream, salsa, and/or shredded cheese.
See recipe card for quantities.
How to make Crockpot Fiesta Chicken
Combine the chicken, beans, corn, tomatoes and green chilies, cream cheese, and garlic salt in the slow cooker (1). Cook on low for about 6 hours, stirring every two hours(2). You will need to adjust the cooking time based on the size of your slow cooker and how hot it cooks. Longer cooking times result in completely shredded chicken.
How to serve Crockpot Fiesta Chicken
Serve Crockpot Fiesta Chicken in burrito bowls with rice (3); with flour or corn tortillas (4); as a filling for enchiladas, burritos, or tacos; or as a dip with tortilla chips.
Garnish with fresh cilantro, lime wedges, avocado, sour cream, salsa, and/or shredded cheese.
Perfect for busy evenings and game days, this easy, cheesy Mexican crockpot chicken is one you'll reach for again and again, and only partly because it smells so good when you walk into the kitchen.
Substitutions & Additions
- Spicy or mild - use whatever level of spiciness you prefer in the diced tomatoes with green chilies, or swap for plain diced tomatoes
- Vegetarian - omit the chicken and double or triple the beans (a combination of red kidney beans and black beans works well)
- Gluten-free - this recipe is gluten-free as written
- Fresh produce - you could add chopped onion, green bell pepper, fresh chopped jalapeño, and/or fresh chopped tomatoes (the aspect of this recipe that appeals to me is the ease of a no-prep recipe with non-perishable ingredients I can keep on hand, so I prefer to stick with the canned ingredients)
- Extra seasoning - the garnishes and a bit of lime juice provide all the seasoning I need for this recipe, so I stick with just garlic salt and maybe a dash of cumin; you can add a packet of ranch dressing mix or taco seasoning if you prefer
Crockpot tip
You'll need to adjust the cooking time of this recipe based on your individual appliance. Slow cookers give different results based on brand, size, and how full they are, so keep that in mind when planning your cook time. A 6-quart crockpot will cook the same recipe much faster than a 4-quart or 3-quart crockpot.
On top of that, not all crockpots cook at the temperature they are supposed to (you can use this method to test your crockpot temperature). The bottom line is that unlike oven cooking, there is no way to exactly predict the time needed to perfectly cook in a crockpot because they vary so much.
I use a 6-quart crockpot—the size is perfect for the recipes I make, and it gives me the options I need without needing to learn complicated programming modes. I like the ability to choose how long to cook at high or low. It automatically switches to the "keep warm" function after the cooking time ends.
Storage and freezing
Store this slow cooker Fiesta Chicken in an airtight container in the refrigerator separately from the rice, tortillas, etc., for up to 4 days.
I don't recommend freezing this dish due to the cream sauce.
Recipe
Crockpot Fiesta Chicken
Ingredients
- 2.5 pounds boneless chicken
- 8 ounces light cream cheese
- 15 ounces canned black beans, drained and rinsed
- 15 ounces canned corn, drained
- 10 ounces canned diced tomatoes and green chilies (undrained)
- 1½ teaspoons garlic salt
Accompaniments (choose one or more)
- rice, for serving
- tortillas, for serving
- tortilla chips, for serving
Garnishes (optional)
- fresh cilantro, chopped
- sliced avocados or guacamole
- sour cream
- lime wedges
- shredded Mexican blend cheese
Instructions
- Place 2.5 pounds boneless chicken in slow cooker. Add 8 ounces light cream cheese. Drain and rinse 15 ounces canned black beans and add. Drain and add 15 ounces canned corn. Add 10 ounces canned diced tomatoes and green chilies (undrained) and 1½ teaspoons garlic salt.
- Cook on low for 6 to 8 hours, depending on how hot your slow cooker cooks. Every couple of hours, stir gently.
- The longer you cook it, the more tender the chicken is, so if you would like to shred the chicken, keep cooking until the chicken shreds easily with a fork. If you prefer large pieces of chicken, cook for less time and serve before chicken begins falling apart.
- Serve with rice, tortillas, or tortilla chips and garnish with your choice of fresh cilantro, sliced avocados or guacamole, sour cream, lime wedges, and shredded Mexican blend cheese.
Notes
- Vegetarian option: Omit the chicken and increase the amount of beans in place of the meat.
- This recipe was tested in a 6-quart Rival Crock Pot on low. After six hours in this specific model, the chicken is fork-tender but holds some of its form as shown in the photos.
- Accompaniments and garnishes are not included in the nutrition calculation.
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