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Everything you need for a quick dinner is in this delicious Crock Pot Santa fe Chicken Salad recipe. Tons of tender chicken, black beans and corn combine for a hearty salad.
Crock Pot Santa Fe Chicken Salad:
This Santa Fe Chicken Salad is the perfect meal to make in the summer when you don’t want to heat up your kitchen. The days are longer, the weather warmer and we all just eat a little lighter. This Santa Fe Chicken salad recipe is so filling and delicious but not too heavy.
The slow cooker recipe does all the work for this Crock Pot Chicken Salad. If you love light chicken crock pot recipes, then you should make this Crock Pot BBQ Chicken Salad. It is light, delicious and full of flavor.
You can literally toss most of the ingredients in the slow cooker and come home to dinner ready to enjoy. It is the best dinner and a recipe we make frequently. Serve over lettuce and top with cheese for a meal that will quickly become a family favorite.
How to Shred Chicken:
Once your chicken is cooked, remove the chicken and place in a bowl. To easily shred the chicken, you can shred with forks or you can shred with a hand mixer or a stand mixer.
For more step by step instructions, we have all the tips on How to Shred Chicken to save time and money. Slow Cooker Shredded Chicken can be used for many different meals and for meal prepping.
Ingredients for Santa Fe Chicken
- Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts
- Diced Tomatoes with Mild Green Chilies
- Black Beans
- Frozen Corn
- Fresh Cilantro
- Minced Garlic
- Cumin
- Salt
- Spinach or your favorite kind of lettuce
- Avocado
- Cheddar Cheese
- Tortilla Chips
How to Make Santa Fe Chicken Salad:
This is literally a toss and go recipe. The chicken, tomatoes, beans and corn all cook together for such a delicious meal.
- Step 1 – Place your chicken breasts on the bottom of the slow cooker. On top of the chicken dump in the, beans (drained), corn, tomatoes, cilantro, garlic, cumin, and salt in the crock pot.
- Step 2 – Cook on low for 8- 10 hours. Half hour before serving, remove chicken and shred or ice.
- Step 3 – Return chicken to slow cooker and stir in. Adjust salt and seasoning to taste.
- Step 4 – Serve with avocado slices on top and crushed tortilla chips and shredded cheese.
Slow Cooker Santa Fe Chicken Salad Variations:
- Add in Vegetables – You can also add bell peppers for even more delicious veggies but that is optional.
- Homemade Taco Seasoning – You can change the seasoning to taco seasoning. We like to use our Homemade Taco Seasoning but you can definitely use the store bought packet.
- Chicken – We used chicken breast in this recipe, but you can easily use grilled chicken, boneless chicken thighs or chicken tender. The cooked chicken shreds easily when make in the slow cooker.
- Use Different Meats – Feel free to use ground beef or ground turkey. Shredded pork would also be a great meat to use.
- Change the beans – If you don’t like black beans, you can use pinto beans or chili beans. You can also omit them if you are not a fan of beans.
- Salsa Options – We used diced tomatoes but I also have just dumped in some leftover salsa in the jar. You can also use Rotel if you want to spice it up or add some chili powder.
How to Serve Chicken Salad:
There are many different ways to Serve this Santa Fe Chicken Salad. Here are some of our favorites.
- Serve over salad – We prefer to shred the chicken and it makes such a great mixture for the salad. Spoon all that tasty chicken over spinach and lettuce for the perfect meal for busy weeknights.
- Rice – This Santa Fe Chicken would be delicious served over white rice. You can also use brown rice or cauliflower rice for a low carb or gluten free option.
- Burritos – Wrap the Santa Fe salad ingredients in a tortilla to make a delicious burrito.
- Quesadillas – Make a delicious quesadilla with these Santa Fe Chicken.
- Toppings – Add your favorite toppings such as avocado, cheese and more. It is so good. You can even drizzle lime dressing over the top or lime juice.
- Crushed Tortillas – The kids really love to add lots of crushed tortillas to the salad. It adds lots of crunch that is so delicious.
How to Store Leftovers:
You are going to love having this leftover. It is great for a second meal for the family or for lunch the next day. I like to place in individual containers for my husbands lunch the next day.
To reheat this recipe, place in microwave safe dish and heat in one minute intervals until heated thoroughly.
This recipe will stay good for about 3 to 4 days in the refrigerator. This is the perfect meal to meal prep with.
You can place the leftovers in a freezer safe container and freeze. It will stay good for about 3 to 4 months. Once we are ready to serve again, you can defrost in the refrigerator overnight or place in the crock pot.
Why we Love this Sante Fe Chicken Salad Recipe:
- Perfect for a Crowd – If you are feeding a large crowd make a taco bar. This makes a lot and it is perfect to keep the toppings separate and serve it with different rice.
- Simple Ingredients – We love that the ingredients are simple and can be changed to what you have on hand.
- Easy to make – All the ingredients are placed in the slow cooker for an easy weeknight meal.
- Hearty and Delicious – If I need a meal that is both filling and everyone likes it, this is my go-to meal. Easy to make with a simple process this Santa Chicken Salad is always the one I choose.
Print Southwest Chicken Salad Recipe below:
Crock pot Santa Fe Chicken Salad
Ingredients
- 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 14.4 oz can diced tomatoes with mild green chilies not drained
- 15 oz can black beans drained
- 1 cup frozen corn
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
- 1 tsp minced garlic
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp salt
- 8 cups spinach or your favorite kind of lettuce
- 1 Avocado
- 1 cup cheddar cheese
- Tortilla chips crushed
Instructions
- Place your chicken breasts on the bottom of the slow cooker. On top of the chicken dump in the, beans (drained), corn, tomatoes, cilantro, garlic, cumin, and salt in the crock pot.
- Cook on low for 8- 10 hours. Half hour before serving, remove chicken and shred or ice.
- Return chicken to slow cooker and stir in. Adjust salt and seasoning to taste.
- Serve over spinach or lettuce.
- Serve with avocado slices on top and crushed tortilla chips and shredded cheese.
Recipe Notes
Nutrition Facts
We are always looking for healthy chicken crockpot recipes and this is a family favorite.
More Crock Pot Chicken Recipes:
- Slow Cooker Chicken Burrito Bowls
- Crockpot Chicken Quesadillas Recipe
- Slow Cooker: Cilantro Lime Chicken Recipe
- The Best Crockpot Chicken Tacos Recipe – only 3 ingredients
- Easy Crock pot Chicken Vegetable Soup
Yes, I generally use frozen chicken breasts. I would cook for 9-10 hours until the chicken is shreddable. Thank you!
Can you use frozen chicken breasts?
A crock pot and slow cooker are the same thing. They cook food slowly and generally recipes take 6-8 hours in a crock pot. An instant pot is a pressure cooker. With pressure, it cooks food quickly. Generally recipes in a instant pot take 30-90 minutes. Thank you!
Hi,
I’m from Belgium and we don’t use crockpots, etc that much here.
Maybe a stupid question, but what’s the difference between a crockpot, instant pot and slow cooker? I would like to buy one for easy meals on busy nights, but need to know what to buy. do you have any advice?
Kind rgards
Liesbeth