I have many, many nights where getting dinner on the table feels like an impossible feat. The day is too hectic, too busy, too kid crazy or I’m just beat, exhausted and done. These nights consist of leftovers, sandwiches, tortilla pizzas, a quick breakfast for dinner or occasionally some take out. I really try to stay away from frozen foods and prepackaged foods as much as possible – eating is better, healthier and cheaper that way.
I’ve learned to fill these nights (becoming more frequent) with lazy, effortless dinners that involve as little work as possible. Plan a bit ahead on these days and the crockpot could become your backup.
Chicken breasts cooked in the crockpot are notoriously known for being bland and dry. Blame it on all the those old crockpot recipes we were subjected to as kiddos. Chicken breasts, a cup of water, some salt and pepper – 8 hours later a barely edible protein was on the table. Blah. News is, though, that amazing chicken can come from the crockpot.
I think it takes more time to gather the ingredients for this dinner than it does to put it all together. Throw the chicken in the crockpot, sprinkle all the spices on top of the chicken and pour the broth over it all. Cook on high for 3 1/2 hours. After 3 1/2 hours, remove chicken, shred it and dump it back in the crockpot. Let it cook for another 10 minutes or so – giving it some time to soak up some of that seasoned broth. That’s it. Really. Dinner ridiculously simple.
This isn’t meant to be eaten soup style, so remove the shredded chicken from the crockpot with a slotted spoon to strain all the excess broth. The broth the chicken is cooked in will be very salty – not so yum. I serve this chicken with a plate of rice and beans. On the sidelines is some chipotle sauce, avocado slices, shredded lettuce, sour cream or whatever else I might have around.
I get a twofer from this dinner and make double the amount we need. This juicy chicken booming with flavor is perfect for some oven baked chicken and cheese quesadillas. Awesome use for leftovers and another easy dinner! Score and Score!
So go ahead and be a little lazy. You’ll find that sometimes the search for simplicity results in surprisingly impressive results.
Thanks for stopping by and I hope you swing back soon! Happy Cooking!
-Amanda-
- 2 pound chicken breast tenders
- 1 packet sazon seasoning (Goya)
- 2 teaspoon Adobo seasoning (Goya)
- 2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- ½ teaspoon chipotle powder
- pinch of oregano
- 2 cups chicken broth (I use a chicken/tomato bouillon)
- Place chicken in crockpot.
- Sprinkle all spices over chicken.
- Pour chicken broth over chicken and seasonings.
- Cook on high for 3½ hours.
- Remove chicken, shred and put back in crockpot.
- Cook for another 10 minutes.
- Remove chicken with slotted spoon to strain excess broth.
- Serve and enjoy.
I have been looking at this recipe for the last 3 weeks and finally decided to give it a try. I used boneless, skinless chicken breasts and all else the same to the recipe.
I have been dying for the last few hours. The smell is driving me nuts. When they were finally done, I skipped the shredding. The breasts were fall apart, moist, tender and absolutely fabulous! Since I am on an Atkins diet, I just had veggies with them. The only thing that is wrong with them is that I should have used double the amount of chicken. This recipe is so good and I can not wait until leftovers tomorrow!
I can imagine this would be fabulous over rice. I will do that later in my diet. But straight out of the pot, this is some bangin’ chicken. I am in love.
Thanks so much for this great recipe, Amanda. I encourage everyone to give it a try, they won’t be disappointed.
Yay! So glad to hear you love the recipe! I make this chicken often – many days I just throw it in my dutch oven & it’s ready in 2 hours or so. Thanks so much for stopping by Lauren 🙂