Slow cooker Santa Fe chicken is the ultimate easy dinner! Packed with tender chicken, chiles, corn, black beans, tomatoes, and flavorful seasonings, this delicious meal comes together effortlessly with no pre-cooking needed. Plus, it's made with simple pantry staples you probably already have on hand—perfect for busy weeknights!
Table of Contents
❤️ Why you'll love it
- Tex-Mex flavors add some fun to a basic taco Tuesday.
- An easy weeknight meal that's packed with healthy ingredients.
- Makes enough to feed the whole family—even a big family!
Get ready to add this delicious dinner to your regular rotation—it's like a fiesta in your mouth!
Plus,
When served over rice it's a spiced up version of chicken and rice that we love! Try it topped with some shredded Monterey Jack cheese!
🧾 Ingredients
This is an overview of the ingredients. You'll find the full measurements and instructions in the green recipe card (printable) at the bottom of the page.
🔪 Instructions
This is an overview of the instructions. Full instructions are in the green recipe card at the bottom of the page.
- Season chicken breast.
- Add the remaining ingredients.
- With a half hour left of cooking time, shred chicken.
- Stir and serve over rice.
🥫 Storage
This Santa Fe chicken recipe is great to make in bulk and save for lunches or quick dinners throughout the week.
Store the leftovers in some Tupperware or another airtight container and refrigerate 3 to 5 days. You can warm it up right in the microwave!
It's also fine to freeze —all the ingredients will hold up pretty well. It'll last in the freezer for up to three months.
📖 Variations
There are quite a lot of variations on this easy chicken recipe. Plus, there are plenty of different ways to serve it, too! So, do what works best for your family and enjoy.
- We like to use skinless chicken breasts, but you could also make Santa Fe shredded pork by using a small pork butt or pork tenderloins.
- Out of black beans? Pinto beans are a good alternative.
- Too tired to cut up an onion? It's the end of the day—I get it. Add some onion powder when you season the meat. Or, use the frozen onions from the store. I love having them on hand.
- Add some cayenne pepper, jalapenos, or your favorite hot sauce to make things extra spicy.
- Swap the garlic powder for minced garlic if you have a clove to use.
- Some people use chili powder instead of chipotle. I prefer the latter as it gives the crockpot chicken a Sante Fe/Tex-Mex kick, but you do you!
- If your instant pot has a slow-cooker setting, feel free to use that.
- Right before topping everything off with fresh cilantro, give the chicken a squeeze of lime juice.
- Instead of serving over white rice, you can use brown rice, Mexican rice, or quinoa.
- Make lettuce wraps by spooning the Santa Fe chicken onto big pieces of Bib or romaine! (Easy dinner idea if you're on Weight Watchers!)
- Tortilla chips or Fritos make great "spoons" for scooping up the yummy shredded chicken!
- Or, use up leftover flour tortillas and make crockpot Sante Fe chicken tacos. Corn tortillas are great, too.
- Serve with your favorite toppings to make yummy Sante Fe burrito bowls, or serve over chopped lettuce to make taco salad!
- The only thing left to add is a big dollop of sour cream, and maybe some shredded cheddar cheese.
If you love these kinds of southwestern flavors give this chicken enchilada soup a try.
💭 Things to know
Expert Tip: By letting the chicken continue simmering after shredding it, you allow all the yummy, spicy flavors to mingle together—don't skip this step if you've got the time!
- If you can't make it home in time to shred the chicken at the seven-and-a-half-hour mark, just let it cook for the full eight hours. Shred it whenever you get home, and it'll still be okay.
- If you have a picky eater in your family, remove one of the chicken breasts and shred it separately from the other ingredients. (Listen, once they see how everyone else is enjoying their meal, you can bet they'll want to try it, too!)
- Be careful when shredding the chicken not to scrape the bottom of your crock pot too much!
- A recent social media trend is going around where you use a hand mixer on slow speed to shred your chicken. You can try it if you want, but be cautious about splashing the hot liquid onto yourself.
- I prefer using two forks to shred the chicken. Crockpot chicken basically falls apart on its own, anyway. So tender!
- For extra easy clean-up, use a crockpot liner.
👩🍳 FAQs
If the perfect meal for you involves something creamy, go ahead and add a half-block of cream cheese and a handful of cheddar cheese after shredding the chicken. The final 30 minutes will let it get all melty and warm. Just give everything a good stir before serving. (Or, try this recipe!)
The recipe card is correct! The cumin, Chipotle, and garlic give the popular recipe its Santa Fe flavor, rather than making it taste just like regular taco meat. Nothin' wrong with a basic recipe, but I like to add a lil Tex-Mex pizzazz!
Double-check with your
Santa Fe happens to be the capital of New Mexico! It's also a way to describe a certain style of Tex-Mex spices, usually including chili, cumin, garlic, cilantro, and lime.
📚 Related recipes
- Texas Two-Step Salsa Chicken only requires a handful of ingredients, even fewer steps than that to prepare it, and comes out tasting tender, spicy, and a little sweet—it's pretty much dinner perfection.
- Creamy, spicy, and full of Sante Fe flavor, Easy Fiesta Chicken is Tex-Mex comfort food at its finest. Use it in tacos, burrito bowls, or make it into soup!
- Chicken Fajita Soup is one of those recipes that simmers all day in the
slow cooker , and has an aroma so enticing that you'd better be ready to answer the question "is dinner ready yet?!" about a million times.
🍽️ Serve with...
Frito Corn Salad adds some crunch to the meal and no one complains about eating veggies when Fritos are involved.
Hatch Chile Cheese Bread is so unique and delicious! The flavors go perfectly with the chicken.
Mexican Hot Chocolate Cobbler is done in minutes in the microwave!
📞 The last word
I like to make a big batch of this and freeze it in meal sized portions. I love being able to pull it out of the freezer and get a meal on the table in minutes.
It's just so good!
And it's a favorite crockpot tailgating recipe during football season!
If you click on the number of servings in the recipe card you can adjust the measurements up or down for the exact number of servings you need.
If you love this recipe please give it 5 stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
📖 Recipe
Slow Cooker Santa Fe Chicken
Print Pin Recipe Save Recipe Rate RecipeIngredients
- 1 ½ pounds chicken breast
- 1 teaspoon chipotle powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 15 ounces black beans, rinsed and drained
- 10.5 ounces Rotel, or other diced tomatoes with green chilies
- 8 ounces frozen corn
- 4 ounces chiles, fire roasted
- 1 cup onions, chopped
- ½ cup chicken stock
- ⅓ cup chopped fresh cilantro
Instructions
- Spray the inside of the crock with non-stick cooking spray.
- Lay the chicken in the bottom.
- Cover with the remaining ingredients.
- Cover and cook on low for 7 ½ hours.
- Shred chicken, put the cover back on and cook an additional 30 minutes.
- Serve over rice.
Notes
- By letting the chicken continue simmering after shredding it, you allow all the yummy, spicy flavors to mingle together—don't skip this step if you've got the time!
- However, if you can't make it home in time to shred the chicken at the seven-and-a-half-hour mark, just let it cook for the full eight hours. Shred it whenever you get home, and it'll still be okay.
- If you have a picky eater in your family, remove one of the chicken breasts and shred it separately from the other ingredients. (However, once they see how everyone else is enjoying their meal, you can bet they'll want to try it, too!
- Be careful when shredding the chicken not to scrape the bottom of your crock pot too much!
- A recent social media trend is going around where you use a hand mixer on slow speed to shred your chicken. You can try it if you want, but be cautious about splashing the hot liquid onto yourself.
- I prefer using two forks to shred the chicken. Crockpot chicken basically falls apart on its own, anyway. So tender!
- For extra easy clean-up, use a crockpot liner.
Nutrition Facts
Nutrition information is estimated as a courtesy. If using for medical purposes, please verify information using your own nutritional calculator. Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
This recipe has been tested several times. If you choose to use other ingredients, or change the technique in some way, the results may not be the same.
First published September 12, 2022. Last updated September 11, 2024 for readability, more tips, and to make the instructions more clear.
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