Crockpot Green Salsa Chicken Bowls
Crockpot Green Salsa Chicken Bowls are an easy, high-protein weeknight dinner made with salsa verde, chicken, black beans and corn. Great for meal prep!
Creator: Leslie Stokes
There are certain recipes that just make sense for this season of life, and these Crockpot Green Salsa Chicken Bowls are one of them. They’re easy enough to throw together on a busy weekday, everyone can build their bowl exactly how they like it, and—possibly my favorite part—the recipe makes enough that I can turn the leftovers into lunches for the next few days.
Now that we’re back into the school-year routine, these are the kinds of dinners I find myself making over and over again. I don’t necessarily want to spend an hour cooking dinner every night, but I also don’t want every busy-night meal to feel like the same basic chicken and rice situation.
This one has so much flavor for how little work actually goes into it.
The chicken slow cooks in green salsa with cumin, garlic and a few simple seasonings until it practically falls apart. At the end, I stir cream cheese into all of that flavorful cooking liquid to make it creamy without turning it into a super heavy sauce. Then—and this is what makes the recipe especially easy—I add the corn and black beans straight to the crockpot before adding the shredded chicken back in.
Everything gets tossed together with fresh lime and cilantro, and dinner is basically done.
Spoon it over rice, add avocado, cotija, pico and something crunchy on top, and you have one of those dinners that looks like you did a lot more work than you actually did.
And if you’re already thinking ahead to tomorrow’s lunch, make extra rice. Trust me.
Why You’ll Love These Crockpot Green Salsa Chicken Bowls
I think the best weeknight recipes are the ones that make life easier in more than one way. Yes, I want dinner to be easy that night, but if I can also open my refrigerator the next day and already have lunch mostly handled? Even better.
That’s exactly why I love this recipe.
The chicken mixture itself has the protein, corn and black beans all together, so there aren’t a million different containers of leftovers to deal with. I can portion rice into meal prep containers, spoon the chicken mixture over the top and have several lunches ready to grab throughout the week.
It’s also one of those dinners that works really well for families because everyone can customize their own bowl. I can load mine up with cilantro, avocado, cotija and pico, while the kids can keep theirs as simple as they want.
A few more reasons this has become such an easy go-to:
- Mostly hands-off thanks to the crockpot
- High in protein
- Uses really simple ingredients
- Easy to customize
- Great for feeding a family
- Makes plenty for leftovers
- Reheats really well
- Perfect for weekly meal prep
- The chicken mixture can be used for way more than just bowls
Basically, it’s exactly what I want out of a back-to-school weeknight dinner.
The Secret Is Using Green Salsa
You may also see this labeled as salsa verde at the grocery store. Either works here.
Instead of needing tomatillos, peppers and a long list of ingredients to create a sauce from scratch, I use a jar of green salsa and let the crockpot do the rest of the work.
Choose one you already know your family likes because the flavor of the salsa really comes through in the finished chicken.
If your kids don’t love spicy food, look for a mild green salsa. If everyone in your house likes a little heat, go with medium or hot.
And while you could add a can of diced green chiles, I honestly don’t think this recipe needs them. The green salsa gives the chicken plenty of that tangy, slightly smoky flavor on its own and keeps the ingredient list nice and simple.
Crockpot Green Salsa Chicken Bowls for Meal Prep
This might be my favorite part of the entire recipe.
If I’m already cooking dinner, I love when I can get a couple of lunches out of it without doing any additional cooking.
For meal prep, portion cooked rice into individual containers and top each one with the green salsa chicken, corn and black bean mixture.
Keep anything you want to stay fresh or crunchy separate. I wouldn’t add avocado, lettuce, pico or tortilla strips until you’re ready to eat.
When it’s lunchtime, reheat the rice and chicken, then add your toppings.
You can also skip the rice and turn the leftovers into a salad. Add shredded lettuce to a bowl, warm up the chicken mixture and finish with avocado, pico and crushed tortilla chips.
One dinner, several completely different meals.
That’s my kind of meal prep.
More Ways to Use the Leftover Green Salsa Chicken
Don’t feel like you have to eat bowls three days in a row, either.
This chicken mixture is really versatile. Use the leftovers to make:
- Green salsa chicken tacos
- Burritos
- Quesadillas
- Nachos
- Taco salads
- Stuffed sweet potatoes
- Loaded baked potatoes
- Lettuce wraps
- A quick chicken tortilla soup
- Breakfast bowls with eggs
For quesadillas especially, I would use a slotted spoon if the chicken mixture has a lot of sauce so the tortillas still get nice and crispy.
Can I Use Chicken Thighs Instead?
Absolutely.
Boneless, skinless chicken breasts keep this recipe lean and high in protein, but boneless, skinless chicken thighs are really good here too.
Thighs tend to stay especially tender in the slow cooker and are a little more forgiving if your crockpot runs hot.
You can also do a combination of breasts and thighs.
How to Store Leftovers
Let the chicken mixture cool and transfer it to an airtight container. Store it in the refrigerator for up to 3–4 days.
You can store cooked rice separately or portion the rice and chicken together into meal-prep containers.
Keep fresh toppings in separate containers and add them after reheating.
To reheat, microwave the chicken and rice until heated through. If the chicken mixture thickens in the refrigerator, add a tiny splash of chicken broth or water before reheating and stir it well.
Can You Freeze Green Salsa Chicken?
Yes.
If I’m specifically planning to freeze this recipe, I prefer freezing the chicken mixture without any of the bowl toppings.
Let it cool completely, portion it into freezer-safe containers and freeze. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before reheating.
The creamy sauce can separate slightly after freezing, but stirring it well as it reheats usually brings everything back together.
My final thoughts for these crockpot chicken bowls
I feel like everyone needs a few dinners like this in their back pocket.
Nothing complicated. Nothing that requires standing over the stove at 5:00. Just a really flavorful, high-protein dinner that I can throw into the crockpot earlier in the day and come back to when everyone is hungry.
And the fact that the leftovers are arguably just as good the next day might be the biggest win.
These Crockpot Green Salsa Chicken Bowls are creamy without being overly heavy, packed with chicken, corn and black beans, and easy enough to customize based on whatever toppings you already have in the fridge.
Make the rice, put everything out on the counter and let everyone build their own.
Then pack up the leftovers before everyone goes back for seconds—because tomorrow’s lunch is already done.
I hope this meal prep helps you! Don’t forget to follow along on social media for more Meal Prep + healthy recipes!
Crockpot Green Salsa Chicken Bowls
Ingredients
For the Green Salsa Chicken
- 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 16-ounce jar green salsa or salsa verde
- 1/2 cup chicken broth
- 4 ounces cream cheese softened
- 1 15-ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 1/2 cups corn fresh, frozen or canned and drained
- Juice of 1 lime
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
For Serving
- 3 cups cooked cilantro-lime rice or white rice
- Sliced avocado
- Crumbled cotija cheese
- Pico de gallo
- Shredded lettuce
- Fresh cilantro
- Lime wedges
- Tortilla strips
- Jalapeño-lime crema optional
Let's Make It
- Add the chicken breasts to the bottom of the crockpot. Season with kosher salt, garlic powder, onion powder, cumin and smoked paprika.
- Pour the green salsa and chicken broth over the chicken.
- Cover and cook on LOW for 5–6 hours or HIGH for 3–4 hours, or until the chicken is tender and easily shreds with a fork.
- Transfer the chicken to a cutting board or large bowl and shred using two forks.
- Add the softened cream cheese to the liquid remaining in the crockpot. Stir until the cream cheese has melted into the green salsa and the mixture is creamy and mostly smooth.
- Add the drained and rinsed black beans and corn directly to the crockpot. Stir to combine.
- Return the shredded chicken to the crockpot. Add the fresh lime juice and chopped cilantro and toss everything together until the chicken is completely coated.
- Cover and let everything warm together for another 10–15 minutes.
- To assemble the bowls, add rice to each bowl and spoon the creamy green salsa chicken, corn and black bean mixture over the top.
- Finish with avocado, cotija, pico de gallo, shredded lettuce, fresh cilantro, tortilla strips, lime and jalapeño-lime crema, if desired.
Notes
- Frozen corn: You can add frozen corn directly to the crockpot at the end. There’s no need to thaw it first; just give it enough time to heat through before serving.
- Green salsa: Use your favorite mild, medium or hot salsa verde depending on how spicy you want the chicken.
- Cream cheese: Make sure it’s softened before adding it so it melts into the hot cooking liquid more easily.
- For meal prep: Portion the rice and chicken mixture together, but store avocado, lettuce, pico, crema and tortilla strips separately.
- For extra protein: Serve with additional black beans or use Greek yogurt in place of sour cream for the crema.
Nutrition Facts
Per serving, based on 6 servings and including approximately 1/2 cup cooked rice per serving, but not including optional avocado, cotija, tortilla strips, pico or crema:
Serving Size: 1 bowl
Calories: 520 kcal
Carbohydrates: 54 g
Protein: 48 g
Fat: 12 g
Saturated Fat: 5 g
Polyunsaturated Fat: 1 g
Monounsaturated Fat: 3 g
Cholesterol: 125 mg
Sodium: 850 mg
Potassium: 950 mg
Fiber: 8 g
Sugar: 5 g
Vitamin A: 650 IU
Vitamin C: 12 mg
Calcium: 110 mg
Iron: 3 mg
Meal Prep in 1 Hour
You can use any two of the meals in this series to get your meal prep done in just about and hour, give or take!
Having your breakfast and lunch ready for the week helps you stay on track with your nutriton, saves you time and money! I truly beleive that meal prep does not need to be over complicated, take too much time or be boring!
I always get asked- “do you ever get tired of eating the same thing all week?” and the answer is, no! Not when the food taste good! I give plenty of variety in these preps and keep it simple!
As always, thanks for being here and remember, don’t over complicate the process! Take a deep breath, you got this!
