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This slow cooker salsa chicken is chicken smothered in cream of chicken soup, flavorful salsa, homemade taco seasoning and topped with crisp-shredded lettuce, sprinkled cheese and sour cream. It is an easy and simple chicken meal!

For other slow cooker recipes, try these out slow cooker barbacoa beef, slow cooker stuffed bell peppers or slow cooker chicken fajita soup.  The slow cooker is my favorite for busy days where we are out and about all day and all come home hungry.  I love the feeling of walking in the house after a long day to the smell of dinner ready!

Salsa chicken smothered in rice and black beans all in a bowl.

Slow Cooker Salsa Chicken Recipe

I always like to throw a good Mexican dish into the mix. I got this recipe over at Chef Mommy. This one is definitely one to try. It is so easy. And the flavor is amazing. Remember how I told you I like recipes with cream cheese? Well I had to throw one in. The part my hubby liked best was the leftovers the next day. I got whole wheat Tostitos chips, poured the sauce over the chips, covered with cheese, olives, and sour cream, and there ya go, delicious nachos!

This was really a recipe the whole family went crazy over.  It was such a big hit! Even with the kids!  We set it up like a taco bar and everyone went down the line and chose their favorite ingredients to add to this delicious chicken.  I just laid out the cheese, beans, tortillas, chips, rice, corn, sour cream and cilantro.  The best part was everyone got to make it their own way.  No picky eater drama for us! I especially love this chicken when hosting friends for dinner.  Everyone is able to make it their own.  It is such low prep and such great results!

Salsa Chicken Ingredients:

  • Chicken Breasts: I buy mine pre-trimmed at the store which saves me a little prep time.
  • Cream of Mushroom: or cream of chicken soup: This is what makes the sauce so creamy.  I always use Campbell’s Healthy Request since there is a little less fat.
  • Salsa: Choose a high quality salsa since this is where much of the flavor will come from.
  • Cream Cheese: Can you really go wrong with any recipe that includes cream cheese?  It adds so much to the smoothness of the sauce.
  • Taco Seasoning: I always use my homemade taco seasoning. It lasts up to 6 months and is so quick and easy to make!
  • Sour Cream: Use low fat or full fat versions depending on your dietary needs, either work great.

How to Make Salsa Chicken Recipe:

  1. Prepare the slow cooker:  Place chicken, soup, salsa, and cream cheese in your slow cooker. Sprinkle taco seasoning over everything. Set crock pot to low for 6 hours.
  2. Shred chicken: If shredding the chicken, pull the breasts out and shred; return back to slow cooker.
  3. Add Sour Cream: Stir in sour cream and heat just until everything is combined.
  4. Add toppings: Top with shredded cheese, black beans and sliced green onions and chopped cilantro.  (**Optional: Set aside some cilantro for serving)

Slow cooker process of making salsa chicken in four photos.

How to Serve Salsa Chicken:

  • In soft tacos! Stuff the chicken, salsa, corn, and beans into warm tortillas. Top with shredded cheddar cheese, lettuce, sour cream, green onions, olives, guacamole, or any of your other favorite toppings.
  • In quesadillas! Slice (or shred) the chicken and stuff it inside quesadillas. Use the corn and bean salsa as a delicious topping just before serving.
  • On taco salad! Keep it really light and enjoy the salsa chicken over a bed of crispy romaine. Add toppings if you like, but it’s certainly not necessary!
  • In a burrito bowl! Bowls are the new craze everywhere so join the fun and let everyone build their own bowl with rice, cheese, corn, black beans, or whatever else is a favorite at your house.

Salsa chicken on a bed of white rice with black beans over top.

Tips for Making Salsa Chicken:

  • Don’t be afraid to use a salsa with a little more kick to it since there are so many other mild flavors to tame the heat.
  • To make cleanup easier, line your slow cooker with a slow cooker liner or spray with nonstick spray.
  • An easy way to shred the chicken is using a standing mixer.  Two forks will do the trick as well, I just find that the chicken shreds easier and better with the mixer.  And a bonus to using the mixer is when you are adding in the cream cheese it helps spread it evenly throughout the chicken.

Salsa chicken in a bowl with rice and black beans garnished with green chives.

Try More of these Mexican Recipes:

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Salsa Chicken Recipe

By: Alyssa Rivers
Salsa Chicken is chicken smothered in cream of chicken soup, flavorful salsa, homemade taco seasoning and topped with crisp-shredded lettuce, sprinkled cheese and sour cream. It is an easy and simple chicken meal! 
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 6 hours
Total Time: 6 hours 15 minutes
Servings: 4

Equipment

  • Slow Cooker

Ingredients 

  • 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts
  • 1 can cream of mushroom or cream of chicken soup  I used the cream of chicken
  • 1 cup salsa
  • 1 8 ounce cream cheese
  • 1 package taco seasoning  I used 1 Tbsp of my homemade taco seasoning
  • 1 cup sour cream

Instructions 

  • Put chicken, soup, and salsa and cream cheese in slow cooker. Sprinkle taco seasoning over everything.
  • Cook on low for 6 hours. If shredding the chicken, pull the breasts out and shred; return back to slow cooker. Stir in sour cream and heat just until everything is combined.
  • Top with shredded cheese, black beans and sliced green onions and chopped cilantro.
  • cilantro, for serving (optional)

Video

Notes

Updated on 
Original Post on May 28, 2012

Nutrition

Calories: 478kcalCarbohydrates: 9gProtein: 30gFat: 36gSaturated Fat: 20gCholesterol: 173mgSodium: 861mgPotassium: 774mgFiber: 1gSugar: 6gVitamin A: 1584IUVitamin C: 3mgCalcium: 151mgIron: 1mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Additional Info

Course: Dinner, Main Course
Cuisine: Mexican
Tried this recipe?Mention @alyssa_therecipecritic or tag #therecipecritic!

 

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About Alyssa Rivers

Welcome to my kitchen! I am Alyssa Rivers and the food blogger behind The Recipe Critic. The blog launched in 2012 as a place to share my passion for cooking. I love trying new things and testing them out with my family. Each recipe is tried and true, family-tested and approved.

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9 Comments

  1. Can you omit the cream cheese? I understand it will be less creamy/cheesy but I’m not a fan of cream cheese.

    1. It needs something to substitute the thickness. Maybe greek yogurt or try it without to see how you like the consistency.

    1. You can either use a package of taco seasoning from the store or my taco seasoning that is homemade and that would be 1 tablespoon because of the flavoring.

  2. Love your recipes but I have to say that videos playing showing recipes while I am viewing recipes is a little distracting especially since the recipe I am viewing is not the one playing. Just sayin.

  3. Can you use cream cheese instead of the sour cream? I have all the ingrdents except I don’t have a whole cup of sour cream! I wanted to mke this tonight….

      1. I did half sour cream half cream cheee I loved this meal! So good! For sure will be making this again 🙂