Slow Cooker Chicken Burrito Bowls
These slow cooker chicken burrito bowls combine tender chile-seasoned chicken, black beans, salsa, rice, and melted Colby-Jack cheese in one hearty meal.
Servings: 8
Adjust the serving amount to scale the ingredient list. Written quantities in the steps refer to the original recipe; adjust them in the same proportion. Timing may vary with batch size.
Prep: 10 minutes
Total: 5 hours
Ingredients
Ingredients
- 2 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 1 medium yellow onion diced
- 1 16 oz jar salsa
- 1 15 oz can black beans drained and rinsed
- 1 10 oz can diced tomatoes undrained
- 1 4 oz can diced green chiles undrained
- 2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 1 tsp chipotle chile powder or regular chile powder
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp ground oregano
- 1 tsp table salt
- 1 tsp finely ground black pepper
- 2 cups instant white rice
- 8 oz Colby-Jack cheese shredded
- sour cream optional garnish
- sliced olives optional garnish
- avocado optional garnish
- hot sauce optional garnish
- green onion optional garnish
- lime wedges optional garnish
Instructions
Instructions
- Place the chicken breasts in an even layer across the bottom of a 6 to 7-quart (5.7 to 6.6 L) slow cooker. Keeping the chicken in a single layer helps it cook at a similar rate.
- Add the diced onion, salsa, black beans, undrained diced tomatoes, undrained green chiles, chicken broth, chipotle chile powder, paprika, oregano, salt and black pepper. Cover and cook on LOW for 4 hours, or until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165°F (74°C) and is tender enough to shred easily.
- Transfer the chicken to a large bowl and shred it with two forks or meat shredders. Keep the slow cooker covered while you shred the chicken so the cooking liquid stays hot. The retained heat is important because the instant rice is added next and cooks directly in this liquid.
- Return the shredded chicken to the slow cooker and add the uncooked instant white rice. Stir well, making sure the rice is distributed throughout the chicken mixture and in contact with the hot cooking liquid rather than sitting dry on top.
- Cover and continue cooking on LOW for about 45 minutes. Check the rice for tenderness before moving on. It should be tender and most of the cooking liquid should be absorbed, although the exact timing can vary between slow cookers.
- Sprinkle the shredded Colby-Jack cheese evenly over the chicken burrito bowl mixture. Cover and cook for another 3 to 5 minutes, or until the cheese is completely melted.
- Spoon the slow cooker chicken, black bean and rice mixture into individual bowls and serve hot with your preferred burrito bowl toppings.