As much as I love cooking, on the weeknights after I get home from work, I honestly hate making dinner — which is why I often turn to my crockpot to do the work for me.
I feel as if crockpots were wildly popular while I was growing up but they took a bit of a dip in popularity during my college days. It seemed as if crockpots got a bad rep’ during that time as they were viewed as a cop-out to ‘real home cooking.’
In reality, it takes a bit of talent to cook with a crockpot, especially as of late now that the blogworld has figured out how to utilize the crockpot for baking cinnamon rolls or mass cooking sweet potatoes to assist in weekly meal prep.
Personally, I like to rely on my crockpot for weeknight meals as it relieves me of the stress of cooking along the clean-up mess that comes at dinnertime. I’m also much more of a morning person so it’s easy for me to work an extra 10 minutes into my morning to prep my evening crockpot meal. I especially love using my crockpot in the warm Texas Spring and Summer months when it’s much too hot to turn on the stove or heat up the oven.
My Spicy Chicken & Corn Chili recipe was originally a one-pot stovetop recipe that I converted to the crockpot. The idea struck me on a Sunday morning when we had plans to be out all afternoon and I realized I would not have the energy to stand over a stove and cook dinner once we got home — similar to how I feel after work!
Rather than nixing our meal plan and opting to eat out that night, I decided to modify my original recipe a bit, adjusting ingredients for the all-day cook time in the crockpot.
Thankfully, the recipe turned out just as fabulous in the crockpot as it did on the stovetop. After converting this recipe to the crockpot, I’ve yet to go back to making it on the stovetop. It’s saves me time, dishes, and overall effort and the meal is just as delicious — which is most important!
<3M and I both love this chili for a few reasons. We love that it’s super chunky in part to the addition of ground chicken, sweet corn, and black beans while also being spicy and smokey thanks to a hefty dose of chili powder and hot smoked paprika. If you’re not into spicy, regular paprika would also work just fine! Diced avocado, shredded cheese and a bit of sour cream usually top our chili before serving. These toppings add great texture and bit of coolness to the spicy, smokey chili.
Since converting my Spicy Chicken & Corn Chili recipe to the crockpot, I also eliminated any extra fat or oils from the recipe, making this chili low fat but high in protein & fiber (nutrition included in below recipe). It’s super filling without leaving you feeling heavy after eating. This recipe also makes a ton of chili, so it’s great for a healthy leftover lunch later in the week.
- 1 large yellow onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 3 tablespoons chili powder
- 2 teaspoons oregano
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 2 teaspoons ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon hot smoked paprika*
- 1 pound ground chicken breast
- 1 cup mild or medium salsa*
- 1 15oz can no-salt-added tomato sauce
- 2 cups frozen sweet corn
- 1 can no salt added black beans, drained & rinsed
- 1-2 teaspoons salt, divided
- Optional for serving: chopped cilantro, sour cream, shredded cheese, avocado
- Combine all ingredients in the crockpot with the exception of the corn and black beans.
- Add in 1 teaspoon salt (additional salt can be added prior to serving)
- Stir all crockpot ingredients, breaking up the ground chicken the best you can.
- Place the lid on the crockpot and cook on low for 6-8 hours or high for 3-4 hours.
- A half hour before serving, scrape down the sides of the crockpot and stir in the drained black beans, frozen corn and adjust salt to your liking.
- Place lid back on the crockpot and cook on low an additional 30 minutes until everything is heated through again.
- Serve with chopped cilantro, sour cream, shredded cheese and avocado.
