A friend sent me this recipe a few years back when I was looking for a simple crock pot recipe that I could throw together in the morning and have it ready for dinner once I got home from work. While it calls for a lot of canned stuff, it’s a fairly cheap recipe to do. Depending on where you get your ingredients, this whole meal (which will feed approximately 6-8) cost me $12, including the chicken. Not too shabby.
Feel free to eliminate the chicken and it becomes a tasty vegetarian dish!
Ingredients:
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 3 boneless chicken breasts (boneless is easier)
- 2 cans black beans
- 2 cans corn
- 2 cans diced tomatoes with chiles
- 2 cans beans (kidney, pink, pick one)
- 1 packet taco seasoning (or make your own)
- 1 bottle of beer (your choice of type)
- salt/pepper to taste
- shredded cheddar cheese/sour cream/tortilla chips for finishing
(not pictured, chicken and seasonings)
I drain and rinse all the beans and corn. This is your choice, but I would recommend at least rinsing the beans. Toss all the beans, corn, diced tomatoes beer, onions and taco seasoning in the crock pot. Mix it up. Take the chicken breasts and lay on the top. I put a dash of salt (there is plenty of sodium in the beans) and more than a dash of pepper on top.
Put the lid on, turn it on to low heat and allow to cook for roughly 5 hours. If you do this before work, no worries. I’ve yet to ever over cook the chicken. Take the breasts out and shred them. They’ll be tender and I use two forks to pull them all apart.
Place the shredded chicken back into the crock pot and stir. Allow to cook for either 2 hours on low heat, or 1 hour on high. Be nice to your cat-dog and let them lick the chopping board. My Diva (a cat that thinks she’s a dog was more than happy to help.)
Tasty!!!
Serve with a dollop of sour cream, shredded cheese, and crushed tortilla chips on top. Or don’t. I prefer mine with just some cheese.
You can make this spicier by adding jalapeños (I can’t due to the Man), extra spicy taco seasoning, or anything really – it’s an incredibly flexible recipe. And while really more a “chili” than soup, you can add more liquid (an extra bottle of beer and more diced tomatoes.)