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Slow Cooker Santa Fe Chicken

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Slow Cooker Santa Fe Chicken recipe includes chicken breast, beans, corn, and plenty of southwestern spices for a hearty meal. Serve with rice.
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 8 hours
Total Time 8 hours 5 minutes
Jump to Recipe
Overhead view of finished Santa Fe Chicken in the crockpot.
Table of Contents

🗝️ Key takeaways: why this recipe is your new favorite

Spice up taco night with a Tex-Mex twist that’s easy, hearty, and perfect for busy weeknights. This slow cooker Santa Fe chicken is a dump-and-cook dream—just toss it in and walk away. It’s packed with healthy ingredients and makes enough to feed a crowd. Serve it over rice with a little Monterey Jack on top, and you’ve got a fiesta-worthy dinner the whole family will love.

🧾 Gather your ingredients: what you'll need

This is an overview of the ingredients. You'll find the full measurements and instructions in the green recipe card (printable) below.

Labeled ingredients for this recipe.

We like to use skinless chicken breasts, but you could also use thighs, whole chicken, or even make Santa Fe shredded pork by using a small pork butt or pork tenderloins.

🔪 Step-by-step guide: how to make Santa Fe Chicken

Step by step images showing how to make this recipe.
  1. Season chicken breast.
  2. Add the remaining ingredients.
  3. After 7-½ hours shred chicken and stir back into the slow cooker for 30 more minutes.
  4. Stir and serve over rice.

🥫 Leftover love: how to store

This Santa Fe chicken recipe is great to make in bulk and save for lunches or quick dinners throughout the week.

Store the leftovers in some Tupperware or another airtight container and refrigerate 3 to 5 days. Or, freeze for up to 3 months.

Overhead view of the chicken spooned over rice.

Marye's Tips for the best Santa Fe Chicken!

  • By letting the chicken continue simmering after shredding it, you allow all the flavors to blend—don't skip this step!
  • Save time by using frozen chopped onions from the store.
  • If you can't make it home in time to shred the chicken at the seven-and-a-half-hour mark, just let it cook for the full eight hours. Shred it whenever you get home, and it'll still be okay.
  • I prefer using two forks to shred the chicken. Crockpot chicken basically falls apart on its own, anyway. So tender!
  • For extra easy clean-up, use a crockpot liner.

👩‍🍳 Let's answer those questions: FAQs

Have other questions? Ask me in the comments!

Can I cook crockpot Santa Fe chicken in 3-4 hours instead of 8?

Double-check with your slow cooker's instructions (or look 'em up on the brand's website) to make sure. Most of the time, you can safely replace 8-10 hours on low with 3-4 hours on high, but some slow cookers recommend not altering recipe instructions.

Is there a way to make this crockpot Santa Fe chicken recipe creamy?

If the perfect meal for you involves something creamy, go ahead and add a half-block of cream cheese and a handful of cheddar cheese after shredding the chicken. The final 30 minutes will let it get all melty and warm. Just give everything a good stir before serving. (Or, try this fiesta chicken recipe!)

If you click on the number of servings in the recipe card you can adjust the measurements up or down for the exact number of servings you need. Love this recipe? Please give it 5 stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

📖 Recipe

Overhead view of the finished recipe for feature image.

Slow Cooker Santa Fe Chicken

4 from 2 votes
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Slow Cooker Santa Fe Chicken recipe includes chicken breast, beans, corn, and plenty of southwestern spices for a hearty meal. Serve with rice.
Course Main Dish - Chicken
Cuisine American - Southwest
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 8 hours
Total Time: 8 hours 5 minutes
Servings:
Calories:223
Author:Marye Audet-White

Ingredients

  • 1 ½ pounds chicken breast
  • 1 teaspoon chipotle powder
  • 1 teaspoon cumin
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 15 ounces black beans, rinsed and drained
  • 10.5 ounces Rotel, or other diced tomatoes with green chilies
  • 8 ounces frozen corn
  • 4 ounces chiles, fire roasted
  • 1 cup onions, chopped
  • ½ cup chicken stock
  • ⅓ cup chopped fresh cilantro

Instructions

  • Spray the inside of the crock with non-stick cooking spray or use a liner.
  • Lay the chicken in the bottom.
  • Top with the remaining ingredients.
  • Cover and cook on low for 7 ½ hours.
  • Shred chicken with 2 forks,, put the cover back on and cook an additional 30 minutes.
  • Serve over rice with your favorite toppings: cheese, sour cream, avocado, etc.

Notes

Storage:
Place leftovers in an airtight container or cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 3 days. Freeze for up to 3 months.
Tips:
  • For extra easy clean-up, use a crockpot liner.
  • Save time by using frozen, chopped onions. 
  • Chicken thighs or boneless pork can be substituted for the chicken breast.                                                                                                                               
You'll find more helpful tips and variations in the body of the post.

Nutrition Facts

Calories: 223kcal | Carbohydrates: 25g | Protein: 25g | Fat: 3g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 0.01g | Cholesterol: 55mg | Sodium: 133mg | Potassium: 765mg | Fiber: 7g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 331IU | Vitamin C: 29mg | Calcium: 42mg | Iron: 2mg

Nutrition information is estimated as a courtesy. If using for medical purposes, please verify information using your own nutritional calculator. Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

This recipe has been tested several times. If you choose to use other ingredients, or change the technique in some way, the results may not be the same.

Finished recipe on a white plate.

📖 Variations

There are quite a lot of variations on this easy chicken recipe. Plus, there are plenty of different ways to serve it, too! So, do what works best for your family and enjoy.

  • Add some cayenne pepper, jalapenos, or your favorite hot sauce to make things extra spicy.
  • Swap the garlic powder for minced garlic if you have a clove to use.
  • Some people use chili powder instead of chipotle. I prefer the latter as it gives the crockpot chicken a Sante Fe/Tex-Mex kick, but you do you!
  • If your instant pot has a slow-cooker setting, feel free to use that.
  • Right before topping everything off with fresh cilantro, give the chicken a squeeze of lime juice.
  • Instead of serving over white rice, you can use brown rice, Mexican rice, or quinoa.
  • Make lettuce wraps by spooning the Santa Fe chicken onto big pieces of Bib or romaine! (Easy dinner idea if you're on Weight Watchers!)
  • Tortilla chips or Fritos make great "spoons" for scooping up the yummy shredded chicken!
  • Or, use up leftover flour tortillas and make crockpot Sante Fe chicken tacos. Corn tortillas are great, too.
  • Serve with your favorite toppings to make yummy Sante Fe burrito bowls, or serve over chopped lettuce to make taco salad!
  • The only thing left to add is a big dollop of sour cream, and maybe some shredded cheddar cheese.

If you love these kinds of southwestern flavors give this chicken enchilada soup a try.

  • Texas Two-Step Salsa Chicken only requires a handful of ingredients, even fewer steps than that to prepare it, and comes out tasting tender, spicy, and a little sweet—it's pretty much dinner perfection.
  • Creamy, spicy, and full of Sante Fe flavor, Easy Fiesta Chicken is Tex-Mex comfort food at its finest. Use it in tacos, burrito bowls, or make it into soup!
  • Chicken Fajita Soup is one of those recipes that simmers all day in the slow cooker, and has an aroma so enticing that you'd better be ready to answer the question "is dinner ready yet?!" about a million times.

🍽️ Serve with...

Overhead view of Fritos salad in a white bowl

Frito Corn Salad adds some crunch to the meal and no one complains about eating veggies when Fritos are involved.

A slice of Hatch chile bread.

Hatch Chile Cheese Bread is so unique and delicious! The flavors go perfectly with the chicken.

Feature image showing a closeup of the cobbler on a plate with a scoop of ice cream.

Mexican Hot Chocolate Cobbler is done in minutes in the microwave!

Slow cooker Santa Fe chicken is the ultimate easy dinner! Packed with tender chicken, chiles, corn, black beans, tomatoes, and flavorful seasonings, this delicious meal comes together effortlessly with no pre-cooking needed. Plus, it's made with simple pantry staples you probably already have on hand—perfect for busy weeknights!

I like to make a big batch of this and freeze it in meal sized portions. I love being able to pull it out of the freezer and get a meal on the table in minutes.

It's just so good!

And it's a favorite crockpot tailgating recipe during football season!

First published September 12, 2022. Last updated September 11, 2024 for readability, more tips, and to make the instructions more clear.

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    About Marye

    Meet Marye Audet, a wizard in the kitchen and a storyteller at heart. Marye is like your eccentric but fun aunt who knows all the secret recipes and isn't afraid to spill them. She's been around the culinary block more than once, turning simple ingredients into mouthwatering masterpieces. With a sprinkle of humor and a dash of wit, she makes cooking feel like a piece of cake (which she can also teach you to bake perfectly). When she's not conjuring up delicious dishes, you might find her sharing laughs with her family, reading by the fire, or scribbling down her next big recipe idea. Marye believes that a good meal and a hearty laugh are the best parts of life. Marye's a NY Times Bestselling author with 10 cookbooks under her belt and her recipes have been featured in Good Housekeeping, Country Living, Today, House Beautiful, Texas Living, Food & Wine, and many more.

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