This chicken recipe is perfect for summer. It’s perfect for meal prep. It’s high in protein and fiber. It checks all the boxes you want for simple, delicious, and nourishing. Here’s why it’s the best of the best when it comes to summer cooking. . .
1.This recipe requires minimal prep work. You just throw simple ingredients in a food processor, season your chicken and then dump it all in the slow cooker and let the magic happen while you enjoy time at the pool or work. No heating up your whole kitchen with a hot oven or sweating over a stove.
2. It includes plenty of fiber and protein which are essential to curb cravings, provide satiety, and supply important nutrients for a healthy, optimally functioning body.
3. This shredded chicken is versatile, making it perfect for meal prep to cook once and use in a variety of meals throughout the week. You can serve it over rice and top with fresh chopped veggies. You could fill a tortilla with this chicken and add all your favorite fixings to make a taco or burrito, or you could make my all-time favorite, loaded chicken nachos. With just one recipe cooked in your slow cooker, you can make multiple meals throughout the week so no one gets bored eating the same thing all week long- that’s my definition of a perfect meal prep item.
4. It’s light and fresh. There’s something about the intense summer heat down here in North Carolina that makes me crave lighter foods, yet I still want to make sure I’m getting well-balanced meals with enough protein. In the winter and fall, I love the crockpot for hearty, warming soups and stews, and it seems like many traditional crockpot recipes just aren’t well-suited for hot summer days. This cilantro lime chicken doesn’t have the hearty, warm you up vibe of a soup or stew. Instead, it feels light, fresh and summery.
5. It’s ready to go when you come in from the pool, lake, or your day at work. Most summer days, I’ve either been working all day or I’ve been swimming and having fun in the North Carolina heat, so I need something easy and ready-to-serve at the end of the day. So many slow cooker recipes just aren’t suited for hot summer weather, yet I am craving the convenience of having my dinner cook all day while I have fun. Enter this Cilantro Lime Chicken.
Although it cooks all day in the slow cooker, when I serve it up with fresh ingredients, it just tastes like summer.
Make It Your Own
Swap ingredients to make this your own creation tailored to your preferences or dietary needs.
- Cilantro is a central ingredient here, but I know some people can’t stand cilantro. If that’s you, try subbing flat leaf parsley to make a parsley lime shredded chicken.
- Skinless chicken breast is my favorite meat to use because it’s low fat. However you could use boneless chicken thighs or even pork.
- Black beans add fiber to this dish, but if black beans aren’t your thing, sub pinto beans or your favorite bean, or omit beans entirely and fill your fiber quota with another fiber-rich food
- Make it lower carb- if you are serving it over rice, try cauliflower rice. Even if you are making nachos, you can use cauliflower rice as your base in place of tortilla chips.
- This seasoning can be adjusted to any palette. This would pair nicely with taco seasoning, or you could even opt for Italian flavored shredded chicken with Italian seasoning, basil or oregano, especially if you are using parsley in place of cilantro.
Tips
- Shred the chicken: The chicken can be shredded with two forks, but to make it super fast and easy, use a handheld mixer and shred directly in your slow cooker. To make it less messy, try a splatter guard like this.
- Freeze Leftovers: This chicken can be used for meals throughout the week, but if you still have leftovers, it can be frozen in an airtight container. I prefer glass storage containers for freezing leftovers to make microwave defrosting easy if needed. I’m not a fan of plastic in the microwave.
- Freeze for Meal prep: You can also freeze the ingredients uncooked in a ziplock bag. Place the seasoned chicken in the bag, pour the blended cilantro lime mixture over the chicken, and place in the freezer. Don’t forget to label your bag with the date and name of the recipe.
Favorite Toppings
The toppings we use depend on how we are serving the chicken. Some of our favorite toppings are
–shredded cheese
-salsa
-sour cream
-chopped tomatoes
-diced onion
-pickled jalapeños
-avocado slices or avocado mash
-fire roasted corn
-diced green chilis
Slow Cooker Cilantro Lime Shredded Chicken
Equipment
- Slow Cooker and Food Processor or High Power Blender
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup fresh squeezed lime juice (about 3 limes)
- 4 cloves of garlic
- 1/2 sweet onion
- 1 jalapeno, optional remove seeds to reduce heat
- 2 generous handfuls of cilantro, stems included (or more)
- 1 Tbsp cumin
- 1.5 tsp chili powder
- 4 -5 large chicken breasts
- 2 tsp garlic salt
- 1 tsp ground black pepper
- 1 15 oz can black beans, rinsed
- cilantro for garnish
Instructions
- Place the lime juice, garlic, onion, cilantro, jalapeno, cumin and chili powder in a high powered blender or food processor. Puree until smooth.
- Season the chicken breast with garlic salt and ground black pepper and place in a slow cooker. Pour the blender mixture over the chicken.
- Cook on low for 6 hours. Shred the chicken and add the beans. Cook for an additional hour.
I’d love to hear how you adapt this recipe. If you try it, please leave a comment or rating review.