Chicken cooked slowly with salsa, black beans, corn and taco seasoning, then shredded and folded back into a sauce made creamy with cream cheese.
Ten minutes of loading, four to six hours on Low, and about ten minutes of finishing. Six servings.
Why This Recipe Works
- The cream cheese goes in AFTER the cook, not before. Dairy held at slow-cooker temperature for four hours separates, and this recipe avoids that by simply never asking it to.
- The chicken comes out before the whisking. Eight ounces of cream cheese will not disperse evenly around two pounds of meat, and chasing it with a spoon is how you end up with white lumps.
- Chunky salsa rather than smooth. It is the vegetable content of the dish as well as the seasoning, and a smooth salsa leaves the sauce looking thin even when it is not.
- Only half a cup of broth against a cup and a half of salsa. The chicken releases a great deal of its own liquid over four hours, and more broth at the start makes a sauce that needs reducing at the end.
- Lime and cilantro at the very end. A pot that has cooked for hours flattens out, and a tablespoon of acid is what makes it taste fresh rather than merely warm.
Three Stages, And The Order Is The Point
The cream cheese is the whole character of this dish and it goes in last, into a pot the chicken has already left. Doing it in any other order gives a broken sauce.
Stage 1 of 3
Cook it plain
Steps 1–2 of 8
Chicken, onion, garlic, taco seasoning, salsa, beans, corn and half a cup of broth, on Low for 4 to 6 hours until the chicken reaches 165°F. No dairy in the pot at this stage — hours of slow heat is exactly what splits cream cheese.
- Load the cookerAdd the chicken, onion, garlic, taco seasoning, salsa, black beans, corn and chicken broth to the slow cooker. Stir to coat the chicken.
- Cook on Low to 165°FCover and cook on Low for 4 to 6 hours or on High for 2 to 3 hours, until the chicken reaches 165°F and is very tender.
Stage 2 of 3
Take the chicken out
Steps 3–4 of 8
Shredded on a board, then the cream cheese whisked into the liquid that is left. Whisking into an empty pot is far easier than trying to work it around two pounds of meat, and it is why the sauce comes out smooth.
- Shred the chickenTransfer the chicken to a cutting board and shred with two forks.
- Whisk in the cream cheeseAdd the cream cheese to the slow cooker and whisk until fully melted and creamy.
Stage 3 of 3
Bring it back together
Steps 5–8 of 8
Chicken returned and coated, lime and cilantro stirred through, seasoning adjusted. If the sauce is thick, a splash of broth; if thin, ten to fifteen minutes uncovered. Both directions are in the recipe.
- Return the chickenReturn the shredded chicken to the slow cooker and stir to coat in the creamy sauce.
- Finish with lime and cilantroStir in the lime juice and cilantro. Taste and season with salt and pepper.
- Adjust the consistencyIf the sauce is too thick, add a splash of broth or milk. If it is thin, cook uncovered for 10 to 15 minutes to reduce.
- ServeServe over rice or tucked into warm tortillas with your favorite toppings.
Ingredient Notes
- Cream cheese, cubed and softened
- Eight ounces, and both words matter. Cubed so it melts at an even rate, softened so it whisks rather than lumps.
- Chunky salsa
- A cup and a half, mild or medium. It is doing the work of both the seasoning and the vegetables, so its style sets the character of the dish.
- Taco seasoning
- One 1-ounce packet, with three tablespoons of homemade named as the equal alternative and a gluten-free note attached.
- Black beans, drained and rinsed
- One 15-ounce tin, rinsed. The starchy tin liquid would cloud a sauce that is meant to look creamy.
- Frozen or canned corn
- One cup, either. Frozen goes in straight from the freezer; canned should be drained first.
How to Make It
Load the cooker
Add the chicken, onion, garlic, taco seasoning, salsa, black beans, corn and chicken broth to the slow cooker. Stir to coat the chicken.
Cook on Low to 165°F
Cover and cook on Low for 4 to 6 hours or on High for 2 to 3 hours, until the chicken reaches 165°F and is very tender.
Shred the chicken
Transfer the chicken to a cutting board and shred with two forks.
Whisk in the cream cheese
Add the cream cheese to the slow cooker and whisk until fully melted and creamy.
Return the chicken
Return the shredded chicken to the slow cooker and stir to coat in the creamy sauce.
Finish with lime and cilantro
Stir in the lime juice and cilantro. Taste and season with salt and pepper.
Adjust the consistency
If the sauce is too thick, add a splash of broth or milk. If it is thin, cook uncovered for 10 to 15 minutes to reduce.
Serve
Serve over rice or tucked into warm tortillas with your favorite toppings.
Success Tips
- Soften and cube the cream cheese before you start.
- Take the chicken to 165°F rather than going by the clock.
- Shred on a board and whisk the cream cheese into an empty pot.
- Add the lime off the heat, then taste for salt again.
- Reduce uncovered rather than adding thickener if the sauce is loose.
Serving Ideas
Over rice or cauliflower rice, or in warm tortillas with cheddar, avocado, jalapeño and sour cream. It also works spooned over baked potatoes.
Storage and Reheating
Refrigerate
Refrigerate up to 4 days. The sauce thickens as it chills and loosens again with gentle heat.
Freeze
Not recommended. A cream cheese sauce separates on thawing, and no amount of stirring brings it fully back.
Reheat
Gently on the hob or in short microwave bursts with a splash of broth. Avoid a hard boil, which splits the sauce.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I put the cream cheese in at the start?
It will split. Dairy held at slow-cooker temperature for four to six hours separates into grains and fat. Adding it after the cook is the whole reason this sauce comes out smooth.
My sauce had lumps of cream cheese.
The block was too cold, or it went in around the chicken. Soften and cube it first, and take the chicken out before you whisk.
Can I use thighs?
Yes, and they stay juicier over the longer end of the window. The recipe is written for two pounds of breasts; either way check for 165°F.
How do I make it hotter?
Use a hot salsa, or add jalapeño with the onion. The recipe as written is mild to medium because that is what the salsa and taco seasoning carry.
