Lindrusso's Easy Chicken Santa Fe

[Linda in MO]

I made this tonight and we thought it was really good and so easy, too. My notes are at the bottom.

* Exported from MasterCook *

Easy Chicken Santa Fe

Recipe By :lindrusso from CL board
Serving Size : 0 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Chicken , CrockPot


Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
1 can black beans -- (15 ounce) rinsed and drained
2 cans whole kernel corn -- (15.25 ounce) drained (I used frozen)
1 cup bottled thick and chunky salsa
5 skinless, boneless chicken breasts halves (5 to 6)
1 (8 ounce) brick cream cheese (you can use less-fat variety)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1. In a 3.5 or 4-quart electric slow cooker, mix together beans, corn, and 1/2 cup salsa. Top with chicken breasts, then pour remaining salsa over chicken.

2. Cover and cook on high heat setting 2.5-3 hours or until chicken is tender and white throughout. Do not overcook or chicken will be tough. Remove chicken and cut into bite-sized pieces. Add back to slow cooker.

3. Add cream cheese (cut into cubes to melt faster) and turn cooker to high heat. Heat until cream cheese melts and blends into sauce. Serve over rice. Top with shredded cheese. Serves 4.

Linda's Notes: I seasoned my chicken breasts with cumin, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, Mexican oregano, and a little salt. I added fresh cilantro to the salsa. I used light cream cheese and low-fat cheddar. I also put sliced green onions and chopped fresh cilantro out on the table for everyone. Fresh cilantro is a "must" when I serve this type of food.

[lindrusso]

I'm glad you enjoyed this! I got this recipe from a friend of mine who shared it with our MOMS Club - it's become a favorite there as well. Doesn't get much easier and it is open to so many variations!

[This message has been edited by lindrusso (edited 04-02-2001).]

[kwormann]

We also have made this and LOVED it!

Kim

[Linda in MO]

lindrusso, I do have a quick question. You say to cook it on high, but then say to turn it to high after adding the cream cheese. Huh?! I just cooked it on high and then turned to low and kept the lid off while the cream cheese melted. Thanks for posting the recipe! I will definitely make it again.

[Kristi]

I've made this a few times too--my husband especially loves it and gets excited when he knows it's on the menu! We BOTH thank you for sharing...

[S]

Any ideas if and how this could be made with out a slow cooker?

[Kristi]

This dish could certainly be adapted and cooked in a pot or something with the chicken perhaps being sauteed in a pan, but the thing that makes it so wonderful is the tenderness of the chicken from being cooked in the slow cooker. I know I'm not much help...maybe someone can comment and give you a better suggestion.

[PJB]

This sounds wonderful. Does anyone know the nutritional breakdown on this? Can't wait to try it.

Thanks!

[lindrusso]

Linda - I checked two other entries of this recipe, and they all say the same thing. You just keep the crockpot at high - so the instruction to turn it to high after adding the cream cheese is just an unncessary direction, I imagine.

S - If I were going to make this without the crockpot, I would first cook the chicken breasts in a skillet with a little oil - usually about 6 minutes on each side. Then remove the chicken and cut into cubes (cooking first, before cubing, should keep the chicken from drying out). Then I would add the salsa to the pan, along with the corn and beans and heat through. Once this mixture is heated through, add the cream cheese and stir until melted. Then add the chicken and heat through again. Still pretty easy and only uses one pan!

[RUSTYSMOM]

Lindarusso - you ahve done it again. This recipe was fantastic and so easy. Everyone at dinner loved it and asked for the recipe!! Thank you.

[ama47369]

This was one of the few recipes my husband has rated a 10! We loved this!

I made it in the oven instead of the crock pot...Also, I didn't have black beans so I used pinto beans. It was great-we will definately make again.

[lsdesign]

I finally broke down and made this last week. It just never seemed quite enticing for me as a recipe. It was great! My chicken breasts were in there longer than 3 hours and they were as tender as could be.

[lanie]

For anyone wanting to cut down the fat - I have been making this recipe for years - called by another name - but there is no cream cheese in it - and to be honest you absolutely do not miss it - I do put the cheddar - just for anyone who wants to cut down on fat - it turns out just as well. I also use a whole bottle of salsa (chunky).

[ebobbitt]

I made this over the weekend and have been bringing leftovers for lunch. It's my kind of recipe: quick, easy and tasty. Thanks lindrusso.
Elizabeth

[DmOrtega]

I bet this would be very good on a baked sweet potato or regular potato. I'll give it a try.

[Linda in MO]

I think you could either eliminate the cream cheese or the cheddar cheese, but I wouldn't eliminate both. I found myself eating the leftovers without the cheddar cheese. I do think fresh cilantro is a "must" though (if you like it that is). I was thinking it would be good wrapped in a warm flour tortilla or pita bread. Oh, and this made more than 4 servings at our house and we're pretty big eaters, too.

[S]

Lindrusso, Thank you so much for the tips on how to do this without the crock pot. It is on my list to try this week! Sounds great.

[Mbart]

I cannot wait to try this recipe...always looking for good crockpot recipes. It must be the long time between prep and eating, but they make you feel like someone else prepared the meal! Thanks!

[ChristineB]

Has anyone calculated the nutritional value for Lindrusso's Easy Chicken Santa Fe? I am looking forward to trying this for the first time tomorrow--it sounds delicious! I don't have the program that calculates the nutritional info and would appreciate your assistance. Thank You!

[ebobbitt]

I looked at your profile and saw one of your interests was Weight Watchers. I am on WW so I did compute the points but I was too lazy to type it into my MasterCook and didn't have time at the moment anyway. This recipe makes a lot of food so instead of 4 servings I made 6. The grand total of all the points came to 49. So, if you divide that by 6 you'll get 8.1666666 points. I just count it as 8 and go on. Hope this helps.
Elizabeth

[SusanL]

Loved it, loved it but changed it a bit. Used only one can of corn and no cheddar cheese, to be honest, I forgot to get the cheese out of the fridge. But, it was still delicious!! Definitely needs the cilantro!!

[ebobbitt]

I calculated this based upon the points of each ingredient. This is what I came up with: 1 can black beans = 6 points
2 cans w.k. corn = 8 points
salsa = 0 points
1 lb chick breast = 11 points
8 oz red-ft cr chs= 16 points
1 cup shred red-
fat ched cheese 8 points
Total 49 points
If you divide the 49 by 6 servings you get approximately 8 points per serving. I was too lazy to figure the fat, fiber and calories of each item. Sorry.

[BosunsWife]

Is there a site that anyone knows of to type a recipe into that will give calorie counts and other nutritional info? I'm doing a weight loss group with a nutritionist and am counting calories as well as picking from the various food groups. I'd like to give this recipe a try using the light items and wondered what the actual calorie count would be.

[ellielk]

What I think is that they expect you to turn off the crockpot when you're taking out the chicken to cut it up. Soooo, they think they have to tell you to turn it 'on' high when you put it back on the heat.

Originally posted by lindrusso:
Linda - I checked two other entries of this recipe, and they all say the same thing. You just keep the crockpot at high - so the instruction to turn it to high after adding the cream cheese is just an unncessary direction, I imagine.

S - If I were going to make this without the crockpot, I would first cook the chicken breasts in a skillet with a little oil - usually about 6 minutes on each side. Then remove the chicken and cut into cubes (cooking first, before cubing, should keep the chicken from drying out). Then I would add the salsa to the pan, along with the corn and beans and heat through. Once this mixture is heated through, add the cream cheese and stir until melted. Then add the chicken and heat through again. Still pretty easy and only uses one pan!

[PJB]

Does anyone have any nutritional info on this? It sounds wonderful but I am on WW and would love to see how this one breaks down. Thanks!

[browneye]

I finally got around to making this last week. I put it all in the Crock pot before we left to golf. I turned it on the low setting, since we would be out for 5 hours or so. When we came home, we were so hungry!!!!! I stirred in the cheeses- btw, I used reduced fat cheddar and reduced fat cream cheese. I only used 1/2 the brick of cream cheese. I then turned the crock pot to high as the rice cooked in the rice cooker! Dinner was ready in 20 minutes
This was soooo tasty, and a wonderful easy crock pot recipe. The whole family loved it and it was cooked perfectly on low for about 5-6 hours.
Thanks, Lindrusso for the recipe. We will enjoy this one again and again.

[Jewel]

I made this for the first time last night too! I naturally made some modifications, but only because I had to... I must have bought the only chickens on steroids in the entire store. Those chicken breasts were SO huge, and I went ahead and used five of them! When I cut them into bite sized pieces I had probably 5 or 6 cups of chicken. I tossed the chicken cubes with some ground chipotle, a bit of cumin and some Penzeys Southwest Seasoning, then put it back in the crockpot. It was nearly all chicken! It had plenty of corn, but it obviously needed more beans, so I added another can of black beans. I also kicked it up with another 1/4 cup of salsa, a bit more ground chipotle, and some Chipotle Tobasco sauce.

I cooked this on 'low' for two hours, then kicked it up to high for the last hour and a half. The chicken was more tender than I ever thought it could be! I'd never cooked chicken in the crockpot before without it turning out tough and stringy, but I'd always cooked it for 8 hours before too! I used fat free cream cheese and 2% sharp cheddar cheese, and we LOVED it! DH originally was a bit skeptical about the cream cheese addition, but then while eating dinner he kept going on about how yummy it was! Thanks for the recipe Linda! This one will go into our Crockpot Rotation!

[lindrusso]

Glad you both enjoyed it! We just had this the other night as well.

I usually cut down on the chicken, add more salsa and add an extra can of beans (and use the less-fat cream cheese). Without enough salsa, it can be quite bland and blah.

Chipotles sound great Jewel! Alas, adding the chipotles would not make this a kid-friendly meal, so one of these times I'll have to remove their portion first and then add a bit of chipotle for us!

[Luika]

If someone has time, could they please post the mastercook information for the Santa Fe Chicken recipe as written. Much appreciated!!

[lindrusso]

Hi,

I put this into Mastercook as written above and came out with the following:

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 698 Calories; 33g Fat (41.4% calories from fat); 58g Protein; 46g Carbohydrate; 12g Dietary Fiber; 177mg Cholesterol; 732mg Sodium.

However, I find that we get much more than 4 servings (how could you not with 5-6 chicken breast halves)! I also cut the fat by using 2 cans of beans, less chicken (3-4 breast halves), and 1/3-less-fat cream cheese and upping the salsa. Making these modifications makes it a low-fat, high-fiber meal!

Enjoy!