Slow Cooker Pumpkin Salsa Chicken

Easy to prepare to make a busy fall evening stress free! This Chunky Pumpkin Salsa Chicken is a take off of the traditional Salsa Chicken but with twist! {WW 2 Purple, 2 Blue, 3 Green, Gluten Free}

Course Main, Main Course, Slow Cooker

Cuisine American

Prep Time 5 minutes

Slow Cooker Time 6 hours

Total Time 6 hours 5 minutes

Servings servings

Calories 181kcal

Author Ginny

Ingredients

Slow Cooker Chunky Pumpkin Salsa Chicken

1 can Pumpkin Purée
2 cans diced tomatoes
½ jar Stonewall Kitchen Spicy Corn Relish any store bought corn relish/salsa will do
2 Roasted Garlic Cloves
1 Onion
1 can Green Chilis chopped
4 Chicken Breasts

Instructions

Chunky Pumpkin Salsa

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Cut the top off of a head of garlic, drizzle or spray with olive oil and wrap in a piece of foil. Place on sheet pan. Cut onion into quarters and drizzle or spray with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast these both on the same sheet pan for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Allow it to cool.
Combine the pumpkin purée, canned tomatoes, and sugar into a food processor. Add 2-3 roasted garlic cloves, to taste. Pulse a couple of times and STIR in chilis and corn salsa.
The pumpkin salsa is ready to use on the slow cooker recipe or to serve at pumpkin carving party.

Slow Cooker Pumpkin Salsa Chicken

Spray non stick inside the slow cooker and add a layer of the pumpkin salsa.
Add the chicken breasts.
Add more Chunky Pumpkin Salsa on top of the chicken. Turn on low for 6-7 hours or on high for 2-3 hours.
Serve as a stand alone chicken, over a bed of rice to make a burrito bowl or inside tortillas with avocado, cheese and sour cream.

Notes

Corn Relish/Salsa - You can find Stonewall Kitchen's Corn Salsa in the specialty section of your grocery store. Any corn salsa will work. I've found it even at Walmart, Lidl and Trader Joe's.

DIY Corn Salsa - If you can't find either, mix your favorite jar of salsa with corn and mix. Then add amount of a half of a jar. You are looking for all the seasonings that are already blended and cured in a salsa to star the recipe!

Oven Version - Go ahead and place the chicken in a greased pan, and pour the ingredients on top. We also top it with a little bit of cheese right before it comes out and it is fabulous. Cover and bake in the oven for 40 minutes, then check and finish cooking until the chicken reaches 165 degrees.

Pan Fry Chicken First - You have a choice to either pan fry the breasts first or you can simply dump and go! I like the crispy breasts but that is personal preference! If you pan fry them first, you can decrease the cooking time to 4-5 hours as they are partially cooked already!

Frozen Chicken - USDA recommends not putting frozen chicken in the slow cooker, as it will stay at an unsafe temperature for too long as it is thawing out before it begins cooking.

Storage - If you happen to have leftovers, you can store in the fridge for around 3 days. Then reheat in the microwave, or oven in a covered dish. This is a great dish leftover, as it has tasty flavors in each bite.

Freezer Friendly - Store in a sealed container in the freezer for up to 3 months.

Nutrition