Slow Cooker Green Chile Chicken — 🫑🍗🍋 Tender, juicy, chicken that’s simmered with green chiles, jalapeño, salsa verde, onions, garlic, and spices for the most FLAVORFUL and versatile green chile chicken! Use it in tacos, burritos, casseroles, sandwiches, or as a meal prep recipe. Best of all, it’s SO EASY because your slow cooker does ALL the work!
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Easiest Slow Cooker Green Chile Chicken
This slow cooker chicken recipe produces incredibly tender and juicy chicken that effortlessly falls apart.
The addition of salsa verde, green chiles, green bell pepper, onions, lime juice, and cilantro truly gives it an explosion of Mexican-inspired flavors the whole family will love.
Best of all, this is an easy chicken dinner recipe that is made entirely in your slow cooker. No need to first sear the chicken separately on the stove or make a marinade or sauce in your blender. Nope!
This comfort food recipe is as easy as dumping all the ingredients into your slow cooker at once and letting it do all the work.
This chicken shreds at the mere touch of a fork. And the juiciness? Prepare for a burst of succulence with every bite! No dry chicken here. Between the cumin, chili powder, and all those green chiles and salsa verde, it’s a 10 on the flavor scale!
Whether you want to use this chicken as the filling for chicken enchiladas, tacos in either corn or flour tortillas, as the filling for sliders, wraps, or burritos, inside sandwiches, over rice, or just eat it with a fork. Any way you serve it, it’s a family favorite recipe perfect for busy weeknights.
Ingredients in Slow Cooker Green Chile Chicken
You need just a few easy-to-find ingredients to make this dairy-free slow cooker recipe, and you might already have a few of them at home.
- Yellow onion
- Green bell pepper
- Garlic cloves
- Jalapeño pepper
- Ground cumin
- Chili powder
- Salt
- Black pepper
- Canned green chiles
- Olive oil (or avocado oil)
- Boneless skinless chicken breasts – You can use chicken thighs or a mix of thighs and breasts if preferred
- Salsa verde – I used Herdez Mild Salsa Verde; Trader Joe’s Salsa Verde is also a great choice if you have one in your area
- Lime juice, for garnishing
- Cilantro, for garnishing – feel free to omit or replace with flat-leaf parsley
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.
How to Make Green Chile Chicken in a Slow Cooker
With so little prep time, this is the ultimate set-it-and-forget-it recipe!
Literally, toss all of the ingredients into your slow cooker and let it slowly cook your chicken to melt-in-your-mouth perfection.
Here’s what you need to do:
- Add all the ingredients (minus the salsa, lime juice, and cilantro) to your slow cooker, and stir well.
- Pour in the salsa verde, cover, and cook on low for 6 – 8 hours or on high for 4 hours.
- Once the chicken is cooked, use two forks to shred the chicken on a cutting board.
- Add the chicken back into the slow cooker, and add the lime juice and cilantro.
- Now you’re ready to serve the crockpot green chili chicken over rice, in tortillas with taco toppings, make for meal prep, or any other way you’d like to eat it!
What to serve with slow cooker green chile chicken
Recipe Variations
- Spicier Version: If you prefer a bolder kick of spice, feel free to add an extra jalapeño or increase the amount of chili powder. A dash of cayenne pepper at the end works too.
- Milder Version: Hatch green chiles or poblano peppers are great substitutes for the jalapeño chile pepper. Take the chili powder down to 1/2 to 1 teaspoon total, and you’re set.
- Creamy Variation: If you enjoy a creamier texture, mix in a dollop of cream cheese or sour cream towards the end of the cooking process.
- Citrus Twist: Try adding a splash of orange juice or a hint of lemon or lime zest to infuse a citrusy tang into the dish.
Recipe FAQs
Sure. Just make sure to adjust the amount according to your taste preferences. Canned jalapenos are also usually sitting in a bit of juice and you can add that right in too. Use one 4-ounce can in place of one fresh jalapeno pepper.
You can, but it’s not necessary! The flavor that develops over the course of the slow cooking process is fine. And they soften right up, too. However, sautéing the onions, bell peppers, and garlic in a skillet with a little oil before adding them to the slow cooker can help deepen their flavors. 
Yes, you can make green chile chicken on the stovetop. Start by sautéing vegetables and spices in a large pot or skillet over medium-high heat. Cube the chicken into bite-sized pieces and add it along with the salsa verde.
Turn the heat down to medium-low, put the lid on, and simmer everything until the chicken is tender. Shred them with two forks to serve. This Cilantro Chicken recipe gives you a good framework and idea of how to do it.
After slow cooking, and then shredding the chicken, before you add the chicken back into the slow cooker, IF you think it looks like too much sauce for your liking, remove 1/2 to 1 cup of it. Add the chicken, stir, and see how it looks. You can always add green sauce back in.
If there’s not quite enough sauce for your liking, you can always add another 1/2 to 1 cup of salsa verde after the cooking process, or as desired.
This is really a personal preference. If you want to plan ahead and start it in the morning or earlier in the day before you head out to work or school, then go with the low option – about 6 to 8 hours.
However, if you’re more pressed for time and want it to cook quicker, then go with the high option – about 3 to 4 hours.
Slow cookers vary dramatically in their heat output though so always cook until your chicken is done and fully cooked through!
Because the recipe calls for 3 pounds of chicken, you want a decent-sized slow cooker. A 6 to 7-quart slow cooker is perfect. I do not recommend going smaller unless you were to halve the recipe.
Absolutely! Store the chicken in the fridge to enjoy during the week or for even longer storage, you can freeze it in freezer-safe containers or zip-top bags for up to 4 months. Let the chicken thaw and defrost in the fridge before reheating.
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Slow Cooker Green Chile Chicken
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 medium yellow onion, peeled and finely diced
- 1 medium to large green bell pepper, seeded and diced small
- 1 medium to large jalapeño, seeded and diced very small
- 3 to 4 cloves garlic, finely minced
- 1 ½ to 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 2 to 3 teaspoons chili powder, or to taste*
- 1 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste if desired
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste if desired
- one 4-ounce can green chiles, do not drain
- 2 tablespoons olive oil, or avocado oil
- 3 pound boneless skinless chicken, I used 2lb chicken breast, 1lb chicken thighs, but any combination is fine
- 1 ½ cup salsa verde**
- Juice of 1 large lime, or to taste
- ¼ cup chopped cilantro, plus more for garnishing
Instructions
- To a large 6 to 7-quart slow cooker, add the onion, green bell pepper, jalapeno, garlic, cumin, chili powder, canned green chiles, evenly drizzle with oil, and stir to coat evenly and combine.
- Place the chicken on top, evenly spaced.
- Evenly drizzle the salsa over the top, cover with the lid, and cook on HIGH for 3 to 4 hours, or on LOW for 6 to 8 hours, or until the chicken is done. Tip – When it's done, it will shred extremely easily with two forks.
- Remove the chicken from the slow cooker, place it on a cutting board, and shred with two forks. Tips – If for some reason there looks like a ton of cooking liquid and juices in your slow cooker and you don't want your final dish as juicy, remove the juices, 1/2 cup at a time, or as desired. This isn't likely necessary and we love the juiciness of the final dish and I keep all the juices in the bottom of the slow cooker, but it's up to you. On the contrary, if it doesn't look like there's enough juices or liquid, add additional salsa verde 1/2 cup at a time, as desired.
- Add the shredded chicken back into the slow cooker, drizzle with lime juice, sprinkle with cilantro, and stir to combine.
- Taste the chicken for seasoning balance, and if desired, add additional salt, pepper, cumin, chili powder, or a pinch of cayenne for those who want it spicy.
- Serve immediately as desired. As shown, I served it as tacos in corn tortillas, sour cream, a tiny bit of hot sauce, and additional cilantro. Flour tortillas are also fine. You can also use the filling in burritos, sandwiches, sliders, wraps, or as desired. Extra chicken will keep airtight in the fridge for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 4 months. Reheat gently in the microwave as needed.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Your recipes are awsome! Love the lettuce wraps and chicken fiesta.big hit. Thanks
Your recipes are awsome! Love the lettuce wraps and chicken fiesta.big hit. Thanks
Thanks for the nice comments and glad my recipes have been working out well for you!
The crock pot chicken salsa verde was as delish as I thought it would be. Simple tasty ingredients. My family loved it and ate it in a flour tortilla topped with Avacado, sour cream, lime and cilantro. I ate mine over Spanish rice. Looking forward to serving it to friends during our football parties. I just ate the last of it with scrambled eggs! YUM!
The crock pot chicken salsa verde was as delish as I thought it would be. Simple tasty ingredients. My family loved it and ate it in a flour tortilla topped with Avacado, sour cream, lime and cilantro. I ate mine over Spanish rice. Looking forward to serving it to friends during our football parties. I just ate the last of it with scrambled eggs! YUM!
Thanks for the 5 star review and glad this was a winner! I am sure your friends at the football parties will be very pleased too!