This Cheesy Crock Pot Chicken Casserole is bursting with great Tex-Mex spices. It is too easy to be this good. Plus, it is lower in fat and calories, so it will fit many diet types.
1cupshredded cheese like Cheddar or a Mexican blend
Instructions
Trim two skinless boneless chicken breast of any visible fat.
Add one 14 oz can tomato sauce, 14 oz can low sodium black beans rinsed, 10.5 oz can of RoTel, one teaspoon chili powder, 1/2 teaspoon chili powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper and 1 cup dry pasta (uncooked) to a smaller crock pot. Here I use my 3.5 qt pot. Mix well.
Add two trimmed skinless boneless chicken breast. Push down into the liquid until covered.
Cook on low for 4 hours total. At 3 hours into the cooking, remove the chicken and shred.
Add chicken back along with 3/4 cup shredded cheese of your choice. Mix well then top with 1/4 cup of the cheese.
Cook for the final hour.
Notes
Pro Tips
While this is a smaller crock pot recipe (3-3.5 qt), it will be fine in a larger crock pot.
You need about 1 to 1 1/2 pounds of shredded chicken. You can use pre-cooked chicken if you want but the pasta will still take about 4 hours on low. Add the precooked chicken the last hour of cooking, not at the beginning.
Dry pasta in crock pot dishes is generally standard American dry pasta. Whole wheat pasta has less gluten and is more likely to turn to mush. Gluten-free even more so. So if you use a non-standard pasta, the results may not be good. Also, since crock pots vary, the cooking time of the pasta may vary some, so check it a few times.
I use the Rotel for both some tomato and spicing. It provides most of the heat. If you don't want that, use a drained can of diced tomatoes. Be sure to drain. You probably will want to up the other spices a bit and consider a small can of chopped mild chilies.
This is already low-fat and low calorie. You can skip the cheese if you want even lower numbers but you want the cheese.
Good refrigerated for 3-4 days and can be frozen for 3-4 months.
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