Quinoa meets chicken tortilla soup for a kicked up crockpot meal that is filling, delicious, and perfectly spiced. Plus, you can top it with everything from tortilla chips to cheese to avocado so it’s a customized dinner that your whole family will love!
It’s another chilly week! Ben and I are certainly learning about good insulation versus bad insulation throughout this first winter in our house. Fortunately, winter in Nashville isn’t that intense. But unfortunately, when it is cold, I don’t want to spend a gazillion dollars in heating costs. So I do the next best thing–warm up from the cold with a hot ‘n hearty dinner! One of my long-time favorites that I somehow haven’t shared on the blog is this wonderful Chicken Quinoa Chili! It is so full of flavor, so simple, and so tasty. Don’t let the long ingredient list scare you–this dish can be made in the crockpot so all you basically have to do stir together, live your life, and come back for a tasty dinner. 🙂
This easy crockpot meal basically combines all the good stuff–chicken, spices, quinoa, tomatoes, black beans, corn, green pepper, onion, and garlic–with a little chicken broth to make an incredible Chicken Quinoa Chili. It’s seriously a Mexican-style soup/chili on steroids! And each bite is made better by the mass quantities of toppings. You can basically add any sort of taco, chili, or soup topping you like… but my necessary Crockpot Chicken Quinoa Chili toppings include: cilantro, cheese, and sour cream. If I have some diced avocado too, even better! #goodstuff The toppings just take this chili to the next level… but it’s still fabulously filling and delightful.
Before we go, can I let you in on a secret? Even though this chili is made what it is by the quinoa, I’m a little quinoa-ed out. For a long time, I was convincing Ben that it was the BEST-THING-EVER and I put it in everything. I think the rest of the internet did too. 🙂 But now… I don’t use it very often so when I do, I want to make it count. And this is the type of dish where it really does count. Adding quinoa to what’s basically a chicken tortilla soup kicks it up a notch into a fabulous chili. Mmmm, tasty stuff! Hope you enjoy this awesome meal as much as we do. 🙂
one year ago: Homemade Turkey Sausage Patties
two years ago: Quick ‘n Healthy Pineapple Fried Rice
three years ago: Buffalo Pretzels
four years ago: Camp Tecumseh Baked Oatmeal
five years ago: Pork Chops with Red Wine Sauce
Crockpot Chicken Quinoa Chili
slightly adapted from Boys Ahoy
Ingredients:
- 2 large chicken breasts [about 1 1/2 pounds]
- 2 teaspoons cumin
- 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- freshly ground black pepper
- 1 cup quinoa, rinsed
- 3 cups chicken broth
- 1 – 28 ounce can crushed tomatoes
- 1 – 14 ounce can diced tomatoes with green chiles
- 3 cups black beans, drained and rinsed [or 2 – 15 ounce cans]
- 1 – 16 ounce package frozen corn
- 1 green pepper, diced
- 1 small onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- shredded cheese, for serving
- sour cream, for serving
- avocado, for serving
- green onions, for serving
- crushed tortilla chips, for serving
Directions:
Place chicken at the bottom of a large crockpot. Sprinkle with cumin, crushed red pepper, and chili powder. Season with pepper. Top with quinoa and pour chicken broth on top. Then add tomatoes, black beans, corn, green pepper, onion, and garlic. Cover and cook for 8 hours on low.
When finished cooking, remove chicken and shred with a fork, then return to crockpot and stir to combine. Serve with cheese, sour cream, avocado, green onions, and tortilla chips as desired.
The Pajama Chef 
I love using quinoa in chili – there’s just something about it! This sounds delicious! And perfect for the frigid weather we’ve been having!!
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thank you, ashley! 🙂
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I need to get some quinoa in my chilli!!
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try it! so yum!
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