Southwestern Crockpot Chicken Thighs

These Southwestern crockpot chicken thighs cook over sweet potatoes and are topped with a 4-ingredient spiced tomato sauce. Add some bell peppers on top for the last hour of cooking and you’ll have your entire meal ready!

If you are looking for more hands-off yet tasty dinner ideas, these Slow Cooker Lemon Garlic Chicken Thighs and Sticky Slow Cooker Honey Garlic Chicken Thighs are both great options, as is this southwestern chicken thigh recipe!

A complete meal with protein, veggies, and carbs that all cook right in the slow cooker is my favorite kind of meal!

These southwestern chicken thighs could be served over rice, cauliflower rice or in a tortilla, or just straight up! With tomatoes, cumin, chili powder, sweet potatoes and chicken thighs, it simmers until the sweet potatoes are soft and the chicken thighs are fall-apart tender.

Ingredients we’ll need

• Sweet potato– roughly 6 cups; 1 large sweet potato. You can leave the skin on or peel it first.
• Boneless skinless chicken thighs– roughly 3 pounds. This makes a big batch! See below for details on cutting it in half.
• Diced tomatoes– we noticed in testing that the flavored diced tomatoes added significant flavor. While I haven’t tested with Rotel, I bet this would be even better! Aylmer Accents were great.
• Spices– cumin, chili powder, and salt- note that this is the chili powder blend and not pure powdered chilis
• Optional– 1 can corn kernels, bell peppers, and red onions added during the last 1-2 hours of cooking
• Mozzarella– added just before serving to get nice and melty. Swap for your favorite cheese or cheese blend.

Sweet potatoes go on the bottom

To ensure that the hardy sweet potatoes cook through and that the chicken thighs do not overcook, we place the sweet potatoes on the of the slow cooker and the chicken on top. This way the sweet potatoes are in contact with the heat source (which is in the bottom of the slow cooker), and the chicken is positioned away from it.

Use seasoned diced tomatoes

When testing this recipe, we noticed that the seasoned diced tomatoes (ie: Aylmer Accents) significantly improved the flavor. I suspect that Rotel would be a delicious addition to this recipe, however, it may also make it too spicy for kids. Another option could be to swap the diced tomatoes for chunky salsa.

A note about liquids

Due to the high vegetable content of this recipe, there will be liquid in the bottom of the slow cooker. This did not bother us; we simply scooped the ingredients out, draining the liquid off, and enjoyed. You could serve it over rice or tortillas to soak up the extra liquid.

Another alternative could be to drain off the juice from the diced tomatoes before adding.

Optional add-ins

If you want to add more vegetables to these southwestern crockpot chicken thighs, you can add a can of corn kernels (drained), sliced bell peppers, and sliced red onion. These ingredients add more nutritional value to the recipe and make it a full meal with carbohydrates, protein, and vegetables.

Some other ideas that you could add in:

• 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 can green chiles
• diced zucchini
• roasted poblanos, jalapenos or red peppers (diced)
• tomatillo salsa (swap for diced tomatoes)

Meal Prep + Storage Tips

This recipe could work in multiple ways for meal prep:

freezer crockpot

A freezer crockpot meal is assembled (but not cooked), then frozen. To make a freezer pack, add the sweet potatoes to the bottom of the bag and place the diced tomatoes on top. Add all remaining ingredients to the bag, squeeze the air out, and freeze for up to 3 months.

Find more freezer crockpot meals here.

leftovers

Leftovers may be portioned out into meal prep containers and stored in the fridge for up to 4 days. Heat until steaming hot in the microwave or in a frying pan, and serve. Do not reheat more than once.

Find my favorite meal prep containers here.

More slow cooker dinner recipes

• Crock Pot Pulled Pork
• Smoky Slow Cooker Turkey Chili
• 7 No Sautee Slow Cooker Chicken Recipes
• Crockpot Chicken Noodle Soup
• Crockpot White Chicken Chili
• Crockpot Taco Soup Recipe

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Southwestern Crockpot Chicken Thighs (and Sweet Potatoes)

Course: Dinner

Cuisine: Slow Cooker

Keyword: chicken, crockpot, dinner, sweet potato

Calories: 272kcal

Author: Denise Bustard

Servings: 6 -8

These Southwestern crockpot chicken thighs cook over sweet potatoes and are topped with a 4-ingredient spiced tomato sauce.  Add some bell peppers on top for the last hour of cooking and you'll have your entire meal ready!

Prep Time10 mins

Cook Time4 hrs

Total Time4 hrs 10 mins

Ingredients

• 1 sweet potato large- cut into large chunks (roughly 6 cups)
• 3 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs roughly 12
• 19 oz can of diced tomatoes liquids strained
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Optional (not pictured) One Hour Before Serving

• 1 can corn drained
• 2 bell peppers sliced into strips
• 1/2 red onion sliced into strips

Min Before Serving

• 1 cup mozarella cheese shredded

To Serve:

• rice or tortillas
• greek yogurt
• guacamole or avocados

Instructions

• Place sweet potato chunks in the bottom of a 5- or 6- quart slow cooker. Arrange chicken thighs on top.
• Stir together the diced tomatoes, cumin, chili powder and salt. Spread over the chicken.
• Cover and cook on low for 4 hours.
• Optional During the last hour of cooking, scatter the corn, bell peppers, and red onion over the chicken.
• 15 Min Before Serving Scatter the cheese over the chicken/veggies, cover and heat until cheese is melted through.
• Serve Over rice, in tortillas or as is.

Notes

Recipe can be halved and cooked in a 2.5 qt crockpot with the same cook time

 

Storage

Leftovers can be portioned out into meal prep containers and stored in the fridge for up to 4 days. Reheat in a frying pan or in the microwave until steaming hot.

 

Freezer crockpot

You can prepare this meal as a freezer crockpot meal (assemble and freeze before cooking):

• To make a freezer pack, add the sweet potatoes to the bottom of a sturdy freezer bag or large meal prep container and place the diced tomatoes on top.
• Add all remaining ingredients to the bag, squeeze the air out, and freeze for up to 3 months.
• Thaw completely before cooking as directed in the recipe card.

 

 

Nutrition

Serving: 1/8 batch | Calories: 272kcal | Carbohydrates: 15g | Protein: 31g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 118mg | Sodium: 267mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 3g