Salsa Chicken and Rice Bowls
Published 2/26/2025
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We first published this salsa chicken bowl recipe in 2015 and we’ve since tweaked to make it easier and tastier! Salsa chicken in the crockpot is such an easy thing to make and you only need a few ingredients — chicken breast and/or thighs, spices, and salsa! Then, serve it with a simple cilantro lime rice, fajita veggies, a simple black bean salsa, and enjoy.
Cook Once – Eat For Days!
What I love about salsa chicken, is that you can make a giant batch and then eat it for days! It really makes for the perfect chicken and rice bowl recipe, too. You can control the spice level with the jar of salsa you use and you can serve it up in a variety of ways.
We love eating salsa chicken as a rice bowl because you can really stretch it out to get a bunch of meals out of it. It’s truly meal prep’s finest. We paired it with some of FFF’s most popular recipes:
And, if you get bored, you can eat it as chicken tacos, instead!
How to Make Slow Cooker Salsa Chicken
Our recipe features both chicken breast and chicken thighs because we like the combo of white and dark meat!
- Season your chicken with spices and place on the bottom of your slow cooker.
- Pour on the salsa and toss.
- Cover the slow cooker and cook on low for about 6 hours.
- When the chicken is done and easily shreddable, shred the chicken.
Meal-Prep Your Chicken and Rice Bowls
Whenever I make this chicken and rice bowl, my husband and I eat 2 servings for a meal and then we meal-prep the rest.
We suggest using single-serve glass meal-prep containers to portion out your bowls. Then, you can easily bring them to work with you and not have to worry about portioning everything out each morning!
Salsa Chicken and Rice Bowl Recipe
Ingredients
Chicken
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- ½ tablespoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1 lb. boneless skinless chicken thighs
- 16 oz. salsa, any kind
Rice
- 3 cups cooked white rice
- ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro
- 1.5 tablespoons fresh lime juice
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
Black Bean Salsa
- ½ cup sweet corn
- ½ cup black beans
- 12 oz. cherry tomatoes, halved
- ½ red onion, minced
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- 2 tablespoons fresh chopped cilantro
Fajita Peppers
- 1 tablespoon avocado oil
- 2 red bell peppers, sliced
- 1 white onion, sliced
Instructions
- Add the ground cumin, chili powder, sea salt, and garlic powder to a bowl and mix to combine.
- Add the chicken to the slow cooker and season with the spice mixture. Toss the chicken until completely coated in the mixture. Pour the salsa over the chicken.
- Cook the chicken on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 2-3 hours or until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165ºF.
- When the chicken is done, remove the chicken from the slow cooker and shred it. Remove the liquid from the slow cooker, but save it for later.
- Once shredded add the chicken back into the slow cooker and add enough of the left over sauce to coat this chicken. Keep the chicken in the slow cooker to stay warm.
- If making fresh rice, prepare the rice according to the instructions on the package.
- Toss the cooked rice with cilantro, lime juice, and salt. Set aside.
- Prepare the bean salad. Add all of the ingredients for the bean salad to a large bowl and toss to combine. Set aside.
- Heat 1 tablespoon of avocado oil in a large skillet over medium/high heat. Add the onions and peppers to the skillet. Season with salt and saute for 3-5 minutes or until just cooked through.
- Assemble the bowls by evenly distributing the chicken, rice, bean salad, and peppers between 4-8 bowls or if meal prepping, store each component in separate air-tight containers.
Tips & Notes
- This recipe is meant to serve a crowd or to make for meal prep throughout the week.
- We use both chicken breasts and chicken thighs to balance out the lean chicken breasts with a bit more flavor from the chicken thighs. Feel free to use whatever cut of chicken you prefer.
- The type of salsa you use will determine the flavor of the chicken.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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This looks delicious buddy, and I’d eat sweet potatoes for them (in their puuurty colours).
Thanks, buddy 😛
Love this! So easy, so fresh. I’ll definitely be making this for me and the boyfriend.
Also, I love purple veggies…like broccoli, carrots, etc. Turns out they have more iron than their non-purple counterparts! They kind of taste different too.
I need to find me some purple cauliflower ASAP. So pretty.
Can you recommend how to make this without a crock pot? Don’t have one but it sounds delicious.
I’ve only ever done it in the crock-pot, but I asked a few of my food blogger friends and they suggested poaching it (boiling it), and then shredding it! They suggested boiling the chicken for about 20 minute to cook it all the way through, and then it should be tender enough to shred! GOOD LUCK!
I just bought my first crock pot and it’s still in the box… I haven’t figured out what to make other than bone broth (and I don’t have any bones yet!).
But, I have 4lbs of chicken breasts in the fridge so this is gonna be dinner tonight! Thanks for the recipe, it looks delicious.
OMG. Open that sucker up. Shredded chicken in the crock pot is SO EASY!!!!
This looks delish and I NEED some purple sweet potatoes in my life!!!!
YES. Omg they are gorgeous and so tasty!
I love that you added purple sweet potatoes to this recipe – so good! Looks like the perfect healthy dinner.
I seriously need to get on this short grain brown rice shenanigans!
And I TOTALLY get doing it for the picture ha! Those purple taters (and this whole bowl) are gorg! Pinned!
Tanks lady!! And yes. Once you go short, you’ll never go back!
Please give this to me…right now!
RIGHT! I savored every bowl of this I ate. SO GOOD.
This looks so perfect for prepping ahead for the week! I way prefer the texture of short grain brown rice too. A local vegan cafe uses it and for the longest time I couldn’t figure out what made their rice bowls so good – and then I realized it was the short grain brown rice! So I bought myself some and I haven’t been able to go back to the long grain kind.
YES!!!!!!!!!!!!! It makes such a difference!
I love some shredded chicken, and this looks spectacular!
I feel like shredded chicken in the crock-pot is like magic. People are always stunned when I tell them how easy it is!