RHome410: Chicken Slop, Crockpot Style

Friday, January 24, 2014

Chicken Slop, Crockpot Style

3 years ago, I wrote about a weekly dinner staple here at RHome410 (Our Home for Ten), Mexican Chicken Slop... We have Prince Stoic to thank for the dish's lovely title. :-)

It's fairly easy to make, but not as easy as this latest recipe, a variation of something I found posted on Facebook.

I have never had much luck with crockpot recipes (dry meat, bland taste, lots of hassle), so use mine mostly as a warmer for the Hot Shrimp Dip we love. (Recipe here)

But now our crockpot has new life, doing what it was intended... Making dinner slowly, all day, allowing me the freedom to accomplish other things, relieved in the knowledge that there will be no last minute panic about what to serve for dinner. It's quite helpful on the nights when I'm off with Prince Go-for-It at baseball practice and the family comes home to an empty house, but happy to find a hot dinner, ready and waiting.

Crockpot Chicken Slop

Place into the crockpot:

2 1/2 to 3 pounds frozen chicken tenders (or breasts, sliced in 3 pieces, lengthwise)...Yes, FROZEN!
8 oz cream cheese
1 1/2 cups prepared salsa + 1/2 cup water (or 1 can Rotel seasoned tomatoes, undrained)
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can whole kernel corn, drained

Nope...This is not a photo of the Crockpot Chicken Slop,
or, even, the Shrimp Dip. But it is a glimpse
of a post to come (in front of the TV
showing our SuperBowl-bound Seahawks--YAY!).
It's one of my favorite "quick-and-easy,
fill-the-freezer, then-fix-fast-dinners" solutions yet.

Cook for 6 to 8 hours in the crockpot.

About 45 minutes before serving, prepare rice or quinoa, according to package directions, optionally cooking it in chicken broth instead of water. -This can also be cooked ahead of time, and reheated for dinner.

Immediately before serving, use 2 forks to shred chicken pieces before spooning the chicken and its sauce over the rice or quinoa. May be served with your choice of accompaniments, such as thinly sliced lettuce, shredded cheese, black olives, refried beans, sour cream, and/or additional salsa.

Pictures of food will have to wait, while I can
spend my time doing things like this!

Comments (10)

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JC halfcrocked · 587 weeks ago

I've never much liked crock pot recipes either, but this looks, not only good (and easy), but like a good base from which many recipes could blossom. It's the cream cheese that points the way--it needs a certain amount of fat! Duh! Should have been obvious but that it never occurred to me that the problem was that my meat was too well trimmed. :)

So...explain shrimp dip please? Is it called that because of the color or something? I was expecting it to be made out of shrimp or to be something to dip shrimp in. :)

Anyway, I'm glad to see you posting again, and even moreso that you're talking cooking. :)

4 replies · active 586 weeks ago

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RHome410 71p · 587 weeks ago

Ack! Thanks for letting me know about my boo-boo. Talk about half-crocked. Up too late and typing too fast. I've fixed it now. Shrimpless Shrimp Dip would be a bit boring! Someday, I'll get a photo of the dip and do some editing to give it it's own post.

I have used the crockpot recipe as a guide once so far. I made sweet and sour chicken. I added pineapple, bell peppers, onion, and an Asian style sauce. No fat except for the little bit of sesame oil, I don't think. So I didn't notice the fat might be a big help. I never even got to try it, because it was eaten by the time I got home...so I guess it was OK! Or, at least, they were hungry. ;-)

I think they're giving us meat that's too lean. It's tough, dry, and flavorless too much of the time these days.

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JC crockled · 587 weeks ago

Oh! Well it sounded like a good enough dip by itself, but I do understand the "shrimp" part now that there's a pound of shrimp in it. :) Is this the teeny weeny shrimpy shrimp? Or do you cut it up? (Just curious--my circle of friends mostly don't eat shrimp--answers can certainly wait for when you do the whole recipe page). I'm looking forward to learning about what's in the picture too. :)

Re meat, I have the luxury of having the best available and no big house full of big appetites to have to watch the price too hard. I generally prefer very lean meats. If I think it needs more fat, I'd rather add light olive oil (higher smoke point than regular, so good for cooking, and doesn't taste as olivy). I also like making braises, which are good things to do with tougher cuts. I almost never buy "fine" cuts. Theoretically, these should be ideal in the crock pot, but I think that's where the leanness may need help. When I braise in the oven in a cast iron braiser (shallow pot), I brown the meat first and use a little oil.

Browning is great for bringing out the flavor. It's a caramelization process. It works best when the meat has a very dry surface (blot it first), so it doesn't steam, and a very hot pan (enough over 350 degrees that the meat doesn't cool it to below that). Then you have to leave it alone while it's browning. It'll unstick when it's ready to be turned. When it's all brown, I deglaze with wine, but you can use stock or even plain water. Just add it to the pan and use a wooden spoon to rub all the gunk off the bottom and into the liquid. That gets all that flavor into the dish. I've seen crock pot recipes that call for this, and I'm sure they're great for if you're leaving the house, because the original point was a pot that could cook with no one home, but if you're going to be around in case something untoward happens, it's easier at that point to braise in the same pot that one browned in, and put it in the oven. :)

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RHome410 71p · 586 weeks ago

The crockpot methods in which I browned the meat first, then put it in to slow cook were the meals that came out dry and awful. I'm blaming the meat. ;-)

The dip is not picky about what shrimp to use. :-) The tiny salad shrimp works, and is probably what is intended to go in here. But I don't like it as well as the larger ones that are more tender and more to bite into. I usually get the 50-70/pound size, precooked, and without tails I find at Costco, and then chop them up a bit, so they are around 1/2-inch pieces.

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JC crockless · 586 weeks ago

Oh! Great to know! I've never had much luck with browning the meat before crock pot, but I only did it a couple of times because even in my horrible old oven it was easier to just put the browning pot in. Maybe it's the crockpot!

I get what you mean about something to bite into. I never would have thought of that, but I can see how a chunk of a cocktail shrimp would feel more substantial to the tooth than a similarly sized salad shrimp.

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Susan · 587 weeks ago

My mouth is watering just reading the shrimp dip and chicken slop recipes both, and I can't wait to meet them. But even more yummy are the sweet pics of you with Prince Baby! He's so big!

1 reply · active 586 weeks ago

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RHome410 71p · 586 weeks ago

HIs is big! I've been meaning to send you pics.