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Slow Cooker Quinoa Chicken Chili

So easy, so filling, Slow Cooker Quinoa Chicken Chili recipe packs a wallop in terms of both flavor and texture. The quinoa adds texture, flavor, and heartiness, making this dish a meal unto itself.

Are you cold? I’m cold! It’s a blustery day here in Chicago and the wind is whistling through my windows even as I type… making it a great day for chasing my garbage cans down the street, but also a great day for Slow Cooker Quinoa Chicken Chili. This easy Crock-Pot chicken chili recipe packs a wallop in terms of both flavor and texture, while adding the quinoa really makes it an entire meal unto itself.

Why Quinoa Chicken Chili?

Well, while shopping at ALDI to replace some of my dry pantry goods this week (grr) I added a bag of quinoa to my cart, because: Organic quinoa for $2.99? Yes, please. Looking at my lovely new quinoa made me realize that I haven’t cooked with it in a while, and I also had a couple of cans of organic fire roasted diced tomatoes sitting around on my counter (that I’d picked up two for $1.00 at Dollar Tree, of all places).

quinoa and fire roasted diced tomatoes

So today we’re trying out these Hunt’s brand organic tomatoes (or hey, any fire roasted diced tomatoes you happen to have on hand) and using my replacement quinoa to cook up a big pot of comfort food with this Slow Cooker Quinoa Chicken Chili recipe.

Slow Cooker Quinoa Chicken Chili

Ingredients

10 cloves garlic, chopped
1-2 jalapenos, chopped (optional — omit if you’re sensitive to heat)
1 small or 1/2 a medium yellow onion, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped (I used red)
1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast
1 cup quinoa, uncooked and rinsed
3 cups chicken or vegetable broth
2 cans fire roasted diced tomatoes
1 can diced tomatoes with green chiles
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 can corn, drained
2 Tbsp chili powder
1.5 tsp cumin
dash of cayenne
1 tsp smoked paprika

Directions

ingredients for quinoa chicken chili in the crockpot

Add all ingredients to your Crock-Pot. Stir and cook on low for 6-8 hours, or on high for 4-6 hours.

Remove chicken from the slow cooker and shred, then stir the shredded chicken back into the chili.

bowls of quinoa chicken chili with cheese

Serve this slow cooker quinoa chicken chili garnished with your chili toppings of choice, such as shredded cheddar, green onions, sour cream, or tortilla strips. (I also brightened my bowl up with a little fresh lime juice, which really made the flavors pop — but that’s optional!)

Oh yes, quinoa chicken chili is just that easy!

Slow cooker quinoa chicken chili

You have to like an easy dump and go Crock-Pot meal, and this one just requires a minimal amount of chopping — especially if you use the handy little food chopper I keep recommending to you (there’s a reason for that…). More on useful kitchen tools below, but meanwhile: Yum. This chili has all the things — and it’s even on the healthier side!

The quinoa adds such great texture, the corn adds a little sweet crunch, and the chicken and beans make it super filling and comforting. Both the chicken and the quinoa cook right in the chili with no need to pre-cook or to dirty another pan, and this slow cooker quinoa chicken chili recipe is naturally gluten free.

A note on the kitchen tools I used today

strain quinoa in a fine mesh strainer

Can I just pause for a moment to tell you how much I appreciate my little Ninja Express food chopper at times like these? I used it here on the garlic, jalapeño, onion, and bell pepper in order to reduce the chopping time (and save my hands) tremendously.

A big seven quart Crock-Pot is also worth the investment for when you’re making big pots of chili, soup, stew, roasts, whole chicken, and more — really a minimal investment for the use you’ll get out of it — while a fine mesh strainer is super useful for things like rinsing quinoa and rice.

Slow Cooker Quinoa Chicken Chili, printable recipe

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5 from 2 votes

Slow Cooker Quinoa Chicken Chili

This easy Crock-Pot chicken chili recipe packs a wallop in terms of both flavor and texture, while adding the quinoa really makes it an entire meal unto itself.
Course dinner
Cuisine slow cooker
Keyword chicken, chicken chili, chili, crock-pot, quinoa, slow cooker
Total Time 6 hours 29 minutes
Servings 8

Equipment

Ingredients

  • 10 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 1-2 jalapenos, chopped optional — omit if you're sensitive to heat
  • 1 small yellow onion (or half a medium one) chopped
  • 1 bell pepper chopped (I used red)
  • 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast
  • 1 cup quinoa uncooked and rinsed
  • 3 cups chicken or vegetable broth
  • 2 cans fire roasted diced tomatoes
  • 1 can diced tomatoes with green chiles
  • 1 can black beans drained and rinsed
  • 1 can kidney beans drained and rinsed
  • 1 can corn drained
  • 2 Tbsp chili powder
  • 1.5 tsp cumin
  • dash of cayenne
  • 1 tsp smoked paprika

Instructions

  • Add all ingredients to your Crock-Pot. Stir and cook on low for 6-8 hours, or on high for 4-6 hours.
  • Remove chicken from the slow cooker and shred, then stir the shredded chicken back into the chili.
  • Serve this slow cooker quinoa chicken chili garnished with your chili toppings of choice, such as shredded cheddar, green onions, sour cream, or tortilla strips. (I also brightened my bowl up with a little fresh lime juice, which really made the flavors pop — but that’s optional!)

Notes

This slow cooker quinoa chicken chili recipe is naturally gluten free.

Recipes in the real world

weekly ALDI meal plans from Mashup Mom -- six complete dinners for four, $60 out the door! MashupMom.com, every Wednesday.

Be sure not to miss the free ALDI meal plans, which show you how to use these easy family recipes to meal plan affordably and realistically for your family. Or, find more recipe ideas with the Recipe Search!

Recipe Rating




Leah LaRosa

Friday 15th of January 2021

This was DELICIOUS! I had an extra chicken breast and threw it in, it ended up being heavily chicken-centric and made the chili really thick/not as brothy. But was still good My family loved it.. Definintely will stick to the 1 lb. chicken next time. (I think I ended up with about 1 1/2 lbs). My aldi did not have the can of fire-roasted chopped tomatoes, so I just improvised with a regular plain can of chopped tomatoes and some extra Jalapeno. It was DELICIOUS still. With the extra chicken I had in it, this would have been really great in a Burrito bowl, or a salad/burrito bowl type of meal as well. Will definitely be making this again and again...

rachel

Friday 15th of January 2021

I'm so happy you enjoyed it! Adding the extra chicken & making it a burrito filling is a great idea, too -- yum. :)

Jackie

Tuesday 5th of January 2021

This was delicious and made a ton of chili! I made it using the chili setting on my instant pot because I forgot to start it early enough. It came out perfect.

Jill

Saturday 27th of July 2019

I didn’t use enough broth (just what I had leftover from another recipe) and it turned out thicker than I wanted. So we used this as a filling for hand pies and little empanadas using pie crust. My 5 and 2 year olds loved them!

Katie

Monday 15th of July 2019

ugh.. i forgot to rinse the quinoa... i hope its alright D:

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