6 Week Clean Eating Meal Prep Challenge- Week 1: Dinner
Crockpot Salsa Chicken with Quinoa
When it comes to meal prepping, the crockpot is your best friend! One and done! Minimal clean up and minimal cooking. Just toss it all in there and come back in 4-8 hours and your house smells amazing!! This recipe is one of my favorites to make! It can be eaten in a variety of ways so your not eating the exact same thing every single night- it can go on top of greens, in a tortilla, by itself or on some tortilla chips with a little cheese! Who doesn’t love nachos?! You can even make the quinoa separatelynifmyoure watching your carb intake. (Side note- my husband is not a fan of leftovers, so sometimes I’ll make this for dinner at the beginning of the week and use the rest for my lunches for the week. Still meal prepping and I don’t have to listen to a grown man whine!)
Here’s what you’ll need :
- Crockpot
- 1 cup quinoa
- 2 1/2 cups low sodium chicken broth
- 1 red onion, sliced
- 1 poblano pepper, or bell pepper, or 2-3 jalapeños, sliced- make it as spicy, or not, as you’d like
- 3-4 large chicken breasts
- Seasoning (2 Tbsp chili powder, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp, onion powder, 1 Tbsp cumin, 1 tsp cayenne, salt and pepper)
- 1 jar low sodium, low sugar salsa – I use Herdez often. Great flavor and one of the better ones for you. You could always make your own, as well!
If you are choosing to make the quinoa with it, start by adding it and the chicken broth to the bottom of the crockpot.
Next, layer on your sliced onion and peppers
Sprinkle half of the seasoning over the veggies
Then lay the chicken on top and sprinkle the remainder of the seasoning on that.
Top it all of with the salsa, place the lid on and walk away!
About 6 hours on low should be perfect. If the quinoa is cooked and the chicken falls apart when you try to pick it up with a fork, you’ve done it!
Shred the chicken with a couple of forks, I was able to just use some tongs it was so tender
Mix everything together and you’re ready to eat!
This is how I decided to have mine the first night 🙂 it was so good, even my kids loved it! (Except for the onions… they call them worms🙄 toddlers!!)
Let me know in the comments what you think and how you have yours! Enjoy and happy meal prepping!!!
