Slow Cooked Pinto Chicken with Corn and Quinoa
Posted in: Crockpot Ideas, Dinner Ideas, Food Photos, Soup/Stew Ideas | 13 Comments
It was one of those days I didn’t want to worry about dinner. So before work I pulled out the Crock Pot and a pound of chicken breast from the freezer. Genius! Right? Who ever came up with the crock pot idea should be named inventor of the century. It’s a life savior!
So this idea is simple, a can of creamed corn, a can of diced tomatoes, a can of beans and some chicken. Spice it up anyway you like and add the quinoa at the end to soak up the liquid!
You should have seen the husbands face when I put the bowl in front of him. I tried not to say anything and wait for his reaction (he’s never seen, heard of or would ever want to try quinoa). He was quiet and after about 1 minute I said, “don’t worry I left the chicken in big pieces so you can find it easily.”
He just laughed and said “What is it?”
I went on to explain what quinoa is and he continued to pick out all the chicken pieces. He said he liked it but left most of the quinoa and beans in the bowl. Hey… at least he tried it! The toddler picked at it too but ate a few good bites.
To be honest, the picture doesn’t do it justice, it was really good. Especially if you are a one bowl meal lover like me.
- 1 lb (16oz) of chicken breast trimmed and cut into large chunks
- 1 15oz can of cream style corn
- 1 15 can of pinto beans rinsed and drained
- 1 15 can of diced tomatoes
- ½ tsp ground sage
- 1 tsp dried chives
- 1 tsp dehydrated onion
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 1 tsp dried cilantro
- 1 cup (170g) uncooked Quinoa
Put all ingredients except quinoa in a crock pot on low and cook for about 6 hours.
A half an hour before dinner, add the quinoa. It will soak up the remaining liquid.
Here’s a picture before and after cooking. I’m sorry they aren’t the greatest, it was a really hard dish to photograph!
I got 5, 1 cup servings and boy was it filling!
| Servings | Amount per Serving | Calories | Fat | Fiber |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | About 1 cup | 360 | 4g | 7g |
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[...] a side dish, in soups, stews, salads. Man! The possibilities are endless! Tonight I used it in my Pinto Chicken and Quinoa crock pot idea and it completed the stew [...]
where are you finding quinoa? I love love love this, but haven’t found it at the store yet!
I’ll have to file the idea of adding it near the end of a Crockpot recipe…hadn’t thought of that. Thanks for the idea.
did you defrost the chicken first, or put it in frozen? i’ve heard mixed things about what to do…
Is it ok to put in frozen chicken, or do you need to defrost if first?
How funny is this — I just read your post on quinoa and then look at what I found right afterwards on the Baltimore Sun Online: http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/dining/bal-fo.quinoa09jan09,0,6346998.story
Hey guys, sorry for the late response.
Julie – I found it at trader joe’s. But I think it’s getting more popular now. I’ll check the local grocery store to see if I can find any.
Chritsine and Kja – I defrosted the chicken just enough to be able to cut it. So it was still frozen in the crock pot, that’s one of the reasons I cooked it so long.
I’ve used frozen in the crock pot before no problem, as long as you know it completely cooked, I think it’s ok.
My family really liked this!
I have had Quinoa sitting in my pantry for almost a year and didn’t know what to do with it.
This reminded me of the KFC bowl-in a much healthier way!
I put a link on my blog today to this recipe, I hope it was ok!
Thanks for your great food ideas!
this looks sooooo good. i’ll just have to get my fiance into beans and quinoa…lol! i’d love to have some more healthy crockpot ideas from you. we both work full-time, and as you know, it’s so nice to walk in the door at 5pm and smell dinner ready?! mmm…thanks roni!
I am planning to try your recipe, but will make one change. Quinoa needs to be rinsed very well before it is cooked. It naturally has a very bitter coating on it that a good rinse with water will get rid of.
Hi Roni,
I realize this post is old, but i ask my question and hope you notice it. Is there anything else i can substitute for Quinoa? I live in a small midwestern town and we don’t have trader joe’s, or anything alike.
I made this today and got 7 1 cup servings?? It was very delicious though.
[...] come across a section of slow cooking previously and I was not disappointed. I used her recipe for Slow Cooked Pinto Chicken as my base and changed a few things based on what I had available and of course I liberally used [...]