Slow Cooker Green Chile Chicken Bowl features Green Chile Chicken made into a bowl meal with cauliflower rice and black beans. Skip the black beans for a healthy low-carb option or check out Instant Pot Green Chile Chicken Burrito Bowl for a low-carb Instant Pot option! 

PIN Slow Cooker Green Chile Chicken Burrito Bowl to try it later!

Slow Cooker Green Chile Chicken Burrito Bowl finished bowls with toppings

This Slow Cooker Green Chile Chicken Bowl shows how I’ve had a mild infatuation with Hatch Green Chile Enchilada Sauce this year! This delicious sauce now comes in a gluten-free version, and after it’s been simmered on the stove to reduce the liquid, it makes a wonderfully flavorful sauce for making green chile chicken (with or without more diced green chiles to add extra heat.)

My apologies if you can’t find Hatch enchilada sauce where you live, but you can definitely use another brand to make delicious slow cooker green chile chicken.  And it’s December, so no judgement about using canned sauce please! (And in case anyone is wondering, Hatch has never paid me or sent me free enchilada sauce to promote their products, and I’m pretty sure they don’t even know I’m alive!)

The green chile chicken is ready to come out of the slow cooker after about 3 hours, including the time to reduce the sauce, so this is a meal you can start in the afternoon and enjoy for dinner that night.

What ingredients do you need for this recipe?

  • Hatch Green Enchilada Sauce (affiliate link), or other green enchilada sauce
  • can of diced green chiles (affiliate link)
  • boneless, skinless chicken breasts
  • chopped cauliflower
  • can of black beans
  • Poblano chile pepper
  • onion
  • extra-virgin Olive Oil (affiliate link)
  • ground Cumin (affiliate link)
  • salt and fresh-ground black pepper to taste
  • fresh-squeezed lime juice

Want more options for using the Green Chile Chicken?

Once you’ve made the slow cooker green chile chicken, you can turn it into Slow Cooker Green Chile Chicken Bowls, or make Green Chile Chicken Tacos with Poblano-Cabbage Slaw if you prefer.

Want Green Chile Chicken Burrito Bowls made in the Instant Pot?

If you want to see the lower-carb Instant Pot version of this recipe, check out my recipe for Instant Pot Green Chile Chicken Burrito Bowls.

Slow Cooker Green Chile Chicken Burrito Bowl process shots collage

How to Make Slow Cooker Green Chile Chicken Bowl:

(Scroll down for complete recipe with nutritional information.)

  1. Simmer the Hatch Green Chile Enchilada Sauce until it’s reduced to 3/4 cup, about 45 minutes. 
  2. Trim chicken breasts and cut into strips; then layer the chicken strips in the slow cooker.
  3. Pour over the reduced sauce (and a small can of diced green chiles if you want more heat.) 
  4. Cook on high for about 2 hours.
  5. When the chicken is done and shreds apart easily, remove chicken and shred apart (leaving the sauce in the slow cooker.)
  6. Put the chicken back in the sauce with the slow cooker on low to keep warm while you make the cauliflower rice.
  7. Chop up about 6 cups cauliflower (one large head) and buzz it in the food processor until it’s mostly chopped into small pieces resembling rice.  (Or use frozen cauliflower rice if you prefer and follow cooking directions on the package.)
  8. Rinse a can of black beans and let them drain well. (Beans are optional and for a few years now I’ve been skipping the beans.
  9. Saute chopped onion and chopped Poblano chile pepper with a little ground cumin. 
  10. Add the chopped cauliflower “rice” and saute about 5 minutes. 
  11. Stir in the black beans and a little lime juice and cook until the beans are heated through.
  12. Put rice mixture in a bowl, top with green chile chicken and garnish with avocado, sour cream, or cheese as desired!

Slow Cooker Green Chile Chicken Burrito Bowl shown in two serving bowls with cheese, avocado, and sour cream on the side

More Delicious Ideas with Green Chile Flavors:

Weekend Food Prep:

This recipe has been added to a new category called Weekend Food Prep to help you find recipes you can prep or cook on the weekend and eat during the week!

Slow Cooker Green Chile Chicken Burrito Bowl finished burrito bowls with toppings
Yield: 6 servings

Slow Cooker Green Chile Chicken Bowl

Prep Time 1 hour 5 minutes
Cook Time 2 hours
Total Time 3 hours 5 minutes

Slow Cooker Green Chile Chicken is made into a bowl meal with cauliflower rice and black beans for a dinner that is so yummy!

Ingredients

  • one 15 oz. can Hatch Green Chile Enchilada Sauce (see notes)
  • one 4 oz. can diced green chiles (optional)
  • 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
  • 6 cups chopped cauliflower (one large head)
  • one 15 oz. can black beans (optional)
  • 1 large Poblano chile pepper, finely diced (see notes)
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 1 T extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 tsp. ground cumin
  • salt and fresh-ground black pepper to taste
  • 2 T fresh-squeezed lime juice (see notes)

Instructions

  1. Put green chile enchilada sauce into a small non-stick saucepan and simmer over medium-low or low heat until the sauce is reduced to 3/4 cup, about 45 minutes.
  2. While the sauce simmers trim all visible fat and undesirable parts from the chicken breasts, and cut each piece of chicken lengthwise into thirds.
  3. When the sauce has reduced, spray the slow cooker with olive oil or non-stick spray and layer the chicken into the slow cooker.  Cover chicken with the reduced sauce and the can of diced green chiles (if using.)
  4. Cook on high for 2 hours, or until the chicken is done and shreds apart easily with a fork.
  5. While chicken cooks, chop the cauliflower into small pieces.  Then put chopped cauliflower into the food processor and buzz with the steel blade until the cauliflower is finely chopped, slightly larger than grains of rice.  (You will need to do this in at least 2 batches in the food processor.  Here is more about How to Make Cauliflower Rice if you haven’t done it.)
  6. Chop the onion and the Poblano chile pepper.
  7. When the chicken is done, remove it to a cutting board, leaving the sauce in the slow cooker.  Shred chicken apart with a fork and put it back into the slow cook, stir to coat the chicken with sauce, and turn the slow cooker to low to keep the chicken warm while you cook the other ingredients.
  8. Dump the can of black beans into a colander placed in the sink and rinse well with cold water (until no more foam is showing.)  Let beans drain well.  (You can blot them with paper towels if they still seem wet.)
  9. Heat the olive oil in a large non-stick frying pan over medium-high heat.  Add the chopped onion and finely diced Poblano chile and saute until they start to barely brown, about 3-4 minutes.
  10. Add ground cumin and cook about 30 seconds, then add the chopped cauliflower and cook, stirring often, until cauliflower is cooked through and barely starting to brown.  I cooked the cauliflower almost 5 minutes, but you may prefer it more well done, so taste a few times.
  11. Season cooked cauliflower rice to taste with salt and fresh-ground black pepper.
  12. Stir in the drained black beans and lime juice and cook a minute or two more, until the beans are heated through.
  13. To serve, make a layer of cauliflower rice/black bean mixture in the bottom of a flat bowl.
  14. Put a few spoonfuls of green chile chicken over the rice and garnish with chopped avocado, grated cheese, sour cream, and salsa as desired.

Notes

I used my favorite Crock-Pot 3.5 Quart Slow Cooker (affiliate link) for this recipe, but any slow cooker that’s 3-4 quarts will work. For this recipe I used Hatch Green Chile Enchilada Sauce affiliate link, and my fresh-frozen lime juice. Use any green chile enchilada sauce you prefer. Poblano peppers are often called Pasilla chiles in U.S. grocery stores. Nutritional information does not include optional toppings. This recipe created by Kalyn.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

6

Serving Size:

1

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 292Total Fat: 6.7gSaturated Fat: 1.3gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 4.1gCholesterol: 68mgSodium: 875mgCarbohydrates: 26gFiber: 9.9gSugar: 7.3gProtein: 33g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated by the Recipe Plug-In I am using. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee 100% accuracy, since many variables affect those calculations.

Did you make this recipe?

Did you make this recipe? Please leave a star rating (under the PRINT button in the recipe) or share a photo of your results on Instagram! THANKS!

Square image for Slow Cooker Green Chile Chicken Bowl showing finished bowls and topping.

Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
This Slow Cooker Green Chile Chicken Bowl uses lots of healthy low-carb ingredients like chicken, cauliflower, and chiles. The Hatch Green Chile Enchilada Sauce does have some carbs, but divided among 6 servings, it adds less than 5 carbs per serving, and I’d eat this dish for any phase of the original South Beach Diet or for a carb-conscious eating plan. If you prefer a lower-carb meal, just omit the black beans from the rice mixture.

Find More Recipes Like This One:
Use Slow Cooker Recipes to find more recipes like this one. Use the Diet Type Index to find recipes suitable for a specific eating plan. You might also like to follow Kalyn’s Kitchen on Pinterest, on Facebook, on Instagram, or on YouTube to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there.

Historical Notes for this Recipe:
The Slow Cooker Green Chile Chicken Bowl recipe was first posted in 2014. It was last updated with more information in 2023.

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