I’m so excited to share one of the recipes from my freezer cookbook eBooks with you!
Every recipe in the cookbook can be prepped in 15 minutes or less. Simply combine ingredients, freeze, and cook in your slow cooker or oven when you’re hungry.
Since there’s no cooking done ahead of time, the recipes cook for the very first time out of your freezer. Finally, freezer meals that don’t taste like leftovers!
PrintFreezer-to-Slow Cooker Chicken Chili
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
Description
Serve with shredded cheddar cheese and tortilla chips.
Ingredients
- 1 medium yellow onion (one cup), chopped
- 15oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 15oz can cannellini beans (white kidney beans), drained and rinsed
- 14.5oz can diced tomatoes with green chilies, undrained (my family likes medium-heat)
- 14.5oz can petite diced tomatoes, undrained
- 1 cup frozen medley of green and red peppers and onion strips
- 1 2/3 cup frozen corn
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- 3 teaspoons chili powder
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 1/2 teaspoons oregano
- 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces
To Freeze and Cook Later
- Label a gallon-sized freezer bag with the name of the recipe, cooking instructions, and use by date.
- Add all ingredients to your freezer bag. (Add the chicken last so it’s the first ingredient dumped in to the slow cooker.)
- Remove as much air as possible from the bag, seal it, and freeze it for up to three months.
- When ready to eat, thaw enough to break apart the ingredients and add them to the slow cooker.
- Cook on low setting for 6-8 hours.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 2/3 cup
- Calories: 330
- Sugar: 8 g
- Sodium: 954 mg
- Fat: 3.5 g
- Saturated Fat: 0
- Trans Fat: 0
- Carbohydrates: 41 g
- Fiber: 9 g
- Protein: 35 g
- Cholesterol: 64 mg
A very special thanks to Jacquie from The Sweeter Side of Mommyhood for her amazing photos of my chili. Be sure to check out her blog for chronicles of her life as a baker, book-lover, and art teacher. You know how they say, “It takes a village to raise a child”? Well, it takes a village to run a business too, and Jacquie is certainly part of my village.
Pittsburgh Live Today got the recipe wrong on http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2012/12/10/chicken-chili-recipe-featured-on-ptl/#respond
Note:They added 1⁄2 teaspoon sugar-free French vanilla powdered creamer! Yuck!
Yes, I noticed that! Hopefully viewers realize vanilla creamer is NOT in chicken chili!!
[…] adapted from NewLeaf Wellness’s freezer recipe […]
We just tried the chicken chilli recipe in our new slow cooker. My husband and I have never used a crockpot before but have always wanted to try it. The recipe looked so simple , perfect for a first timer. It came out awesome!! Can’t wait to try some of your other recipes. Thank you!
Thank you so much! I think you will grow to love your slow cooker! Thanks for sharing!!
Will fresh veggies work? I don’t usually buy canned or frozen.
Yes. I believe fresh will work just fine! 🙂
What great recipes and ideas! Thanks for sharing!
Thank you for your kind words!
Interesting, but I’m not sure about this method. Why not just put the cans together in a bag that go into the meal and label it in the pantry and then combine everything else and label the freezer bag. Opening 4 cans of food and putting it in the freezer doesn’t seem like a workable idea to me?
You can do that too. Although I think some sauce in the freezer bag helps make sure your seasonings don’t get stuck to the bag and left in there. Plus it’s nice to just have to dump the completed meal in your slow cooker in the morning – no can opener, no mess, no rinsing beans. There’s simply nothing faster!
What size crock pot do you use with this recipe? I have 2 sizes and am not sure which one would be best.
I’ve used both a 4-quart and 7-quart slow cooker. The 4-quart gets very full, but they both work.
I like your idea of putting cans together in a labeled bag in the pantry and even adding a small container with the spices. I like to have all the ingredients on hand for easy and healthy crockpot meals and have time to prepare fresh ingredients also.