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If you are looking for a delightful crock pot dinner recipe, this is it! It’s creamy, hearty, slightly spicy and packs a hint of sweetness. Sound good? It is! My family loved it. As an added bonus, the sauce actually has a TON of protein. It’s super delicious, gang! Here’s what you need to know…
You’ll want to find yourself a can of these delicious Chipotle Peppers in Adobo sauce, here in lies the fabulous flavor we are looking for in this dish.
Chicken chunks are placed in the bottom of a crock pot. Seasoned with garlic and onion powder, and a nice helping of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce.
The chicken cooks in this delicious concoction until tender, then shredded. Partially cooked pasta gets tossed on top…and then for the cheese sauce…
Look at all that protein. Tons of cottage cheese, mozzarella, parmesan, cream cheese and a bit of honey. It all gets nicely blended together and poured over the top of the chicken and pasta.
Stir, cover and cook for about 30 more minutes.
Top with a bit of fresh cilantro and green onion.
So good! It will be a little bit thin, but will continue to thicken as it cools. If you leave it in the crock pot on warm, the pasta will keep soaking up the sauce and get soggy. Once you’ve given it a chance to sit for 10 or so minutes, serve it immediately, then store the leftovers in the fridge.
Hope you get a chance to try it!
Ingredients
- CHICKEN MIXTURE:
- 1 (7 oz) can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (you'll only use part of the can)
- 4 chicken breasts
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 2 tsp onion powder
- 1 Tb salt
- 1 tsp chicken bullion granules
- 1 1/4 C water
- CREAMY CHEESE SAUCE:
- 2 1/2 C cottage cheese
- 1/2 (8 oz) block of cream cheese
- 1 C parmesan cheese, grated
- 1 C mozzarella cheese, grated
- 3 Tb honey
- 1 1/4 C milk
- salt and pepper
- 1 (16 oz) box of penne pasta
- green onion, chopped
- cilantro, chopped
Instructions
- Grab your can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce. This is where the flavor comes from, but we need to be a little bit careful. There's a lot of sweet heat in this little jar. Spoon 4 Tb of the sauce into a small bowl and then scoop out 3-4 of the peppers and add it to the bowl. Take a sharp pair of kitchen scissors and use it to cut the peppers into little pieces.
- Grab your crock pot and spray it with cooking spray. Cut 4 chicken breasts into 1-2 inch pieces and place them into the crock pot. I like to use my kitchen scissors for this job as well.
- To the crock pot add the chipotle peppers and sauce, the garlic powder, onion powder, bullion, salt and water and stir it well to combine.
- Cover and cook on high for 3-4 hours, or until the chicken is cooked through.
- Shred the chicken with two forks.
- Cook your pasta, but only cook it half way. It will cook the rest of the way in the crock pot.
- Into your blender add all of the creamy cheese sauce ingredients. Blend until smooth.
- Add the half cooked pasta and blended cheese sauce to the crock pot and give it a nice stir to combine.
- Cover and cook for another 20-30 minutes or so. You're looking for the pasta to finish cooking and the cheese mixture to heat through.
- Turn the heat off and allow it to sit for 10 minutes or so, it will thicken up for you as it cools.
- Spoon into serving bowls and top with fresh cilantro and green onion.
Serve and enjoy!
Notes
The sauce might be a bit thin at first, but will thicken up as it cools.
Recipe from the amazing Tom Walsh via Instagram
Do you have to use a crock pot? Have you tried cooking on top of the stove?
Vicki,
I bet you could make this on the stove top. I’d just let the chicken simmer slowly until cooked through, I would imagine it might take 30 minutes or so for that portion of the recipe.
Let me know if you try it and how it works out.
~Jamie