Sweet and Spicy Crockpot Chicken
A sweet and spicy Crockpot chicken recipe made with chunky salsa, all-fruit preserves, peppers, herbs, and spices for a simple and delicious weeknight meal.
I am always experimenting with new easy slow cooker recipes. Our weekdays are BUSY and my kids are on the go, so we need healthy meals that don’t require a lot of fuss and preparation. We had this simple Mexican-inspired chicken recipe this week and it turned out so good! The nutrition stats are also great with 26 grams of protein, 3 grams of fat, and 16 grams of carbs per serving!
How To Make Sweet and Spicy Crockpot Chicken
- 6 (4 oz) boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 16 oz jar of medium or hot chunky salsa (I love the Trader Joe’s Peach Salsa in this recipe, or use your favorite brand)
- 1/2 cup tomato sauce
- 2-3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 small Vidalia onion, finely chopped
- 1 green pepper, chopped
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 2 tsp chili powder
- 1/4 cup apricot or peach All-Fruit preserves
- freshly ground pepper and salt, to taste
Directions:
No time to thaw? You can use fresh or frozen chicken breasts for this recipe. I’ve included cooking times for both. Don’t worry if you forgot to pull the chicken out of the freezer…the story of my life. I’ve got you!
Place chicken breasts in the bottom of a slow cooker sprayed with olive oil cooking spray.
Top with chopped peppers, onions, and garlic.
Mix all remaining ingredients in a bowl.
Whisk until combined.
Pour over chicken.
Cook 3-4 hours on low (until internal chicken temperature reaches 165 degrees F) for fresh chicken breasts or 5-6 hours on low for frozen chicken breasts.
What To Serve With Sweet and Spicy Crockpot Chicken
I served it over brown rice, but you could also shred it up for tacos. You can easily make this a low-carb dish and serve it on top of riced cauliflower.
Toppings that I love for this recipe are chopped fresh cilantro, homemade guacamole, sliced fresh jalapeños or pickled jalapeños, and sour cream or Mexican crema. You can also never go wrong with my favorite spicy jalapeño margaritas. 😉
This one will remain a favorite in our dinner rotation. Everyone loved it! This recipe also works great for meal prep!
*This post has been updated on May 11, 2020 from the original post published on Jan 24, 2012.
Sweet and Spicy Crockpot Chicken
Equipment
- slow cooker
Ingredients
- 6 (4 oz) boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 16 oz jar medium (or hot) chunky salsa *I love the Trader Joe's Peach Salsa in this recipe
- 1/2 cup tomato sauce
- 2-3 garlic cloves minced
- 1 small vidalia onion chopped fine
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 2 tsp chili powder
- 1/4 cup apricot or peach All fruit preserves
- 1 green pepper chopped
- fresh ground pepper and sea salt to taste
Instructions
- Place chicken breasts in the bottom of a slow cooker
- Top with peppers, onion and garlic
- Mix all other ingredients in a bowl and pour over the chicken
- If using fresh chicken breasts (not frozen) cook on low for 3-4 hours or until the internal temp of chicken breast reaches 165 degrees F. If cooking frozen chicken breasts cook on low for 5-6 hours.
Nutrition
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Just had this for supper as a filling for fajitas. Yum!! It was a huge hit with the whole family. Next time I would use a bit less of the fluid ingredients when using fresh chicken though. Thanks so much for this recipe!
Absolutely, fresh chicken breasts would be great! Just cook on low for 3-4 hours or until it shreds easily with a fork. 🙂
Can I use fresh chicken breasts instead of frozen and cook for a shorter time?
Thanks! Glad you loved it!!
Was a big hit!! Will definitely be making it again. Made it with a pineapple chutney instead!
Was a big hit!! Will definitely be making it again. Made it with a pineapple chutney instead!
Thank you! I love easy, too!!! 🙂
This recipe sounds easy & yummy! What I do like best about it is that I can put the frozen chicken in the crockpot. I’m new to our crockpot & learning new recipes all the time. Love it!
Thank you! Love the feedback! 🙂
Thank you ,Amee for shareing….will definitely try this 🙂
Thanks Syndi! Hope you all love it! 🙂
I think this may just be “what’s for dinner tomorrow night!” Sounds like something my men would love.
Yeah! Love it, Tara!! You made my night. Thanks so much!! 🙂
It was AMAZING!! Thank you so much! 🙂 I definitely will be making this again and spreading the recipes to others:)
Thank you, Tara! Yes, the chicken cooks whole and you can pull apart when it’s done. It should shred easily with a fork. I hope you enjoy it! 🙂
Making this right now. I didnt chop the chicken since it didnt say to. Just wanted to make sure this was fine and I am assuming as it cooks it will fall apart? Anyways sounds amazing and cant way to try it!
Barbara, I think the fresh canned peaches would be great! I love that you do a lot of your own canning! If you wanted a little more sweetness (to replace the preserves) you can a little bit of honey or sugar, but I don’t think it’s necessary. I hope you enjoy the dish. 🙂
I have fresh canned peaches, also salsa, due to my son having ADHD and we do ALOT of home canning. Do you think if I pureed them that they would work?
This recipe will be fine without the fruit, just add 1/4 more salsa. 🙂
I have a diabetic on a “no-fruit” diet, can I leave out the preserves?
Tee
Thanks ladies!!! So glad that you loved it! You made my day! 🙂
Freakin’ delicious!! Finally a mexican chicken crock pot meal with flavor!! Thank you!! We have only a tiny bit of left-overs tonight. Thanks!
Delightful! This recipe is really easy to follow. i made it for my family and they loved it! Thanks for the recipe! … You might as well take a glimpse at http://www.gourmandia.com and http://www.everythinglemon for more exciting recipes that you’ll surely admire!
Hi Joanna 🙂 I think the tomato paste would be ok if you dilute it with water, so that you end up with the texture of the sauce. I love the cumin here, but you can definitely try it with paprika. It will still come out tasty, just a different flavor. I hope you love it!
Hi Amee!
I just picked up some Apricot preserve on $ale this morning, however, I forgot to pick up some cumin & smallish can of tomato sauce.
I actually have a Large(29ozs.) can of tom. sauce, but I wouldn’t want to waste the rest. Could I use a 6oz. can of Tomato paste instead or do you think it would alter it too much? Also, what can I use instead of cumin?…Paprika perhaps?! I have everything else. I hate when I’m at the store & I forget to pick up those little ‘extras’.
Thanks, J