Crock Pot Mexican Chicken & Corn Chowder

This Crock Pot Mexican Chicken and Corn Chowder is a delicious and easy fix-and-forget meal for busy weeknights!

My kids have been playing piano for a number of years now. We were blessed to have a teacher who came to our house weekly for six years, and I guess I never knew how good we had it in this convenient setup. I didn’t have to cart everyone off to someone else’s house one day after school, and got to prep dinner to the sounds of gradually improving classical tunes (also to the sounds of my kids not fighting with each other for an hour and a half because they were occupied with piano).

Now, however, our beloved piano teacher has taken a job as a computer programmer. (Sadly, teaching piano lessons isn’t the most lucrative career. I get it.) For several months, we’ve been trying to nail down lessons with a new teacher, to no avail. Finally, though, we’re locked in with someone I think is going to work out well–phew!

The only problem? She’s only available from 5:00 to 6:30 PM, RIGHT when I’d normally make dinner. So what do you do when your kids’ new piano teacher can only do lessons when you’d rather be home slicing and dicing so you can eat on time?

You Crock Pot it up, that’s what.

 

This Crock Pot Mexican Chicken & Corn Chowder saved the day this week when I knew I’d be indisposed in the early evening. With a little work in the afternoon, our family was able to come home to something warm and filling–and oh-so-tasty–for dinner.

The original recipe from Chelsea’s Messy Apron (the one that made me say, “YES, I MUST EAT THAT AT ALL COSTS”) had the enticing phrase “Mexican street corn” in its title–and yeah, I could see where you could kinda get a street corn vibe from this soup. But to me, it wasn’t so strong that this actually seemed like eating a bowl of street corn.

Even so, this was a darn delicious Mexican-flavored chowder my whole family loved! It’s got chicken for protein, black beans for fiber, and two types of corn for sweetness and crunch. You may think the single cup of chicken broth that goes into it won’t be enough, but don’t add more! You’ll be surprised at the end that there’s plenty of liquid.

The other great thing about this soup is that it has just enough spice from a bit of chili powder, cumin, and paprika. No one (not even my 8-year-old) said it was too spicy, which tells me it has just enough kick. I served it with my Perfect Cornbread Muffins and we were able to sit down to dinner by 7:00.

Now…which Crock Pot meal am I gonna make this week (and the next, and the next, and…)? Drop me your favorite slow cooker recipes in the comments!