August 12, 2019

Slow Cooker Mesquite Chicken Chili

Chicken, beans, and vegetables cooked with a mesquite flavoring and finished with a bit of honey. This Slow Cooker Mesquite Chicken Chili tastes like a honey BBQ chip turned into a chili!

Flavor Packets

I live in Maryland, not far from the McCormick factory. So, all the grocery stores in the area have plenty of McCormick spice jars and packets. And I pretty much love them all. No, this is not a sponsored post. I wish it was, because I would be pumped to have more McCormick spices in my life, but I’m just telling you what I like.

In any case, back in the days before my grocery store did pick up, and I used to walk around the grocery isles, I would do things like buy hand fulls of spice packets that I wanted to “figure out how to use later.” The other day I found a packet of McCormick Mesquite Marinade in my pantry and realized I needed to use it soon.

Mesquite Marinade

I tasted the Mesquite Marinade packet, and it reminded me of honey BBQ potato chips. It was just asking to be made into a chili that was topped with honey. I mixed it together with some chicken, beans, vegetables, and few a other flavorings then threw it all into the slow cooker. It was one of those super quick dinner preps that turned out super tasty.

Slow Cooker Mesquite Chicken Chili

My husband, daughter, and I all thought this Slow Cooker Mesquite Chicken Chili was awesome. However, it was a little spicy for my son’s tastes. For him, we mixed it with a few extra tablespoons of sour cream, and then he got on board with the dinner too.

Here are a few tips for making this recipe:

This is a chili, so the type of beans used is not critical. If you want to use a different type of bean, go for it.
The chili is a bit on the spicy side. If you are very spice sensitive, you can do what we did for our son and mix it with extra sour cream and honey. Or, you can try one of the following: Use diced tomatoes instead of diced tomatoes with chilies, leave out the chopped green chili peppers, or cut the chili powder to 1 tablespoon.
The liquid smoke adds a nice, smoky taste. I recommend that you use it, but if you are not able to do so, the chili is still tasty.
Do not forget the honey on top! It may sound weird, but trust me, it’s good.

Slow Cooker Mesquite Chicken Chili

Chicken, beans, and vegetables cooked with a mesquite flavoring and finished with a bit of honey. This Slow Cooker Mesquite Chicken Chili tastes like a honey BBQ chip turned into a chili!

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Course: Dinner

Prep Time: 10

Cook Time: 5

Servings: servings

Calories: 386

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Ingredients

1 pound chicken breasts
1 pound chicken thighs
1 medium onion chopped
12 ounce package frozen corn kernels
1 4 ounce can chopped green chiles
1 15.5 ounce can black beans rinsed and drained
1 15.5 ounce can dark red kidney beans rinsed and drained
1 8 ounce can tomato sauce
2 10 ounce cans diced tomatoes with chilies not drained
1 1.06 ounce packet McCormick Grill Mates Mesquite Marinade
2 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke
For serving: honey, sour cream, cilantro, and fresh lime

Instructions

In a slow cooker, stir together onion, corn, chiles, black beans, kidney beans, tomato sauce, tomatoes, spice packet, chili powder, cocoa powder, and liquid smoke. Nestle chicken down into mixture so that the chicken is covered.
Cook on low for 7-8 hours or on high for 5-6 hours. Then, remove chicken from pot and shred with two forks. Return shredded chicken to pot and stir well.
Before serving, drizzle honey over each bowl and stir. I use about 1/2 tbsp of honey per one cup of chili. Serve with sour cream, cilantro, and fresh lime juice if desired.