Crockpot Chicken Goulash

Stir-stir the sauce. Nest-nest the chicken breasts. Mix-mix a package of frozen vegetables. Ding!Ding! Dinner's ready! This just might be the simplest, easiest dinner recipe here on Kitchen Parade. Slow cooker fans, here's your next new chicken breast recipe, a one-pot meal for busy days.

Real Food, Fresh & Flexible. Budget-Friendly, Just Eight Ingredients. Weeknight Easy. Weight Watchers Friendly. Naturally Gluten Free. High Protein.

~ Skip Straight to the Recipe ~

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"Out here where we make our living on a farm we won't let die, work days last as long as I do."

– Dana Wildsmith, poet

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Don't Worry, Supper's in the Slow Cooker

For gardeners here in Zone 6, flower beds and vegetable plots cry out for early-spring attention.

In a good year, the fall clean-up got done before December’s snow. If not, well, so be it, it and the spring work can be done together.

Soon there’ll be no keeping up with the new grass, just as already it’s impossible to keep up with gumballs that collect in thorny carpets along the edge of driveway.

It’s too early to plant though thankfully, for gardeners whose fingers long for dirt, not too early to transplant perennials bursting sunward.

But hey, enough talk – the garden calls! But don’t worry, supper’ll be ready by dark: it’s in the slow cooker.

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QUICK SUPPER: CROCKPOT CHICKEN GOULASH

Hands-on time: 10 minutes to start, 5 minutes an hour before serving
Cooking time: 5 hours on Low
Serves 4

• 1-1/2 cups (12 ounces) mild salsa
• 1/4 cup (64g) peanut butter
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
• 1 pound (450g) boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs, in four pieces

• 1 red pepper, chopped
• 1 pound (450g) frozen vegetables, thawed
• 1/2 cup (3oz/85g) elbow macaroni

Stir together the salsa, peanut butter, soy sauce and lime juice in a slow cooker. Nestle the chicken pieces into the salsa mixture, covering completely.

Cook on Low for about 4 hours.

An hour before serving, use tongs to remove the chicken for a minute, leaving the sauce on top. Stir the pepper, thawed vegetables and macaroni into the salsa mixture, then nestle the chicken back in, be sure there's still sauce on top.

Cook for another hour or until the vegetables and macaroni are cooked.

Serve and enjoy! We like it with white rice.

ALANNA's TIPS Let the vegetables thaw during the first four hours that the chicken cooks. But if you forget? Just put the bag into the microwave for a couple of minutes to take the chill off the vegetables. For vegetables, I especially like to use a stir-fry mix with its variety of vegetables, colors, etc. Plus the pieces are already bite-size. Slow cooker temperatures vary widely. Until certain about the settings on yours, use it only when you can check on the cooking progress every once in awhile. The USDA website offers food-safety tips for slow cookers (or visit www.usda.gov, search on slow cookers). Because of the differences, the first time you make this, check to make sure the chicken is completely cooked. That's when the juices run clear or better still, when the internal temperature reaches 165F/75C degrees.

NUTRITION INFORMATION Per Serving: 370 Calories; 9g Tot Fat; 1g Sat Fat; 65mg Cholesterol; 883mg Sodium; 34g Carb; 7g Fiber; 5g Sugar; 37g Protein. WEIGHT WATCHERS Old Points 7 & PointsPlus 9 & SmartPoints 9 & Freestyle 6 & myWW green 6 & blue 6 & purple 6

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More Slow Cooker Favorites

(hover with a mouse for a description; otherwise click a photo to view the recipe)

~ slow cooker recipes ~
from Kitchen Parade

~ Slow Cooker Vegetarian Lentil Sloppy Joes ~
~ Vegetable Chili with Sweet Potatoes & Chipotle ~
~ Sweet Potato Curry with Red Lentils, Roasted Peppers & Spinach ~
~ more slow cooker recipes ~
from A Veggie Venture

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Shop Your Pantry First

(helping home cooks save money on groceries)

~ tomato salsa ~
~ peanut butter ~
~ limes ~
~ bell pepper ~
~ pasta recipes ~

~ All Recipes, By Ingredient ~
~ How to Save Money on Groceries ~

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Kitchen Parade is written by second-generation food columnist Alanna Kellogg and features fresh, seasonal dishes for every-day healthful eating and occasional indulgences. Quick Suppers are Kitchen Parade favorites and feature recipes easy on the budget, the clock, the waistline and the dishwasher. Do you have a favorite recipe that other Kitchen Parade readers might like? Just send me a quick e-mail via recipes@kitchen-parade.com. How to print a Kitchen Parade recipe. Never miss a recipe! If you like this recipe, sign up for a free e-mail subscription. If you like Kitchen Parade, you're sure to like my food blog about vegetable recipes, too, A Veggie Venture. If you make this recipe, I'd love to know your results! Just leave a comment below.

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