Adapted from Juli at PaleOMG, who is a genius at creating dairy-free recipes
This is a good Sunday afternoon recipe. Shove everything in a slow cooker, give it a stir, and walk away for several hours. Maybe do laundry, since there’s literally always a load of laundry to do.
What You Need:
1 1/2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken thighs
2 small-to-medium sweet potatoes, cut into small bite-sized chunks
2 carrots, peeled and diced
2 stalks of celery, diced
1 medium-sized yellow or sweet onion, diced. (Bigger than a tennis ball, smaller than a regulation-sized softball.)
3 garlic cloves, minced (or, as usual, use the jar)
2 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. smoked paprika
1 tsp. salt
1 can of diced tomatoes, undrained (the 14.5 oz can. Standard can.)
1 small can diced green chilis (they come in mild *and* hot, so you can choose your own adventure)
1/2 c. buffalo sauce — here are some options from mild to medium to hot to traditional. (Just check the ingredients–the Frank’s traditional sauce doesn’t have dairy, but some of the other Frank’s products do, and I avoid dairy like I owe it money, so I double-check every dang label.)
Optional: 1-2 habanero peppers, which I expect nobody reading this to add, but I’m sticking it here because that’s how I’m making mine and I have no regrets.
What You Need for the Garnish:
Green onions, sliced
Cilantro
What You Need to Do:
After your veggies are diced and your cans are opened, dump everything into your slow cooker.
Give it a stir with a spoon, or, heck, smoooosh your (clean, preferably) hands in there and moosh everything around.
The smoosh and moosh method is a personal favorite, and I suggest you try it at least once in your life.
Stick the lid on your slow cooker and let it go on low for about 3-4 hours. Then shred your chicken and serve with some sliced green onions and cilantro.
*A note: My chicken thighs are always fully cooked around 3 hours on low. I realize there are people out there who feel chicken will not possibly be cooked through in that time, and their soul is telling them to leave it on for 6 hours. That’s fine. Do you. You may or may not have dried out chicken, or your slow cooker might be trash and actually need that long.
**A second note: This is also great to prep in the evening and throw in the slow cooker before you leave for work–if you have a programmable slow cooker that switches to Warm after the cooking time is up. If not, I wouldn’t risk it because you will ABSOLUTELY have dried out chicken if you leave this on for 9-15 hours, depending on your workday.
How Long is This Going to Take Me?
10-30 minutes to dice veggies and open cans, depending on your dicing speed and ability to find the can opener. 3-??? hours in the slow cooker, depending on what your soul is telling you.
Is This Even Healthy?
Yes. This recipe serves 4, and each serving should have about 400 calories.
Cas Marburger 