This Slow Cooker Southwestern Cheesy Chicken is a change on pasta in a fun way! The pasta has great flavor and texture, you’ll want to make this on pasta night every week!
Make pasta night easy with this shell pasta dish or try my Cajun Chicken Fettuccine.
This Slow Cooker Southwestern Cheesy Chicken Pasta is a must save recipe. Just a few simple ingredients are thrown in the slow cooker in the morning, when ready to serve dinner, shred the chicken, and add cooked pasta, cheese, and sour cream.
How to make Southwestern Cheesy Chicken Pasta:
- Add Rotel, Mexicorn, olives, chili powder, oregano, cumin and salt and pepper to the slow cooker. Stir.
- Add chicken breasts to that mixture.
- After the slow cooker cooking time is up, cook a package of pasta on the stove top according to the package directions. Drain.
- Shred the chicken in the slow cooker with 2 forks.
- Add the drained pasta to the chicken and sauce.
- Stir in cheese and sour cream.
This is the pasta I used for the recipe. Though the makers of this imported pasta would cringe about my dump and go southwestern recipe I used their pasta with, I really loved the texture of it, it’s a little thicker than normal pasta so you really can sink your teeth into it. I bought this pasta at Fred Meyer (same as Kroger).
How can I make this less spicy?
- Use Mild Rotel if you can find it.
- If you can’t find mild Rotel, use 2 small jars of mild salsa.
How to serve this:
- Top with green onion and additional cheese if desired.
- Serve a green salad and dressing along with this.
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Slow Cooker Southwestern Cheesy Chicken Pasta
Equipment Needed:
- Slow Cooker- 6 quart or larger
Ingredients:
- 20 oz. Ro-tel (2 cans)
- 11 oz. can Mexicorn (or a can of southwestern corn mix), drained
- 3.8 oz. can olives, drained
- 1 tsp. chili powder
- ½ tsp. oregano
- ½ tsp. salt
- ¼ tsp. pepper
- ¼ tsp. cumin
- 2 lbs. boneless skin-less chicken breasts
- 2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
- 16 oz. sour cream
- 1 lb. medium-sized shell pasta, cooked according to package directions, drained
For Serving
- Additional shredded cheese
- Sliced green onions
Instructions:
- Add the Rotel, Mexicorn, olives, chili powder, oregano, salt, pepper and cumin to a 6-quart slow cooker, stir. Add the chicken into this mixture.
- Cover and cook on LOW for 8 hours.
- Shred the chicken with 2 forks right in the slow cooker.
- Stir in the cheese and sour cream, then stir in the cooked and drained pasta.
- Serve each serving with a sprinkle of more cheese, and then a sprinkle of green onion.
- Enjoy!
How to Video:
Recipe Notes:
- Use Mild Rotel if you can find it.
- If you can’t find mild Rotel, use 2 small jars of mild salsa.
Rotel is a brand name like delmonte and it is frustrating when it is used in place of Mexican tomatoes. I have found some stores don’t carry the rotel brand so it would be much better to just say Mexican tomatoes.
https://www.ro-tel.com/products
Have you ever made it in an instant pot? If so, can you share the cooking times? Water needed? THX!
We made this for dinner tonight and it is. PHENOMENAL!!
Thanks for coming back and commenting how you liked it, great to hear.
Can I cook it for 4 hours on high?
Yes, should br fine.
Can this be made without the sour cream?? not a fan of creamy!!
My mom often said she was kept just as busy with life tasks after retirement and had no idea how she had gotten everything done while working full time . One of lifes mysteries she never solved.
Love your recipes, please keep posting! I save them and eventually try almost all of them! Thanks so much! ♀️
Does chicken need to be cooked before putting in crockpot?
Nope! I do make sure the chicken is thawed though.
This sounds lovely. Going to give this a go. thanks for sharing this recipe.
Simon
I love the flavors in this pasta! Wishing I had some for dinner tonight!
Oh, now this is right up my alley! Definitely adding this to my weekly meal plan soon. 🙂
Sounds like perfect comfort food to me and I love the sauce it makes
You had me at Southwestern. Then, you had me at cheesy. Then, you bowled me over with pasta. Looks great.
Has anyone actually made this recipe? So far all I have read were comments on how good the pictures look.
I made it tonight & it was awesome! Be sure you drain the mexicorn & pasta well though because mine was a little soupy.
Well glad to hear you are doing the blogging full time – that alone is time consuming. This is a great weeknight meal!
This one I definitely have to make, the flavors are right up my alley! Looks yummy too!
I meant is Rotel refried beans?
Hi Kim! Rotel is a spiced diced tomato mix. You can find it on the canned tomato aisle. 🙂
No it’s diced tomatoes in a can with alil kick to it
Sounds even better than it looks! I am always trying to find something new to do with chicken! Thank you!
Oh boy does that look good!! Sounds like a delicious meal. xo, Catherine
This looks super good, Sarah! I think you would make the pasta company proud with this recipe! Sooo glad you are enjoying your stay at home mommy duties as well as blogging in your pj’s 🙂 Haha! I would be!