Spice Rubbed Salsa Chicken

Name: Spice Rubbed Salsa Chicken
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Mexican
Ingredients: 1 lb Thin Sliced Chicken Breasts (about 4); 16oz Mild Salsa; 1/2 Tsp Smoked Paprika; 1/2 Tsp Cumin; 1/2 Tsp Onion Powder; 1/2 Tsp Garlic Powder

November 2, 2016 by Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine 69 Comments

Spice Rubbed Salsa Chicken takes the typical chicken and salsa pairing up a few notches in an easy, gluten-free, allergy-free, and paleo way! A great dinner recipe to have on hand so you can whip up something tasty and healthy for the whole family on any weeknight!

You can do salsa chicken in the slow cooker, but why not bake it in 30 minutes instead? I’m pretty sure this baked recipe came about due to the fact that I was stuck with only some thin sliced chicken breasts. The grocery back home is either a hit or miss with good, on sale chicken breasts. Sometimes they have an amazing sale, sometimes I might as well buy a car, and sometimes they have none at all. This time…they had zero; they did have these thin sliced breasts, though!

If you’ve ever made chicken in the slow cooker, you know it shrinks to about half the size. If you’re going to cook chicken breasts in the slow cooker, they’d better be darn big! Otherwise, you’ll be left with a sad tiny piece for dinner…Yes, it’s the same “nutritionally as when it started, but let’s get real here! I want more than just a few bites for dinner! Now that I was stuck with these thin slices of chicken breasts, I was already down to “smaller” pieces. Putting them in the slow cooker would be pointless. They’d cook super fast anyway right in the oven! Less thickness to cook through!

So why not dry rub those babies with some spices, throw them in the iron, cover in salsa, and bake!? Not only do you get the killer flavor from the magical cast iron, but the spices fuse into the chicken and the salsa tastes even better when it’s warm and baked right in, keeping the chicken super moist! No need to fear the thin chicken breasts any longer! We can make them nice and yummy and not miss their bigger cousin!

I just realized something tragic. I have neither my cast iron or my slow cooker(s). This is bad! I’m been thinking about buying a small cast iron. The one I have at home is a nice big 10.25 inch. I want a small 6.25 inch one next! Not only for a single-serve dinner of one chicken breast but to make a skillet cookie and/or brownie too! Priorities, right? You can’t really beat $8 so this cast iron may just be my early Christmas gift to myself!

And a dutch baby! A gluten-free and vegan dutch baby! I’m not sure how I’ll pull that egg-filled dish off, but I do know I need the cast iron magic for it! Cast iron skillets never fail you. They basically guarantee a winning recipe (<—proof!). More proof that my dreams of a dutch baby will come is this recipe for thin sliced chicken breasts! No fail, my friends!

Spice Rubbed Salsa Chicken