Healthy Green Chili Chicken Recipe

This Green Chili Chicken recipe is an easy meal prep recipe that can use used for several types of meals. It uses just a few ingredients – canned or jarred green chilies, green salsa, and chicken breasts – and can be made in just a few minutes. It’s our favorite way to prep for the week and the whole family loves this low carb chicken recipe.

When you’re wanting to make a delicious meal, pull it out of the fridge or freezer and heat it up on top of a salad, inside corn tortillas or flour tortillas, or add black beans and rice to make a bowl out of it.

Where’s the recipe?

The recipes here at My Crazy Good Life are written two ways–in the post below, you’ll find detailed cooking instructions that anyone can follow, ingredient and substitution information, recipe tips, and healthy eating plan information for specific diets. Scroll through that information before heading to the printable recipe for the best cooking experience.

If you scroll all the way down to the printable recipe, you’ll find to-the-point instructions along with the information about measurements and ingredients. Whichever method you choose to use, I hope you love this Green Chile Chicken as much as we do!

Ingredients in Green Chili Chicken

• chicken breasts
• green onions
• fresh cilantro
• diced green chiles: We like spicy, but you can also use mild green chiles for less spice. Hatch chiles are our favorite!
• tomatillo salsa Found by the jarred salsa in the Mexican food section of the grocery store.
• Shredded cheese (optional)

How to make Green Chili Chicken in the Instant Pot

This can be made in any electric pressure cooker.

1. Heat oil using the sauté mode in the Instant Pot. When the oil is hot, slightly sauté the green onions and cilantro.
2. Add the chicken to the Instant Pot and brown. Cover with the can of green chilies and tomatillo salsa. No additional liquid is needed for this recipe to come to pressure.
3. Close the lid and turn the pressure valve to Sealing. Cook on high pressure using the manual button for 15 minutes.
4. Let the pressure release naturally or do a quick release–whatever you have time for. Natural release is always good for chicken because it helps it stay tender.
5. Remove the lid and shred the chicken right in the pot. You can use a hand mixer for this, two forks, or stick it in the stand mixer to shred. If you’re going to eat this as a dip, you might want to put it in the food processor instead so it breaks into smaller pieces.
6. If you’ve chosen to add cheese to your chicken, add that now and mix it up.. The sauce will thicken a little as it cools.
7. Serve this chicken over a bed of lettuce. Garnish with tomatoes, olives, salsa, and plain Greek yogurt.See more serving ideas below.

How to make this in the Oven

1. Preheat oven to 350º.
2. Lightly coat a small baking dish with olive oil cooking spray.
3. Add chicken to the dish, and top with tomatillo salsa and green chilies.
4. Top with cheese (optional), diced green onion and cilantro.
5. Bake until chicken is heated through to 165º and cheese is melted, about 40 minutes.
6. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 5-10 minutes.
7. Shred chicken with a stand mixer or two forks.

How to make this in the Crockpot

1. Add the chicken to your slower cooker insert.
2. Cover with green chilis, tomatillo salsa, cilantro, and green onions.
3. Cover and let cook on high heat for 3-4 hour or low heat for 5-6 hours.
4. Shred the chicken with two forks or move to a stand mixer to shred. Add the cheese (optional) and mix it until it melts.
5. Serve over a bed of lettuce. Garnish with tomatoes, olives, and plain Greek yogurt.

Things you can make with this chicken recipe:

• Serve on top of tortilla chips
• Serve on top of a fresh salad
• Serve with tortilla chips or raw vegetables as a dip
• Serve baked inside of mini bell peppers
• Make a taco salad with crispy tortilla strips and veggies

Green Chili Chicken Enchiladas:

1. Roll the shredded chicken mixture into flour or corn tortillas and place in a baking dish.
2. Top with shredded cheese and leftover green chilis or green salsa, if you have it!
3. Bake at 350º for 15-20 minutes, until enchiladas are warm and cheese is melted.

Green Chili Chicken Tacos:

1. Add green chili chicken to taco shells or tortillas
2. Top with shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, sliced jalapeños, and shredded cheese.

Recipe tips

• Tomatillo salsa is similar to salsa verde or green chili salsa, and what is available across the country can vary greatly. Don’t stress too much about what you get, your chicken will be delicious!
• This recipe is a great freezer meal! If you make extra or want to freeze some, add it to an airtight container or freezer bags and freeze for up to 2 months.
• If you have pre-cooked rotisserie chicken to use with this recipe, pull it off the bone and heat it on low with the tomatillo salsa and deiced green chilis for about 30 minutes. The chicken will be seasoned and falling apart with flavor.
• Want to use chicken thighs? No problem! The cooking time will be the same for all three cooking methods. Make sure the internal temperature of the chicken is 165º before removing from heat.
• You can use fresh green chilies if you’d like! I typically use about 1/2 cup.
• If you struggle to find the green chiles or tomatillo salsa, go ahead and use green enchilada sauce.

Healthy Eating Plans

Portion Fix / 21 Day Fix:

• Entire recipe: 5 Red containers, 5 Green containers, 3 Blue Containers. I give you the container counts for the entire recipe so that if you change the ingredients, it’s easier for you to recalculate the containers.
• This recipe makes four servings (depending on how spot on your chicken measurements are), and each serving is about 3/4 cups. Each serving is 1 1/4 red container, 1 1/4 green container, and 3/4 blue container.

Weight Watchers: Each serving of this recipe counts as 0 Points on the 2023 Plan | 4 Blue Plan Points | 7 Green Plan Points | 4 Purple Plan Points when skipping the cheese.

I calculate my recipes based on the exact ingredients that I use, not the nutrition information. WW has said this is the most accurate way to count points.

Trim Healthy Mama:

This is a THM Crossover recipe.

5 from 3 ratings

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Healthy Green Chili Chicken

Created by: Becca Ludlum

Prep Time 5 minutes mins

Cook Time 22 minutes mins

Total Time 27 minutes mins

Servings 4

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This healthy Green Chili Chicken is perfect for meal prep! Makes enchiladas, tacos, burritos, and salads with just one recipe. Directions for making this recipe in the Instant Pot, Slow Cooker, and right on the stove!

Equipment

• Instant Pot 6 qt
• Crockpot
• Enameled Cast Iron Pan

Ingredients 

• ▢ 1 lb chicken breasts or thighs
• ▢ 4 green onions diced
• ▢ 2 tbsp cilantro chopped
• ▢ 1 can diced green chiles or fresh
• ▢ 2 cups green chili salsa or tomatillo salsa, or green chile salsa
• ▢ 1 cup cheddar cheese shredded

Instructions

Instant Pot Green Chile Chicken:

• Heat oil using the sauté mode in the Instant Pot. When the oil is hot, slightly sauté the green onions and cilantro.
• Add the chicken to the Instant Pot and brown. Cover with the can of green chilies and tomatillo salsa.
• Cook on high pressure using the manual button for 15 minutes.
• Let the pressure release naturally or do a quick release–whatever you have time for. Natural release is always good for chicken because it helps it stay tender.
• Remove the lid and shred the chicken right in the pot. You can use a hand mixer for this, two forks, or stick it in the stand mixer to shred. If you’re going to eat this as a dip, you might want to put it in the food processor instead so it breaks into smaller pieces.
• If you’ve chosen to add cheese to your chicken, add that now and mix it up.. The sauce will thicken a little as it cools.
• Serve as is, or refer to the full blog post for several serving ideas.

Oven Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350º.
• Lightly coat a small baking dish with olive oil cooking spray.
• Add chicken to the dish, and top with tomatillo salsa and green chilies.
• Top with cheese (optional), diced green onion and cilantro.
• Bake until chicken is heated through to 165º and cheese is melted, about 40 minutes.
• Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 5-10 minutes.
• Shred chicken with a stand mixer or two forks.

Slow Cooker Directions:

• Add the chicken to your slower cooker insert.
• Cover with green chilis, tomatillo salsa, cilantro, and green onions.
• Cover and let cook on high heat for 3-4 hour or low heat for 5-6 hours.
• Shred the chicken with two forks or move to a stand mixer to shred. Add the cheese (optional) and mix it until it melts.
• Serve as is, or refer to the blog post for serving ideas.

Video

Notes

Recipe tips:

• Tomatillo salsa is similar to salsa verde or green chili salsa, and what is available across the country can vary greatly. Don’t stress too much about what you get, your chicken will be delicious!
• This recipe is a great freezer meal! If you make extra or want to freeze some, add it to an airtight container or freezer bags and freeze for up to 2 months.
• If you have pre-cooked rotisserie chicken to use with this recipe, pull it off the bone and heat it on low with the tomatillo salsa and deiced green chilis for about 30 minutes. The chicken will be seasoned and falling apart with flavor.
• Want to use chicken thighs? No problem! The cooking time will be the same for all three cooking methods. Make sure the internal temperature of the chicken is 165º before removing from heat.
• You can use fresh green chilies if you’d like! I typically use about 1/2 cup.
• If you struggle to find the green chiles or tomatillo salsa, go ahead and use green enchilada sauce.

Healthy Eating Plans

Portion Fix/21 Day Fix:

• Entire recipe: 5 Red containers, 5 Green containers, 3 Blue Containers. I give you the container counts for the entire recipe so that if you change the ingredients, it’s easier for you to recalculate the containers.
• This recipe makes four servings (depending on how spot on your chicken measurements are), and each serving is about 3/4 cups. Each serving is 1 1/4 red container, 1 1/4 green container, and 3/4 blue container.

Weight Watchers: Each serving of this recipe counts as 0 Points on the 2023 Plan | 4 Blue Plan Points | 7 Green Plan Points | 4 Purple Plan Points when skipping the cheese.

I calculate my recipes based on the exact ingredients that I use, not the nutrition information. WW has said this is the most accurate way to count points.

Trim Healthy Mama:

This is a THM Crossover recipe.

Nutrition

Calories: 253kcal | Carbohydrates: 13g | Protein: 32g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 79mg | Sodium: 1129mg | Potassium: 895mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 10g | Vitamin A: 1052IU | Vitamin C: 18mg | Calcium: 164mg | Iron: 2mg

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