Why heat up the kitchen when you can stay cool with these Coconut Lime Chicken Bowls made in the slow cooker! Fix & forget while beating the heat!
We’re finally getting some hot temperatures here in the Northeast, which means turning on the oven for dinner is a no-no. So when I heard this month’s theme for The Recipe Redux was how to beat the heat with the slow cooker, I was excited! July is the perfect month to break out the slow cooker again because you can fix & forget and keep the kitchen cool at the same time!
We often associate slow cooker meals with the winter months because they tend to be hearty, warm meals. When I was brainstorming ideas for this challenge, it was just that – a challenge! But I was determined to combine summery flavors with the convenience of the slow cooker, yet keep the meal on the lighter side. I don’t know about you, but in the summer time I want lighter foods like salads & all those yummy side dishes at family picnics, as opposed to a heavy stew.
My go-to slow cooker protein is always chicken (it’s just my go-to protein in general) because I love how tender it gets & serving it shredded. I decided to add some rice to the mix to make the meal a little more substantial. I’ve been wanting to try coconut & lime flavors with chicken, so I decided this would be the perfect summer slow cooker meal!
By cooking the chicken in the coconut milk, it makes the chicken even more tender & really enhances the flavor of the chicken. The sweet-sour flavor from the pineapple juice & lime adds to the creaminess of the chicken & really creates a tropical taste, too! This meal really couldn’t be packed with more summer flavor or simpler to make. I stuck it in the crockpot at lunchtime & didn’t have to do a thing until just before we were ready to eat! That’s my kind of summer meal 🙂
By cooking the chicken in the coconut milk, it makes the chicken even more tender & really enhances the flavor of the chicken. The sweet-sour flavor from the pineapple juice & lime adds to the creaminess of the chicken & really creates a tropical taste, too! This meal really couldn’t be packed with more summer flavor or simpler to make. I stuck it in the crockpot at lunchtime & didn’t have to do a thing until just before we were ready to eat! That’s my kind of summer meal 🙂
I made this for my family when I was visiting them last week & they all really loved it! It was something different than our typical summertime dinner on the grill & was so easy to make. Make these chicken bowls so you can soak up all the fun, summer days without having to worry about dinner & heating up the already toasty kitchen! Don’t forget to click the link at the bottom of the post & check out all the other bloggers’ beat the heat recipes 🙂
Coconut Lime Chicken Bowls
Ingredients:
- 1.5 lbs chicken breasts
- 1 (13.5 oz) can light coconut milk
- ½ cup pineapple juice
- 1 lime, juiced +1 extra lime for serving
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- ¼ tsp ground ginger
- ¼ tsp cayenne pepper
- 2 cups instant brown rice
- Cilantro
Directions:
- Place chicken in crockpot.
- Pour coconut milk, pineapple & lime juice, & spices on top. Cook on low for 6-8 hours until thoroughly cooked.
- Add rice to the crockpot in the last 30 minutes.
- Shred chicken & mix with rice.
- Place in bowls, top with cilantro & a squeeze of lime juice.
Makes 6-8 servings
