Chile Lime Crockpot Chicken and Vegetable Stew
Spend 5 minutes of prep time, then go about your day knowing this simple, delicious 4 ingredient crockpot chicken will be ready and waiting for you when you get home! Then boil up some yuca (because everything is better with yuca!) while chopping and sauteing your favorite vegetables. Then throw it all together into one pot. Within 30 minutes this perfectly healthy, mouthwatering stew is done! This is one of those recipes that makes it super easy and satisfying to eat well! It’s one of my go-to weeknight meals.
If you’re new to Crazy For Yuca, you may be wondering what exactly is yuca? And do I need to add it to this recipe?
When I first began my gluten and dairy-free journey, my functional medicine doctor gave me a list of foods that were acceptable to eat and yuca was on the list. I had no idea what it was so I just ignored it. Who would have thought that 6 years later I’d consider this root vegetable to be the savior of a gluten-free diet, and create an entire blog around it! Without yuca, I unknowingly deprived myself of many wonderful dishes that would have made being gluten-free a lot easier. While this dish is perfectly yummy without the yuca (although not as hearty) take a moment to discover all the amazingness that is yuca by clicking the links below. You’ll be happy you did!!!
Getting To Know Yuca (Cassava)
Yuca (Cassava) Nutrition Facts
Buying, Storing, Peeling, and Cooking Yuca (Cassava)
If you don’t have yuca on hand, this dish can be made with cooked rice, quinoa, or potato (for a non-Paleo version.) I recommend buying a bag or 2 of frozen yuca and keeping it in your freezer so you’re prepared for any exciting recipe that comes along on Crazy For Yuca! Yuca (also known as cassava) is typically found in the frozen Goya section at many larger supermarkets. Frozen yuca takes about the same amount of time to cook as rice or quinoa (15 minutes in boiling water.) Fresh yuca takes a bit longer to prepare, since it must first be peeled. See: How to Peel Fresh Yuca.
Ingredients for Chile Lime Crockpot Chicken: (Full Printable Recipe Below)
-whole, raw organic chicken
-juice of 1 large organic lemon (3 tablespoons)
-1 tablespoon Trader Joe’s Chile Lime Seasoning Blend
-1 teaspoon Himalayan sea salt
-1 cup filtered water
Ingredients for Vegetables:
-3/4 lb fresh or frozen yuca (Half a bag Goya Frozen Yuca or 1 medium fresh, peeled yuca cut into 3-4 pieces.) Note: If using fresh yuca it must be peeled before boiling. See: How to Peel Fresh Yuca for instructions if needed.
-1 organic leek – diced (green part only for low FODMAP) (Or onion if FODMAPS are not a concern.)
-1 organic red pepper – diced
-3 organic carrots – sliced
-1 organic zucchini – diced
-8 oz organic rainbow chard – leaves torn/stems finely diced (or other green leafy vegetable of choice)
-1 tablespoon avocado oil
Note: Any vegetables can be used in this recipe, so feel free to use what you have on hand. I often also throw in broccoli, spinach, collard greens, or kale. It all depends on what’s in my fridge that day!
Let’s make Chile Lime Crockpot Chicken!
The key to this amazingly delicious meal is Trader Joe’s Chile Lime Seasoning Blend!
Preparing the crockpot chicken (5 minutes):
Start with a whole, organic chicken. Remove skin, wash, and place in crockpot. (I remove skin to decrease the fat, since I use the broth created during cooking as the sauce for this Chile Lime Crockpot Chicken and Vegetable Stew.)
Add 1 tablespoon Trader Joe’s Chile Lime Seasoning Blend, 1 teaspoon Himalayan sea salt, the juice of a large organic lemon (about 3 tablespoons,) and 1 cup filtered water to crockpot. (Water not yet added in picture below.)
Cover and cook, either on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours, depending on your timing needs. That’s it! Go about your day knowing that your chicken will be ready when you need it in a few hours! (It’s fine if the chicken cooks longer on either of these settings. No need to rush home.)
Viola! Scrumptious, tender, juicy, fall-off-the-bone chicken, ready when you are!!!
(I apologize for the boo boo on the top chicken breast. My husband came by and pinched off a taste while the chicken was cooling without realizing I planned on making our dinner my next post!!! It really is hard to resist!)
Preparing the Vegetables for Chile Lime Crockpot Chicken and Vegetable Stew:
Once ready, uncover crockpot and allow chicken to cool enough to be comfortably handled during deboning.
While chicken is cooling, bring a large saucepan of water to a boil. Add peeled, cut, fresh yuca, or frozen yuca (which is already peeled and cut into pieces) and return to a boil. Cook for 15 minutes until fork tender. Ensure that yuca is fully covered by water throughout cooking.
While yuca is boiling, chop vegetables.
A common question is whether or not to eat the stalks of rainbow chard. The answer is YES! They are chock full of dietary fiber, vitamins A and K, are an excellent source of iron, and have lots of beneficial polyphenols! These are antioxidants that have shown promise in preventing cancer, heart disease, diabetes, osteoporosis, and degenerative neurological conditions (1).
To prepare rainbow chard for cooking, remove leaves from stems, tear leaves into pieces, and finely dice stems. The stems need to be cooked a bit longer than the leaves.
Heat a saucepan with avocado oil to medium heat. Add chopped leeks (or onions), carrots, red peppers, zucchini, and diced rainbow chard stems and saute for 3-5 minutes. 
Once yuca is fork tender, immediately drain water from boiled yuca and allow to cool for a few minutes. (If boiled yuca is kept in the water it will quickly become mushy.)
Once yuca is cool enough to handle (about 5 minutes,) cut each piece in half lengthwise to remove stick-like stem that runs through the center. Cut into cubes. 
Pour broth from crockpot chicken into saucepan with sauteed vegetables and bring to a simmer. Add yuca cubes and rainbow chard leaves to the pan. Cover and reduce heat to low.
Debone chicken. Add 2 cups of cooked chicken to the pot. Cover and heat for an additional few minutes. 
Serve.
Save the rest of your Chile Lime Crockpot Chicken for tomorrow’s lunch or dinner!!! It can be used for any dish that calls for cooked chicken (like my Zesty Chicken Salad Dijonnaise!) It shreds easily or can be cut into chunks. I make 2-3 crockpot chickens per week, so there’s always chicken on hand to throw together a quick lunch or dinner. (This prevents reliance on unhealthy, processed cold cuts and greatly decreases the time needed to prepare a meal!) For lunch, I toss it into a salad or chicken salad (using my Zesty Dijonnaise Dressing (low FODMAP)), or onto a Cassava Flour Tortilla Wrap, or eat it with steamed vegetables (which takes only 5-8 minutes.) Convenience is key when it comes to maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
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All it takes is 5 minutes of prep time in the morning, and this delicious, gluten and dairy-free chicken will be ready and waiting when you get home. Then boil up some yuca while chopping your favorite vegetables, and within 30 minutes this perfectly healthy, mouthwatering dinner is done! Who says eating well needs to be hard or time-consuming?
- 1 whole organic chicken
- 1 Tbsp Trader Joe's Chile Lime Seasoning Blend
- 1 tsp Himalayan sea salt
- 3 Tbsp lemon juice (juice from 1 large organic lemon)
- 1 cup filtered water
- 2 cups boiled yuca - cut into cubes. (About 3/4 pound fresh, peeled yuca, or half a bag of Goya Frozen Yuca)
- 1 organic leek - diced. Use only green part for Low FODMAP. (Onion can be used if FODMAPS are not a concern)
- 3 organic carrots - sliced
- 1 organic red pepper - diced
- 1 organic zucchini - diced
- 8 oz. Organic Rainbow Chard - leaves torn/stems finely diced. (Greens such as kale, spinach, and collard greens can be used.)
- 1 Tbsp avocado oil
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Start with a whole, organic chicken. Remove skin, wash, and place into crockpot.
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Add 1 tablespoon Trader Joe's Chile Lime Seasoning Blend, 1 teaspoon Himalayan sea salt, the juice of one organic lemon (3 tablespoons,) and 1 cup filtered water.
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Cover crockpot and cook either on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours.
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Once cooked, remove cover and allow to cool.
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Once cooled, debone.
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While chicken is cooling, bring a large saucepan of water to a boil. Add yuca, return to a boil, and cook for 15 minutes until fork tender. Ensure that yuca is fully covered by water throughout cooking.
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Meanwhile, chop leek (or onion), red pepper, carrots, and zucchini. Remove leaves from stems of rainbow chard. Tear leaves and finely dice stems.
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Heat a saucepan to medium heat. Add avocado oil, chopped leeks, carrots, red peppers, zucchini, and diced rainbow chard stems. Saute for 3-5 minutes.
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Once yuca is fork tender, immediately drain water and allow to cool for a few minutes.
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Once cool enough to handle, cut each piece of yuca in half to remove stick-like stem that runs through the center. Cut into cubes.
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Pour broth from crockpot into saucepan with sauteed vegetables, and bring to a simmer.
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Add yuca cubes, rainbow chard leaves, and 2 cups of cooked deboned chicken to pan. Cover and heat for a few additional minutes until chard is wilted.
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Serve.
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Comment below and let me know what you think of this dish!
Disclaimer– In Crazy for Yuca I write about my own personal health and diet journey. My experience and recipes are not to be considered expert advice or suggestive that anyone follow any particular diet protocol. Each person’s body and medical issues are individual and need to be evaluated by a medical professional. If you have any concerns due to your specific diagnoses, please consult your doctor before eating yuca.
