Roy’s Light Crockpot Cream Cheese Chicken Chili

8 (1 1/2 cup) servings 0 Better Balance Bites/Blue Points

Calories 276 Fat 3.6g Carbs 30g Fiber 7.4g Protein 31.6g

Ingredients:

• Cooking spray

• 3 Tbsp ranch seasoning mix (or a 1 oz. packet)

• 1 Tbsp chili powder (see notes)

• 1 tsp ground cumin

• 1 tsp salt

• 1 tsp black pepper

• 1/2 tsp paprika, smoked preferred

• 1/4 tsp garlic powder

• 1/4 tsp onion powder

• 1/4 tsp dried oregano

• 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes, optional

• 1 1/2 lbs chicken breast (see notes)

• 1 medium onion, diced

• 15 oz. can corn, drained

• 15 oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed (see notes)

• 15 oz. can white beans, drained and rinsed

• 10 oz. can diced tomatoes & green chilies (Rotel-style), NOT drained (see notes)

• 1/2 cup chicken broth

• 8 oz. Roy’s Light Homemade Cream Cheese, room temperature (see notes)

Directions

1. Coat the crockpot with cooking spray or use a liner.

2. Mix together the ranch dressing and all of the spices from chili powder to the (optional) red pepper flakes. Sprinkle half the spice mix over the chicken breasts, reserving the other half.

3. Layer the ingredients in the crockpot in the following order (it IS okay to deviate, but I find this way works best): Diced onion, then seasoned chicken breasts, followed by the corn, beans, and tomatoes. Sprinkle the remaining seasoning mix over the veggies, the pour over the broth.

4. Cook on Low 5-6 hours or on High 2-3 hours, until the chicken is cooked and tender.

5. Turn off the crockpot and remove the chicken breast to a plate. Add the cream cheese to the crockpot and stir in until it is thoroughly integrated into the chili. Cover the crockpot to let the cream cheese warm through.

6. Now, shred the chicken (see notes), return it to the crockpot, and stir everything together.

7. Serve as you like. It makes a great topping for baked potatoes, pasta, or rice.

Notes

· You can replace the 8 spices and seasonings beneath the ranch dressing mix (9, if using the red pepper flakes) with a 1 oz. pkg of taco seasoning mix. You can also mix this blend together any time you need taco seasoning mix!

· You can alter the amount of chicken breast if you’d like. I settled on this amount because it was sufficient for the dish and gave me a way to calculate the calories and macros.

· Feel free to change up the beans to whatever you like or have on hand.

· Rotel tomatoes (and many store-brand versions) typically come in 10 oz cans and those are the calories and macros I used since that is most popular. Some store brands have 14.5 oz cans and those can also be used just as they are. It won’t have much more liquid than the smaller can, just more tomatoes and chilies.

· This recipe typically has the cream cheese added on top of the other ingredients, without stirring it in, before turning on the crockpot. That won’t work with my cream cheese. Because there is no fat, it will likely cook into a block and be difficult to incorporate or will curdle. If you use store-bought cream cheese (which will likely alter the nutrition facts) you may be able to add it in the typical way, though I haven’t done so.

· You want the cream cheese at room temperature so that there is less chance of it seizing up or curdling when it hits the hot liquid.