Today’s guest post is from Mandy at Mandy’s Recipe Box. She’s sharing a crock pot recipe that can be frozen for a great make-ahead meal!
I am so happy to be here on Jane’s amazing site. I love everything she shares with us. I jumped at the chance to do a guest post for her. My name is Mandy and I am a wife to my best friend of 11 years, Lance and a stay home momma to 3 cutie pies- Hannah (8), Preston (6) and Emma (3). I started blogging when I saw a friend’s blog and thought how fun it would be to share the recipes that I love. A bonus is all the friends I have made along the way. I am sharing a great make ahead meal today. I hope you enjoy it and please come visit me and say “hello” on Mandy’s Recipe Box.
Cafe Rio Chicken
- 2 lbs chicken breasts
- 1/2 a small bottle of zesty italian dressing
- 1/2 Tbsp. minced garlic
- 1 pkt ranch dressing mix (mixed with 1/2 cup of water)
- 1/2 Tbsp. chili powder
- 1/2 Tbsp. ground cumin
Place all ingredients in a crock pot. Cook on High 5-6 hours OR on Low 8 hours. Shred with fork and serve in salads, burritos, tacos…etc. You can also double or triple this to make extras for freezing. Then simply thaw and reheat for a lickity split meal.
Thanks for sharing your recipe, Mandy! Visit Mandy at Mandy’s Recipe Box and follow her on Facebook!
I love that Mandy! Hers was one of the first blogs I started following…along with yours too Jane. This sounds great – thanks to both of you for sharing.
We cooked it for dinner last night. We used chicken fillet instead and it turned out fantastic! Thanks for the recipe!
How many is this supposed to serve?
Sounds yummy. I only need to feed 2 so I’m thinking as is it could be multiple meals.
Hi Dean,
I think there’s 4-5 chicken breasts in a 2 lb. package, so you’ll definitely get a couple of meals out of this for the two of you!
I made this tonight. It tasted good on it’s own but I didn’t plan far enough to decide what would go with it. I ended up making chicken nachos and they were fabulous. This is my new chicken taco recipe. Thanks!
Glad you liked it, Suzanne! :)
I am going to have to try this. I am more of a fan of their chicken than their pork – I know! I know! I am in the minority, but I love the chicken.
I love the chicken too. I don’t do well with sweet pork. Bring on the Cafe Rio chicken!
Is there a lot of liquid when you are done cooking this in the crockpot? I am making right now but your picture does not show a lot of liquid? Just scoop out the chicken and discard the liquid? Hope I did not do something wrong…..:) Thanks!
Hi Natalie,
This was a guest post from Mandy at Mandy’s Recipe Box. I have a link to her blog (above) if you want to contact her about this recipe.
So I want to make this. . .but what’s a “small bottle”? I was only able to get 16 oz. What’s “1 packet”? My store had three different sizes, .4 oz, 3/4 oz and 1 oz. I looked at Mandy’s blog, then linked to the blog she got it from, and it all says the same. What did you use?
Hi Amy,
Contact Mandy on her site. I’m sure she’s be happy to help you. I haven’t tried this recipe yet.
I loved this chicken. I too am not a fan of the pork at Cafe Rio, but love the chicken. I added this chicken with some homemade black beans, some cilantro lime rice, and some copycat cilantro ranch dressing. My whole family said my salad was just as tasty if not better than the real deal:) Thanks for sharing!!!
I am going to try this,this week!! Always looking for something new for dinner!! Thanks
I made this yesterday. A little too strong on Italian dressing taste. I would reduce to 1/4 cup at most. Half a small bottle of Italian dressing was too much.
This was a great success! My (very picky) husband said “put this at the top of the list”! So easy!! After it was finished, I put it in tortillas for burritos and put them in the oven with some cheese inside for about 10 minutes, then added sour cream and salsa on top when it was out of the oven! GREAT RECIPE THANKS!!