This month’s Crocktober recipe is a creamy, cheesy concoction with a slight kick, and it’s always a hit around my dinner table during the fall. With simple ingredients and a long cook time, it’s perfect for busy parents that want to pull together a great meal in the morning and have it prepared by the time the kiddos are ready to chow down after school. Plus, as an added bonus, it’s fairly low carb—unless you want to add bread or tortilla chips, for some epic dipping action!

Zesty Chicken Soup

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts (usually 3 breasts)
• 2 (10-oz) cans diced tomatoes with green chiles
• 2 (8-oz) packages cream cheese
• 1 (1-oz) package ranch seasoning/salad dressing mix
• 3 tbsp Southwest Chipotle seasoning (4-5 tbsp if you want an extra kick)
• 4 cups low sodium chicken broth
• ½ cup of Sargento thick shredded 4 Cheese Mexican Blend
• Dash of ground pepper
• Dash of cayenne pepper
• Cilantro

Directions:

1. Start by spraying the inside of your slow cooker with a thin layer of nonstick cooking spray to make clean-up easier, especially around the rim area where things tend to get crusty.
2. Dump all of your ingredients into your slow cooker (except for the ½ cup of shredded cheese), place the lid on top, and crank it to low for 8 hours or 6 hours on high.
3. At about the 7-hour mark use a couple of forks to shred the chicken up, and use a whisk to blend the soup, removing any chunks from the cream cheese.
4. Replace the lid and keep cooking.
5. 10 minutes before serving dump in the ½ cup of shredded cheese and stir.
6. Serve in a nice bowl with an additional pile of cheese on top; add cilantro garnish to fancy it up. Pair with optional bread or tortilla chips for dipping.