For The Simplest Chicken Seasoning, All You Need Is A Jar Of Salsa

Cooking the perfect juicy chicken is one of the greatest feats of the culinary world — it requires just the right amount of moisture and seasoning to bring it all together. Accomplishing this can be a difficult balance of dry seasoning and tender meat unless you use this kitchen hack: By utilizing a jar of salsa.

That's right, ditch the spice cabinet and simply season your chicken with a jar of salsa of your choosing. Salsa comes packed with flavor and in many varieties to satisfy a hungry stomach, meaning you don't have to wrestle with a ton of ingredients to find the right taste. The liquid aspect of salsa also makes it an ideal guard against dry chicken. Not to mention you can apply the salsa to different cooking methods so your chicken will be seasoned regardless of whether you're using a baking dish in the oven or a skillet on the stove. Skip the hassle and make salsa your new one-stop shop for deliciously seasoned chicken.

When you cook chicken with salsa as your seasoning, the meat will naturally absorb the flavors and moisture of the sauce on its surface, especially in a slow-cook style. When marinating chicken, the flavors adhere best when the meat is raw, which is why you add salsa to the recipe very early on. You always need to pre-sear your slow cooker chicken for extra taste, and most salsa chicken recipes call for browning the meat before covering it in sauce. The salsa will stick to the browned surface of the meat, adding flavor before you slow-cook the meat the rest of the way. Note that you can also try using shredded chicken so the salsa is more integrated.

The salsa does most of the work in this recipe, which is what makes the meal so easy, as well as customizable. You can opt for all manner of salsa flavors — like a bright mango salsa, classic spicy chile salsa, or a fresh roasted garden salsa — and experiment with how strongly they season the chicken. There are plenty of in-store options, ranging from mild to flaming hot, which are also easy to buy in bulk for large batches. You can also make the salsa even more your own by adding more of your favorite spices, such as cumin or taco seasoning, or cinnamon for a sweeter kick.

There are as many directions to go in with this recipe as there are salsa jars, meaning you can experiment or stick to classic flavor pairings. A classic recipe in this genre is slow cooker chicken salsa verde, whose tender meat is certainly worth the wait. Salsa verde is famously tart, herby, and fresh, which makes it the perfect complement to a tender chicken breast. You can either leave the breast whole or shred it in the slow cooker for easy serving or use in other recipes like chicken enchiladas. 

We still want you to make this simple chicken seasoning trick your own, and one of the best ways to do so is by making your own salsa. By having full control over your ingredients and their proportions, you're saved from a jar that isn't quite your style. Of course, you'll want to avoid salsa mistakes everyone makes — like picking the wrong tomatoes, not using fresh herbs, or adding too much water — but otherwise, homemade salsa can be simple, too. So, on those days when you don't have time to prep a bunch of ingredients, open a jar of salsa, pour it over your chicken breasts, and thank us later.