Paleo Mango Coconut Chipotle Chicken

Sweet, Spicy, and Wicked Easy…

Sometimes we like to do somewhat fancy things in the slow cooker, such as meatloafs and stuffed peppers. Most times we like to cook things that are stupid easy to make with hardly any prep time. This is one of those recipes. Four ingredients, and you only have to cut two of them. This is the type of recipe you prep at the last minute in the morning, and come home to after work feeling like a genius.

What you need:

  • 1 pound of chicken (breasts or thighs).
  • 1 can of coconut milk (we use TJ’s light coconut milk)
  • 1 large softball sized mango or 2 small mangos. Look for one that is not quite ripe yet, nice and firm.
  • 1 tablespoon of dried chipotle flakes.

How you make it:

  1. Dump your can of coconut milk into your slow cooker.
  2. Peel your mango and cut it into large and medium cubes.
  3. Throw your mango cubes along with the mango’s pit into your slow cooker. The meat on the pit will add flavor.
  4. Cut your chicken into cubes as well. Dump them into your cooker.
  5. Add your chipotle flakes and stir well.
  6. Cook on high for 3 hours or on low for 5 to 6 hours.

This recipe is a great blend of sweet and spicy. It will be sweet with the mango, so it’s your call if you want to add extra chipotle flakes to balance things out. We love the heat, so we added slightly more flakes at the end. Dried chipotle flakes aren’t easy to find at your common grocer, yet they are a great thing to have on hand in your kitchen. Just remember to toss your mango “bone” out when you serve. This one works very well on top of “riced” cauliflower and garnished with lime. Enjoy!

35 Comments

  1. Paleo Suz says:

    Big fan of the slow cooker – interested to try this one, I love mango!

  2. tara says:

    How many ml of coconut milk?

    1. Jason says:

      About 350 ml.

  3. Kelli says:

    I absolutely adore this recipe. I have turned it into a base by skipping the chipotle flakes. It is so versatile, I have gone Indian with it by adding Curry powder and additional veggies. Or Mexican with diced tomatoes, cilantro, onion, ect. Yum, so yeah I seem to be making it once a week. 😀

    1. Donna says:

      I make a similar version of this with beef pot roast or chicken. I use about two tablespoons canned chipotles in adobo sauce (dice the chiles before adding!)and add sliced onion as well as bell peppers. I have made this with chicken breasts (bone in) thighs, boneless chicken. I prefer bone in meats as they lend a deeper flavor and you are getting the added benefit of bone marrow (USE FREE ROAMING/ORGANIC ONLY!)and simmer longer for more added health benefit. I have used both frozen and fresh mango. I have also turned it into a Thai dish by adding yellow, green or red curry paste from the tub (Asian market, lemon grass, lime kifer leaves, lime juice etc. or whatever I have on hand at the time. Very versatile recipe base!

  4. Johnathan K says:

    Used Tony Sacheres instead of the chipotle flakes when I made this, still had a good battle of sweet vs spicy

  5. Lana says:

    This dish is perfect! I used Siracha instead of chipotle flakes, and it turned out fabulous. It’s perfect for busy people on a grad-student budget 🙂 I will be making this again, thank you!

  6. DeAnne says:

    Can you use chipotle powder instead of flakes? How much?

  7. Beth says:

    Could I request that you list the amounts of all your recipes? Like instead of just saying a can, could you say a cup, or milliliters?

    Thanks!!

  8. Kathleen says:

    Has anyone tried substituting the mango with pineapple? Might be good as a pina colada-type chicken. But I haven’t tried cooking pineapple for long periods so I don’t know how it would hold up.

    1. Dixon05 says:

      I was just thinking “ohh pineapple instead” No mangos in my next of the woods for a bit, so I will be doing pineapple tonight! I’ll report back on how it goes 🙂

      1. Keshia says:

        I tried with pineapple in the crockpot and it didn’t do anything flavor wise…hmmm. I loved topping the dish with fresh mango though!

  9. sophie says:

    I used regular dried chili flakes and it’s amazing. This is a favourite.

  10. Scilla says:

    MMMMMANGO!!! one question tho. . . how much red pepper flakes should I sub for the chipotle? I dont want it to be too spicy & I dont have chipotle seasoning

    1. Jason says:

      Depends on your love for the spicy, but I’d keep it about the same amount. Nine out of ten people seem to love this recipe, yet with that one in ten coming away with a poor result. I blame the random nasty mango as this is one of my favorite easy meals!

  11. Emily says:

    I made it once and it didn’t look like the photo. Maybe mine was overcooked – I did the low setting. Regardless, it was okay. Not sure if it’s worth trying again.

  12. Rachel says:

    How do I figure out how many servings this is (I have a family of 5) and calories per serving??? I’m a newbie to paleo and this site 🙂 thanks!

    1. Jason says:

      I would guesstimate this recipe to be about 6 servings. Should feed your family fine (depending on age of your kids) and perhaps yield some leftovers. Thanks for taking the time to comment and I hope you enjoy the clean and easy way of eating. Your body will thank you. I’ll consider putting up some nutrition info in the future!

  13. Mary says:

    Does chicken need to be cooked at all before putting in slow cooker?

    1. Jason says:

      Nope, just cut the chicken and mango, dump it in, and come home to dinner.

  14. JenniK says:

    Holy coconut this was amazing! I added a bunch of stuff and made it into a red curry soup. I used all the ingredients listed (substituted red pepper flaked for the chipotle) added an extra can of coconut milk, bok choy, mushrooms, shredded carrots, one onion chopped and about 2 1/2 tbsp of red curry paste and salt. Also, I used frozen mango chunks and it was perfectly fine.

    Next time I would love to add ginger and lemongrass to make it more tom kah gai tasting, but this was delicious as is!

    Enjoy!

    1. Alisha says:

      JenniK – you are my new best friend. LOL! I love Thai food and all the extra ingredients you mentioned I will be using!!

      Jason – you ARE my best friend! LOL! You have saved me so much time and such delicious recipes. THANK YOU!!

    2. Christine says:

      thanks for the advice! I thought this recipe looked like a good base but I wasn’t sure what to add to it to give it some extra oomph, thanks for the tip!

  15. Nate L says:

    by the time you’ve cut up the chicken and mango you’ve already done the heavy lifting, i figure you might as well just throw it all in a piping hot wok with a some fresh ginger and a few kaffir lime leaves and you’ve got a decent thai-style curry in fifteen or twenty minutes.

  16. Megan says:

    I made this for the family last night—WOW!!! Everyone loved it, especially my hubby! Will be making it again :))

  17. Scott says:

    Looks awesome but do you have to cook the chicken before ….?
    Thank you

    1. Jason says:

      No need to pre-cook the chicken, just dump and go.

  18. jrome says:

    just made it. a little disappointed. wish it was a little sweeter and had more kick. Next time gonna try fresh pineapple.

  19. Tura says:

    Thank you for this recipe…it’s easy and tastes great! I doubled the recipe, added an extra mango, and an extra tablespoon of chipotle flakes. It’s really good over cauliflower rice and makes great leftovers.

    1. Jason says:

      Thanks for taking the time to say you enjoyed it!

  20. Mary says:

    I’ve just discovered this site and am excited to try this recipe and many others. Is it possible to add an option to print the recipes? I usually reserve the printing until after I try the recipe and if it rocks, I print. If not I save ink and paper.

  21. Angela L says:

    So, the recipe says “This is the type of recipe you prep at the last minute in the morning, and come home to after work feeling like a genius,” and then it says cook on “low for 5 to 6 hours.” On the days I work, I’m out of the house for close to 9 hours. How can I make this work?

    1. Kiki says:

      I have set a plug in light-timer with the slow cooker, works a treat

  22. Marla says:

    This was really easy and yummy! Thank you!

Comments are closed.