In 2021, recipe search trends were largely dominated by pop culture and celebrities, but among the TikTok pastas and Squid Game cookies was a useful and sensible query that I, for one, am glad was at the top of the list: Crockpot chicken. Drop that into a search box and you might find yourself completely overwhelmed with the results. My search returned 99.6 million options—that’s a lot of poultry, friends. Lucky for you, we developed a slow-cooker chicken recipe of our own that absolutely won’t steer you wrong. Our Slow-Cooker Salsa Chicken was our top-searched Crockpot chicken recipe of 2021 and, with just four ingredients and fifteen minutes of hands-on time, you can have this winner of a chicken dinner in the slow cooker and on its way to dominating suppertime.

How To Make the Best Crockpot Chicken

Slow-Cooker Salsa Chicken starts with boneless, skinless chicken thighs—a star in the slow-cooker and savior for the wallet. They’re seasoned with salt and pepper (we didn’t include these pantry staples or the garnishes in our ingredient count) before being topped with salsa and fresh oregano. Cook on HIGH for about two hours and you’ll be ready to shred. We like serving the chicken with rice (the fourth and final ingredient) to make a one-bowl meal ripe for customization, although it’s still mighty tasty on its own. Go for the gusto with guacamole, sour cream, cilantro, shredded pepper Jack cheese, lime wedges, and diced tomatoes. If you’re feeling spicy, pickled jalapeños are never a bad choice either. Make Slow-Cooker Salsa Chicken once and you’ll see why it clocks in as our top slow-cooker chicken recipe of 2021.

There were a few other trending recipe searches for 2021 that stood out to our Southern eyes, namely Baked Oatmeal, a most magical of make-ahead breakfast foods that is an absolute delight on chilly mornings. Bacon Jam was another big winner—and why not? There’s so much to love about a sweet and smoky condiment that tastes just as delicious whether it’s slathered on biscuits or burgers.

When it comes to side dishes, Google trends pointed toward potatoes, smashed ones, in fact. If you too are on the hunt for a starchy side, give our Smashed Baby Red Potatoes a try. They’re topped with a perfectly seasoned melted herb butter concoction that catapults the petite spuds into out-of-this-world status. We also call on a unique process of boiling the potatoes until tender before smashing and popping them into the oven to crisp up—it results in the perfect creamy and crunchy texture.

Lastly, you know there had to be something sweet to round out the top recipe search trends of the year, and in 2021 Hamantaschen took the cake. Our take on the Purim treat features a nut-and-honey filling with a fresh citrus twist thanks to a hefty dose of orange zest.

Whether your own top recipe search trends of 2021 skewed more coq au vin than Crockpot chicken, there’s always plenty to say for having a few tried-and-true weeknight favorites at the ready—all the better if they call on just four ingredients, don’t you say?