Description
Chicken breasts slow cooked in salsa and taco seasoning until they shred with a fork. Five minutes of prep, then fill your tortillas and add your favorite toppings.
Ingredients
Scale
- 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 1 packet (1 ounce) taco seasoning, or 3 tablespoons homemade (see notes)
- 1 jar (16 ounces) salsa
- Juice of 1 lime (optional)
- 12 small flour or corn tortillas, to serve
- Diced white onion, chopped cilantro, sliced avocado, shredded cheese, sour cream and lime wedges, to serve
Instructions
- Lay the chicken breasts in the slow cooker and sprinkle the taco seasoning over both sides.
- Pour the salsa over the chicken.
- Cover and cook on LOW for 4 to 6 hours or HIGH for 2 to 3 hours, until the chicken reaches 165F and pulls apart easily.
- Shred the chicken in the pot with two forks and stir it into the sauce. Stir in the lime juice, if using.
- Cover and leave on WARM for 10 minutes so the chicken soaks up the sauce. If the sauce is thin, leave the lid off on HIGH for those 10 minutes instead.
- Warm the tortillas and fill them with the chicken, using a slotted spoon. Add your toppings and serve.
Notes
- Homemade taco seasoning (about 3 tablespoons): 1 tablespoon chili powder, 1 and 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin, 1 teaspoon paprika, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder, 1/2 teaspoon onion powder, 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper.
- Salsa verde: swap the red salsa for a 16 ounce jar of salsa verde.
- Creamy version: stir 4 ounces of cubed cream cheese into the shredded chicken and let it melt for 5 minutes.
- No salsa: use one 10 ounce can of diced tomatoes with green chiles plus 1/2 cup of chicken broth.
- Chicken thighs: use 2 pounds of boneless, skinless thighs and cook on LOW for 5 to 6 hours, to 165F.
- Taco bowls: serve the chicken over rice with black beans, corn, lettuce and salsa.
- Leftovers keep 3 to 4 days in the fridge or up to 3 months in the freezer.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 4 hours 10 minutes
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Slow Cooker
- Cuisine: Mexican-inspired