Crock Pot Mexican Chicken Recipe
Make this super easy crock pot Mexican chicken recipe for your next Taco Tuesday!
A while back, I made a recipe for slow cooker pineapple chicken that was just amazing and way too easy to make. And since I had such fabulous success with that recipe, it got me to thinking about other chicken recipes I could make like this.
So I did a little search online and came up with a lovely recipe from Good Life Eats I just had to try. Her recipe is wonderful and I fully intend on trying to make her version verbatim. But I was in a hurry and didn’t have the time to sauté things. So I took a few shortcuts and came up with a really yummy chicken dish that is perfect for filling tacos (and that’s exactly what I did!).
CROCK POT MEXICAN CHICKEN FOR TACOS
Use this chicken just the same as you would any shredded chicken. Use it as your base meat in your taco or burrito, and build your fillings on top of that. This is a really fast, easy, and basic chicken recipe that can even be used in taco salads, served over rice with other toppings, or even mixed into a broth with other vegetables for a quick and easy taco soup. This is an excellent base recipe. A jumping-off point for many other recipes.
HOW TO SHRED CHICKEN
Shredding chicken is a simple process. If you have a “bare-bones” kitchen, you can simply use two forks and basically tear the chicken between them. But if you happen to have a handheld beater (like you would use for mixing a cake batter or beating eggs), you can use that to easily shred your chicken! Just put the beater into the crock after cooking and turn it on a medium setting. Adjust the speed of your blender to get the job done without spraying bits of chicken everywhere. It’s fast, it’s easy and you can just drop those beaters into the dishwasher when you’re done. Simple!
CROCK POT CHICKEN RECIPES
RECIPES USED:
CROCK POT MEXICAN CHICKEN RECIPE:
Crock Pot Mexican Chicken
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp. clean eating taco seasoning (see link above)
- 2 lb. chicken breasts (boneless, skinless)
- 1 cup chicken broth (no sugar added)
Instructions
- Place all ingredients in a slow cooker and stir until the chicken breasts are well coated in the spices.
- Arrange the chicken breasts in such a way that they are as close as possible to being a single layer.
- Cook on low for 6-8 hours depending on your slow cooker.
- If you are home, flip the chicken half way through its cooking time and arrange it into a single layer.
- The chicken is done when it easily falls apart.
Hi Tiffany ~ What a wonderful idea to use the taco seasoning this way ~ Have you tried it without the chicken broth (with just water instead)? I try to watch my sodium and was wondering if it would ruin the flavor if I just used a cup of water instead! BTW ~ thank you SO much the the taco seasoning recipe!!! So simple but oh so perfect =o)
Glad you like the seasoning, Dawn! My best guess would be that you will be fine using water. It may change the flavor just slightly, but not enough to really make a difference. That said, I haven’t tried it. But I can’t see why it wouldn’t work when you are using the seasoning for most of the flavor anyway.
Using water changes it a great deal. Add one potato pealed to absorbe the salt.
Mary – Thanks for the tip!
Glad you like the seasoning, Dawn! My best guess would be that you will be fine using water. It may change the flavor just slightly, but not enough to really make a difference. That said, I haven’t tried it. But I can’t see why it wouldn’t work when you are using the seasoning for most of the flavor anyway.
Hi Tiffany ~ What a wonderful idea to use the taco seasoning this way ~ Have you tried it without the chicken broth (with just water instead)? I try to watch my sodium and was wondering if it would ruin the flavor if I just used a cup of water instead! BTW ~ thank you SO much the the taco seasoning recipe!!! So simple but oh so perfect =o)
YUM!! I love homemade salsa and guacamole on my tacos. Sooo good!
Debi – Definitely love the homemade guacamole. The stuff from the store cannot even compare. Not even close!
YUM!! I love homemade salsa and guacamole on my tacos. Sooo good!
Just put the lid on the pot. 8hrs will seem like forever to wait, but I know it will be worth it! Thanks for the recipe!!!
Karin – It is worth it! Promise!
I made the Crock Pot Mexican Chicken and my family loved it. I have also used the taco seasoning recipe for making beef tacos. It is definitely better than the store bought seasoning. Thank you for a great recipe!
Rain – You’re welcome! I’m so happy everyone enjoyed it!
Rain – You’re welcome! I’m so happy everyone enjoyed it!
I made this tonight. I was concerned because it was “so simple”, but WOW! It is definitely a keeper. The family loved it. I will, without doubt, be making it again ( and again). Please keep the crock pot recipes coming with a new baby on the hand, it is definitely a lifesaver.
Giselle – I will!
Thank you so much for this recipe! I live in Texas and we hold “tex-mex” style foods in high regard in the south and this recipe measured up to the test!
Keduran – Yay!!! Glad it passed muster!!
Charlie – As I just found out, you should always cook with raw chicken in a crock pot. It avoids any bacteria from building on the chicken. The frozen breasts do not allow the crock pot to get to the proper temperature quick enough. So I would go with raw.
I just recently started to eat clean and this was my first try at making clean taco seasoning. We had this recipe last night and it was so good. My hubby is very picky and he said he liked it more this way than the way I use to make it (it was a very similar recipe that I use to make). I added a whole tomato, a little bit of orange/red/green/yellow bell peppers, black beans, and corn. I will be making this again. The only question I have is when you say clean chicken broth do you mean just low sodium chicken broth like Campbells?
Alyce – Glad you both enjoyed it!
Clean chicken broth means that there is no sugar added in any form (including dextrose). And yes low-sodium is preferred. One brand I really like is Pacific. Their broth is really tasty, low sodium and there is no garbage added. Trader Joe’s also carries a good one, but they have 2 or 3 and only 1 has no added sugar. So you’d have to read the labels. Hope that helps!
Made this today as a topping for your clean eating taco salad. Yum!!! Can’t wait to have leftovers tomorrow. Might throw it in a ww tortilla. 🙂
Brooke – Oh yum!! I’ve never thought to do that! I’ll have to try that soon. Thanks!
Hmmm – but how do I serve this?? Can I serve it over brown rice? Afraid there won’t be enough liquid “gravy” leftover to do that. It’s for a group of women, I would eat it by itself! 🙂
Ashley – I envision this more as a taco or burrito filling. Or, you could serve it by itself with some refried beans and mexican rice.
Trude – It is!
Michelle – Wonderful! I’m so happy you liked it!
Bethnc – Good question. I would say you could weigh it and use about 3-4 oz.
Amy – Great! I hope you enjoy it!
Callady – That DOES sound good!