Copycat Cafe Rio Shredded Chicken – a simple and delicious chicken recipe that is perfect for salads, burritos, quesadillas and tacos!
If you’ve ever been to Cafe Rio, you know how good their Mexican food is! That’s why we’ve made so many copycat recipes—this chicken, cilantro lime rice, sweet pork barbacoa, and even their cilantro ranch salad dressing!
Have you ever been to Cafe Rio??
It’s one of our family’s all-time favorite Mexican grill restaurants and one that we frequent often. It’s mostly located on the West Coast, with a few exceptions. But if you’ve never been, have no fear because today, I’m bringing you a copycat recipe for Cafe Rio’s Shredded Chicken.
Basically, it’s a delicious chicken recipe with some Mexican flavors that is perfect for salads, tacos or burritos. It’s flavorful and is something I can double and freeze if there are leftovers for future meals!!
It tastes very similar to Cafe Rio’s recipe and is just so good that it’s now my go-to chicken recipe, especially when we have a Mexican burrito/salad bar set up. We also serve it with our copycat Cilantro Lime Rice and Cilantro Ranch Dressing from Cafe Rio too.
The simple recipe
Aside from the chicken, there’s only five other ingredients you put in the crockpot (minus the water—that hardly counts as an ingredient):
- italian dressing
- garlic
- chili powder
- cumin
- ranch dressing mix
COOK. Simply place the chicken in the crockpot and pour all the other ingredients on top. Cook on HIGH for 3-4 hours, or LOW for 5-6.
SHRED. Shred the chicken (for tips and different methods for shredding chicken, go here), and put back in the juices. Serve however you like!
Can I cook cafe rio chicken in an instapot? Yes! Just place all the ingredients in the pot, set it to poultry and cook for 6 minutes, 10 minutes if the chicken is frozen. Allow the pressure to release, shred the chicken, and serve.
Serve it Cafe rio style
There are several different entrees you can use this chicken in! Here are some ways you can do it Cafe Rio style. 😉
Burrito: Wrap the chicken, rice, your choice of beans, and some shredded cheese in a large flour tortilla. If you want it “smothered”, cover in enchilada sauce (red or green), add more shredded cheese on top, and broil in the oven until cheese is melted.
Enchiladas: Wrap chicken and shredded cheese in a flour tortillas, then cover in enchilada sauce and more shredded cheese. Bake or broil in the oven until cheese is melted.
Quesadillas: Just sandwich some cheese and chicken in a tortilla and cook on a skillet or in the microwave until the cheese is nice and melty. Similar to this quesadilla recipe!
Salad: Start with a tortilla in the bottom of your dish. Then add (in this order) rice, beans, chicken, fresh lettuce, and all your favorite toppings (listed below). Serve with cilantro ranch dressing.
Any of these entrees can be served with Mexican rice, cilantro lime rice, beans, tomatoes, lettuce, avocados, cheese, salsa, pico de gallo, guacamole, cotija cheese, cilantro, and any of your other favorite taco toppings.
Double it and freeze
Can I double the recipe and freeze some for later? Absolutely you can! Double all the ingredients and cook for the same amount of time in a slow cooker. Once the chicken has been shredded, place half of it into a freezer safe ziploc, along with half of the juice. Freeze for up to 4 months. Reheat in a slow cooker or thaw and reheat, covered, in the oven.
Not only is this chicken delicious, but it’s simple and can be used in so many ways. Whether it’s burritos, tacos, quesadillas, chimichangas, taco salad or tacos, I think you’ll love it!!
For more mexican recipes, check out:
- Sweet Pork Barbacoa
- Slow Cooker Creamy Fiesta Chicken
- Baked Taquitos
- Sheet Pan Fajitas
- Chicken Enchilada Dip
- Carne Asada
Cafe Rio Chicken Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1 cup Zesty Italian Dressing
- 2 tsp minced garlic
- 1/2 tbsp chili powder
- 1/2 tbsp ground cumin
- 3 tbsp dry ranch dressing mix
- 1/2 cup water
Instructions
- Spray inside of crockpot with cooking spray. Add chicken to slow cooker.
- In a small bowl combine Italian dressing, minced garlic, chili powder, cumin, ranch dressing and water. Pour over chicken and cook on HIGH for 3-4 hours, or LOW for 5-6.
- Remove chicken from crockpot and shred. Add chicken back to juices and serve with salad/burritos/tacos. ENJOY!
Recipe adapted from Simply Happenstance.
SO DELICIOUS! Cafe Rio is my absolute favorite restaurant, and I love being able to recreate it at home. 🙂
Yesterday I substituted a jalapeno lime vinaigrette dressing for the italian, and it was yummy as well!
Ooh that does sound yummy. So glad you enjoyed this chicken recipe! We love Cafe Rio too. 🙂
Made it for a family party and people wanted the recipe! Thank you
Could this chicken be used in some of the Mexican soup recipies that you have shared?
Loved loved loved this chicken. So good I was eating it by its self!!!
This tastes just like Cafe Rio! I’ve doubled the recipe (and kept the cooking time the same) with stellar results. This is a new family favorite recipe. Thank you for saving our wallets! 🙂
This was so yummy! Made it for a big group family dinner and everyone commented on it.
My family loves this recipe! So easy, and rave reviews. I keep individual serving sizes in the freezer for my teenagers. I always make salads or enchiladas, they love it for burritos and nachos
I was buying cafe rio way too often. This has definitely helped our budget.
Absolutely amazing! We made this in the instant pot and it was so juicy and flavorful.
Fantastic recipe. I double the recipe and freeze the leftovers in individual portion sizes. My teenagers love grabbing it when they get hungry. This freezes really well, so its a perfect recipe to prep ahead or have on hand for any reason. It’s saved my sanity on stressful days more than once.
We’ve saved a ton of money on take out with this one.
Thank you!!
I feel like I’m missing out, never dining at a Cafe Rio, but that’s what I get for living in northern Indiana. Lol! We absolutely love this recipe and double it every time I make it. It’s versatile to do any type of dish with and it freezes well, so doubling the recipe makes for an easy dinner later on. I just made a double batch today and am freezing the entirety for my daughter’s birthday party. Thank you for a tasty, easy recipe!
You’re welcome!! I’m so glad that you enjoy the chicken recipe. You know, I personally love the homemade even better than Cafe Rio… so not missing out too much, I’d say! 😉
Sooooo good!!! I thought this sounded yummy, but I don’t use the crock pot too often. So happy that I found instant pot instructions within the post! This made delicious tacos, and will now be my go to recipe for chicken tacos. Thanks for a delicious recipe!
This is a great recipe!! Super flavorful!! Will definitely make this again!!!
Absolutely phenomenal