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Slow Cooker Chicken Tacos are flavored with salsa and prepped in minutes. You’ll never find an easier way to enjoy tacos!
Slow cooker chicken tacos are perfect for busy days and absolutely delicious! You’ll love to top them with homemade Pico de Gallo and serve them with a side of Rice and Beans.
The Easiest Tacos!
You guys know how much we love Mexican food!
We have been making and eating Tacos for as long as I can remember, and in the past, we’ve always fried them. I wanted a recipe that was fried and decided the slow cooker was the best option.
With a salsa and seasoning mixture and chicken cooked in the crock pot, slow cooker chicken tacos happens to be so flavorful and so easy. It’s definitely a great way to have dinner prepped in no time for school days and other crazy busy days.
We love to fry up our Chicken Tacos, but sometimes we are gone for the day and these slow cooker tacos do just the trick. Do this with any of your favorite meats and sub the chicken for pork or beef.
You’ll love these easy crockpot chicken tacos!
How to Make crockpot Chicken Tacos
We like to use our Homemade Salsa Recipe for these crockpot chicken tacos, but store-bought works too!
COMBINE. Mix salsa, lime juice, taco seasoning, and cilantro in your slow cooker. Place chicken breasts on top of the salsa mixture and sprinkle with garlic salt and pepper.
COOK. Spoon salsa over chicken breasts, cover, and cook on HIGH for 3-4 hours or on LOW for 7-8 hours.
Once done, remove the chicken from the slow cooker and shred it with forks. Return the chicken back to the slow cooker. Serve from the slow cooker, making sure to put the slow cooker to WARM.
FAVORITE TACO TOPPINGS
Want some more topping ideas and sides to go with these crockpot shredded chicken tacos:
- lettuce, tomatoes, olives, onion, Jalapeños, avocados, cilantro, black olives, lime wedges, and roasted corn
- Guacamole, Pico de Gallo
- shredded cheese and sour cream
Recipe Tips
Meat. Use the equivalent amount of beef or pork instead of chicken
Seasoning. Use Homemade Taco Seasoning. Add chipotle peppers or green chiles for some spice. Add extra flavor with cumin, chili powder, paprika, and oregano.
Serving suggestions. This slow cooker taco chicken meat also tastes great in Chimichangas, Quesadillas, Burritos, Enchiladas, Taco Salad, salad, Nachos, and soup.
Chicken. I used boneless skinless chicken breast to make these crock pot chicken tacos, but you can also use 4 boneless skinless chicken thighs. Use bone-in chicken breasts or thighs, just be sure to remove the skin. When the chicken has cooked all day in the crock pot it will become so tender that it will practically fall off the bone.
No matter what cut of chicken you wish to cook in the slow cooker, it cannot be frozen.
Instant pot directions:
- Season the chicken.
- Pour half of the salsa into the instant pot, place the chicken in, and then cover with the other half of the salsa.
- Seal the lid and press “pressure cook”. Set the time to 8-10 for thawed chicken or 10-12 minutes for frozen chicken.
- Once the time has ended, naturally release the pressure for 10 minutes before manually releasing the pressure.
Storing Info
Make ahead of time. Place the salsa, lime juice, seasoning, cilantro, and raw chicken in a Ziploc and then freeze for 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge. Place the ingredients of the bag in the crock pot, add other seasonings and cook.
Another make-ahead idea is to double the recipe and cook. Use half of the shredded chicken for dinner and freeze the other half to use on another day.
STORE. Taco meat can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 6 months!
Recipe FAQ
Chicken thighs are a great option! Just make sure to remove the skin or purchase boneless, skinless chicken thighs.
If stored properly, this chicken can last for up to 6 months in the freezer!
taco Side Dish Options:
Slow Cooker Chicken Tacos Recipe
Ingredients
- 16 oz salsa
- 1/4 cup lime juice
- 1 package taco seasoning
- 3 tbsp cilantro chopped
- 3 lb chicken breast (3 chicken breasts)
- garlic salt (with parsley flakes)
- pepper
- Toppings: avocado, pico, cilantro
Instructions
- Mix salsa, lime juice, taco seasoning, and cilantro in your slow cooker. Place chicken breasts on top of the salsa mixture and sprinkle with garlic salt and pepper.
- Spoon salsa over chicken breasts, cover, and cook on HIGH for 3-4 hours or on LOW for 7-8 hours.
- Once done, remove the chicken from the slow cooker and shred it with forks and return back to the slow cooker. Set to warm and serve from the slow cooker.
- Top with avocado, pico, and/or cilantro.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
So easy! These came out perfect for our taco Tuesdays. So juicy and good everytime. Thank you!
This is one of our go to recipes for dinner! Super easy, and so delicious! We love them.
So good and easy. Have added a few of these recipes into our weekly routine.
The flavor of this chicken is really good. Best of all it’s a crock pot meal. I’m always looking for slow cooker meals to incorporate in my rotation.
Cooking up the chicken in the crockpot makes this meal so easy and yummy! Nothing could be easier.
I MADE THIS FOR MY FAMILY AND THEY LOVED IT! IT DIDN’T LAST LONG THOUGH AS EVERYONE WAS REALLY EXCITED TO HAVE A BITE.
Made it for the family and it was a hit!
Love the salsa & seasonings mixed with the chicken! It adds so much flavor! I will definitely make these again!
great way to serve or adapt the chicken for tacos. I’ve had chicken tacos that were awful since they weren’t really spiced up at all and were essentialy just cooked chicken, which doesn’t work for me, so I appreciate this recipe, thank you