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Southwestern Crockpot Chicken Tacos

Name: Southwestern Crockpot Chicken Tacos
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 480 min
Total time: 490 min
Yield: 12 small tacos
Ingredients: 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breast; 1 tablespoon taco seasoning (or more to taste); 1 jar (16-oz salsa, use half of your jar for less saucy chicken; see notes for more info); 1 can (15-oz black beans, rinsed and drained); 1 cup frozen corn; 1 onion (coarsely chopped); taco shells and toppings you like

By Nora Rusev | Updated: Dec 10, 2019 | 34 Comments

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southwestern crockpot chicken tacos on a wooden platter

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4.52 from 68 votes

Yield: small tacos

Ready In: 8 hrs 10 mins

My family loves chicken tacos – and I usually make them in the crock pot for super quick and easy prep. Which is probably my favorite thing about this meal 😉 Because my Southwestern Crockpot Chicken Tacos are so easy to make, you'll wonder why you haven't been making them all along!

I love fresh food with simple flavors. I make these with my homemade taco seasoning, but you can use your favorite storebought if you prefer. Even though I don't like the name of them, this is a real "dump and go" slow cooker recipe – it has 2 steps: Add everything to the crockpot and cook on low for 8 hours OR on high for 4 hours, then shred the chicken and serve with your favorite taco shells and toppings. So easy, and yet so delicious!

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Recommended Equipment:

5-6 Quart Slow Cooker

Ingredients

1 pound boneless skinless chicken breast
1 tablespoon taco seasoning (or more to taste)
1 jar (16-oz salsa, use half of your jar for less saucy chicken; see notes for more info)
1 can (15-oz black beans, rinsed and drained)
1 cup frozen corn
1 onion (coarsely chopped)
taco shells and toppings you like

Prep Time: 10 mins

Cook Time: 8 hrs

Ready In: 8 hrs 10 mins

Instructions

Place all ingredients EXCEPT for the taco shells and toppings in a 5-6 quart crockpot. Stir, making sure there’s some sauce underneath the chicken so it doesn’t end up sticking to the bottom.
Cook on LOW for 8 hours or on HIGH for 4 hours. Shred with a fork, then serve with taco shells and your favorite taco toppings.

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Step by Step Recipe Video

Nora’s Tips

Ingredient Notes:

Chicken: I use raw chicken in this crock pot recipe, which is deemed perfectly safe by the USDA. You should, however, never use frozen chicken – even though some manufacturers claim it’s safe. Read more on slow cooker safety from the USDA here.

Salsa: 1 16-oz jar will add plenty of sauce to your chicken. You can use half of the jar if you like. We enjoy a mild, chunky salsa (like Newman’s Own Medium) for this recipe, but you can go wild here: Jarred pineapple salsa is delicious, and so is black bean and corn salsa.

Spiciness: I make these super mild for my little kids, but feel free to add heat with jalapeños or chili! I use my Homemade Taco Seasoning to add flavor to these tacos, so I can control exactly how mild these are.

Taco Shells: We prefer these with soft taco shells because of the sauce, so hard taco shells make it more difficult to eat – but they definitely work, too.

Nutrition: As always an estimate and here WITHOUT taco shells or toppings, as this will be very individual.

Cooking Tips:

Stirring: Make sure to stir all the ingredients before cooking, so that there’s liquid underneath the chicken – otherwise it could get stuck to the bottom of the crock and burn.

How I shred chicken: I know there’s all sorts of fancy tutorials on how to shred chicken with a mixer, a food processor, a blender… But I actually prefer to just pull the cooked chicken apart with the help of two forks. That way I get to control how shredded my chicken is (I prefer it shredded into chunks vs super stringy).

Stovetop Instructions: If you don’t have time to make them in the slow cooker, you can make these on the stovetop: Just add everything to a pot, cover with a lid and simmer until the chicken is done. It will take around 20 minutes, depending on the size of your chicken breast. You may need to add a little chicken broth to keep it from getting burned.

Instant Pot Instructions: You can make this in the Instant Pot if you prefer – this is especially handy if you have frozen chicken!

Add all ingredients to the inner pot of your electric pressure cooker. Add 1 cup chicken broth OR water and stir very well. Close the lid, set the valve to “sealing”. Pressure cook on “high” for 10 minutes (for raw chicken) or 15 minutes (for frozen chicken). Once the cooking time is up, do a natural pressure release for 45 minutes (just switch the IP off and leave it alone). Manually release any remaining pressure, open the lid and shred the chicken.

The sauce will be more runny, you can either drain some OR set the instant pot to sauté and simmer until the liquid has reduced to your liking.

We love serving these with:

My homemade guacamole, shredded cabbage and some shredded cheese are our favorites. Coleslaw is also a nice addition! And if I have enough time/patience, I make a batch of Pineapple Salsa or Mango Black Bean Salsa to go with them – so delicious!

Nutrition

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Mexican chicken in the crockpot for southwestern crockpot chicken tacos

An easy meal that always puts a smile on everyone’s face around the dinner table – winner, winner, chicken dinner, I guess. Enjoy!

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