These easy Crock Pot Chicken Tacos cook tender and flavorful with salsa-style tomatoes, onions, and taco seasoning. Then, the mixture is spooned onto a lightly blackened corn tortilla and topped with lettuce, red onion, tomatoes, corn, and chipotle ranch.
Easy Crock Pot Chicken Tacos
Enjoy a delicious and easy weeknight meal with these 5 ingredient crockpot chicken tacos. Throw everything in the slow cooker and let it cook all day for a flavorful and effortless dinner. These crock pot tacos are so easy to make and always so full of flavor.
Customize the toppings to suit your taste. Better yet, set up a taco bar so everyone can choose their toppings, leaving you free to enjoy your meal. Or use the chicken taco meat in taco salad, over rice, or over tortilla chips for nachos.
Easy Ingredients – Outstanding Taste
- Onion – sweet yellow
- Chicken – boneless, skinless, chicken breasts or thighs
- Salsa – or salsa-style tomatoes
- Taco seasoning – preferably homemade
- Tortillas – corn or flour
- Toppings – romaine lettuce, red onion, corn, and tomatoes
- Limes – for garnishment
How to make Crock Pot Chicken Tacos
Add the onions, chicken, salsa-style tomatoes, and taco seasoning to a crock pot. Cover and cook on low for several hours or until the chicken is fork tender. Then, using two forks, shred the chicken. Spoon the mixture onto charred corn or flour tortillas or taco shells, and top with chopped romaine lettuce, chopped red onion, sweet corn, and chopped tomatoes. Finally, drizzle with the easy two-ingredient chipotle ranch.
Recipe Tips
- Use the shredded chicken in salads, nachos, burritos, lettuce wraps, and enchiladas.
- Customize the toppings to suit your taste. As I always say, don’t throw the baby out with the bath water. If you don’t like corn, replace it with black olives. Other toppings to try include sour cream, avocados, guacamole, cheddar cheese, and cilantro.
- Add a little lime juice to the slow cooker for a burst of citrus flavor, or include fresh lime wedges with the tacos.
- For extra flavor, try my homemade taco seasoning without all that added salt. You can also add a small can of green chiles.
How to char tortillas
For that authentic Mexican restaurant, look and flavor char those tortillas. There are three easy ways to char corn and flour tortillas.
Gas stove: Place the corn or flour tortilla on top of the lite burner using tongs. I turn the flame on medium-low, taking about 30 seconds to char each side lightly.
Skillet: Heat a dry, nonstick skillet over medium heat. Using tongs, add the tortilla. Char for about 1 minute, then flip and char the other side.
Broiler: Turn the broiler to high. Then, place the tortillas on a broiler pan and under the broiler for about 1 minute. Flip and brown the other side. Keep a close eye on them so they do not overcook, as broilers are somewhat unpredictable.
What is a Chipotle Pepper?
Chipotle peppers are aged, dried, and smoked jalapeno peppers. They are earthy, robust, and smoky yet still incredibly spicy, so only use a little bit. You can find them canned with adobo sauce in the Hispanic food section of most local grocery stores. Adobo sauce is a slightly sweet, tangy, rich, reddish brown sauce made with ground ancho and guajillo chiles.
The combination of the two is a taste sensation. One chopped chipotle pepper with a little bit of the adobo sauce can take your Mexican and southwestern recipes over the top. Store the remaining chipotle peppers in adobo sauce in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a month or freeze them for up to 3 months.
Storage and Reheat
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Reheat in the microwave at reduced power for short increments until warm.
To freeze the cooked chicken, first cool it. Then, add it to a sturdy freezer container or bag. Freeze for up to 2 months. Thaw in the fridge overnight.
More Taco Recipes
Crockpot Shredded Chicken Tacos
Ingredients
Slow Cooker Chicken Tacos
- 1 medium onion chopped
- 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts or boneless skinless chicken thighs
- 1 14.5 ounce can salsa style tomatoes (or salsa)
- 3 tablespoons taco seasoning
- Corn tortillas
- 2 cups romaine lettuce chopped
- ⅓ cup red onion chopped
- ⅔ cup corn
- 1 cup chopped tomatoes
- lime wedges
Chipotle Ranch
- ⅔ cup ranch dressing
- 2 tablespoons adobo sauce from a can of chipotle peppers
Instructions
- Add the onions, chicken, salsa-style tomatoes, and taco seasoning to a crock pot. Cover and cook on low cooking for 4 hours or high for 2 hours or until the chicken is fork tender. Using 2 forks, shred the chicken.
- In a small bowl, mix together the ranch and adobo sauce.
- Spoon the mixture onto charred corn or flour tortillas and top with romaine, red onion, corn, and tomatoes.
- Drizzle the tacos with the chipotle ranch and serve with lime wedges.
Notes
- Cook the chicken in the crock pot until fork tender and easily shreddable with two forks. This is about 2 hours on high or 4 hours on low.
- Use the shredded chicken in salads, nachos, burritos, lettuce wraps, and enchiladas.
- Customize the toppings to suit your taste. As I always say, don’t throw the baby out with the bath water. If you don’t like corn, replace it with black olives. Other toppings to try include sour cream, avocados, guacamole, cheddar cheese, and cilantro.
- For a burst of citrus flavor, add a little lime juice to the slow cooker or include fresh lime wedges with the tacos.
- You can use salsa-style tomatoes or any tomato-based salsa.
- For extra flavor, try my homemade taco seasoning. It is out of this world good with the fresh flavors of cumin, chili powder, garlic powder, oregano, paprika, and more.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Nutrition
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Michelle
These crock pot chicken tacos were absolutely delicious and perfect for a hassle-free family dinner. Thanks so much!
Beth Pierce
My pleasure, Michelle!
April
This is such a great way to make chicken for tacos. There’s TONS of flavor and it’s so easy to toss together.
Gust
The Crock Pot Chicken Tacos were a lifesaver for dinner last night. So easy to prepare and the chicken was perfectly tender and flavorful.
Beth Pierce
Thanks, Gust! So glad that you liked the chicken! We love it too!
Ben
This chicken is so good. I have to admit, I didn’t make tacos with it, though. I was too lazy to go to the store for tortillas, so I made it with rice. Still amazing!
Beth Pierce
Thanks, Ben! So glad that you liked it!
Olivia T
I love how moist and tender my chicken got by using the crockpot. These are some of the best chicken tacos I’ve ever made. They’ll be taquitos next time!
Beth Pierce
Thanks, Olivia! I am glad that you liked them!
Victoria L
I must say this is the easiest way to make tacos! And it’s very tasty too! Perfect for busy families.
Beth Pierce
I agree, Victoria!
Erin
Absolutely yummy! I made this last night and my family really loves it! Such a great and versatile dish.
Amanda C
These were a hit! Perfect use of the crock pot and it was an amazing dinner!
Beth Pierce
Thank you, Amanda! So glad that you liked it!
Frank
We love this recipe. These are our favorite tacos. I make them at least once a month. Thanks for the great recipe.
Gavin
Love this! My favorite chicken recipes! Thanks for sharing this
Mike
oh I totally love Chipotle peppers! even though I can’t handle too much spice these days….i just love the smokey flavor. and even though we are vegan, we are going to try your recipe with some plant-based chicken….so excited!
Beth Pierce
Thanks. Mike! I sure hope you enjoyt the tacos.
Sally
These crock pot chicken tacos sound absolutely delicious! The combination of salsa-style tomatoes, taco seasoning, and tender chicken is sure to be a hit. I love how versatile this recipe is, allowing you to customize the toppings to your liking. The idea of setting up a taco bar is brilliant, making it a fun and interactive meal for the whole family. And let’s not forget about the Chipotle ranch drizzle; it’s the perfect finishing touch to bring all the flavours together. I can’t wait to give this recipe a try!
Beth Pierce
Thanks, Sally! I sure hope you enjoy them as much as we do.
Deb
Now that fall is on the horizon – I’m all about my crock pot. These chicken tacos were so yummy! My husband and kids already want me to make them again.
Rosey
Oh wow, I never thought to use the crock pot for tacos. What a good idea we may try this weekend. Why not?!
Nina
The best chicken tacos ever and so easy to make. I set up a taco bar so all the kids and their friends could customize their own tacos.
Richard
I love chicken tacos., I’d have to tone down the spices though. My stomach can’t take them anymore.