These slow-cooked, shredded chicken tacos are one of my favorite healthy weeknight meals! These tacos are super easy to make, especially if you are busy and on-the-go all day long. I just pop my chicken in the slow-cooker, and then let it stew for several hours. They are packed full of flavor with smoky chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, garlic, and onions. I love serving these with fresh salsa, avocado, and side of Mexican rice or Mexican street corn. These tacos are simple, easy, super healthy, and the perfect weeknight meal prep! I love to make a big batch of them and eat them throughout the week in tacos, chicken quesadillas, or taco salad bowls.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe:
- Easy: This is a super easy weeknight meal! If you are on the go all day, this is a great recipe as you can just crank up the slow cooker and let it stew throughout the day.
- Healthy: Slow cooking is a great way to maintain all of the nutritional benefits in the meat. Adding fresh salsa and avocado is also fantastic for adding additional vitamins, minerals, and healthy omega-3 fats to the dish. You could even turn them into a taco salad by replacing taco shells with lettuce.
- Gluten-free: These tacos are completely gluten-free as they are made with corn tortillas instead of flour.
Tips For Making Shredded Chicken Tacos:
- Slow cook: Slow cooking the chicken breasts, not only makes for a super easy meal but also for a juicier taco.
- Fresh salsa: Using fresh salsa to top off your tacos is always a great way to add additional nutrients and a layer of freshness to the tacos.
- Dried herbs: Don’t skimp on the flavor! Adding garlic powder and onion powder will add a lot of additional flavor to the chicken.
- Use fresh white cheddar cheese: I like using fresh, sharp white cheddar cheese as it does not have any food dye in the cheese. Buying cheese in the block form is also a better option as it is not coated in anti-caking and anti-molding agents like the pre-shredded cheese, which can be toxic to the body.
- Chipotles in adobo sauce: Using chipotle peppers in adobo sauce will help cut the intense heat of the chipotle pepper, while still giving the chicken all of the delicious smoky flavor of the chipotle pepper. You can add more or less chipotles depending on how hot you like your tacos.
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Ingredients:
- Chicken breasts
- Sweet onion
- Chipotles in adobo sauce
- Garlic
- Garlic powder
- Onion powder
- Salt
- Olive oil
- Corn tortillas
Materials Used:
- Slow Cooker
- Tongs
- 2 Forks
- Wire Cooling Rack
- Paper Towels
How To Make Shredded Chicken Tacos:
Wash and dry off the chicken breast and add them to the slow cooker.
Next, slice one sweet onion into half-moon slices and to the chicken.
Peel and crush 5-6 cloves of garlic, add 2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, 1 tsp. of garlic powder, 1 tsp. of onion powder, and 1 tsp. of salt to the slow cooker.
Turn your slow cooker onto medium heat and cook for 4 hours.
After 4 hours, use two forks and shred the chicken.
In a cast iron pan, heat up 2 cups of olive oil or avocado oil.
To check if the oil is hot enough, place the tip of the corn tortilla into the oil. If the oil bubbles, then you know that the oil is hot enough.
Place the tortilla in the oil, and using a set of tongs, submerge the entire tortilla into the oil.
Once the tortilla has bubbled up and become golden brown on the bottom, flip the tortilla over and fold it in half using your tongs, about 30-60 seconds.
Once the tortilla is golden on one side, flip it over to the opposite side and fry until it is golden brown, about 30-60 seconds per side.
Lay the shells on a wire cooling rack fitted with paper towels to absorb the excess oil.
Finally, add your shredded chicken, sharp white cheddar cheese, salsa, avocado, and any other toppings you like to your tacos.
FAQ:
- Can I use premade salsa and guacamole? Absolutely! This can be a great time saver if you are in a crunch.
- Can I use flour tortillas instead of corn? 100%! The flour tortillas will have a slightly different texture, they are typically a little bit softer, but both work great!
- Can I use my Instant Pot Instead of a slow cooker? You can definitely substitute your Instant Pot for the slow cooker. The biggest thing is just making sure that you are slow-cooking the meat over a long period of time.
My Favorite Weeknight Meals:
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Slow Cooker Shredded Chicken Tacos
Equipment
- 2 Forks
- Paper Towels
Ingredients
Shredded Chicken Tacos:
- 1.5 lbs. chicken breast
- 1 medium sweet onion
- 6 garlic cloves
- 1 tsp. garlic powder
- 1 tsp. onion powder
- 2 chipotle peppers in adobo
- 2 tbsp. olive oil
- 1 tsp. salt
Homemade Taco Shells:
- 8 corn tortillas
- 2 cups olive oil
Instructions
Shredded Chicken Instructions:
- Wash and dry off the chicken breast and add them to the slow cooker.
- Slice one sweet onion into half-moon slices and to the slow cooker.
- Peel and crush 6 cloves of garlic and add to the slow cooker.
- Add 2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, garlic powder, onion powder, and salt to the slow cooker.
- Turn your slow cooker onto medium heat and cook for 4 hours.
- After 4 hours, use two forks and shred the chicken.
Homemade Taco Shells Instructions:
- In a cast iron pan, heat up 2 cups of olive oil or avocado oil.
- To check if the oil is hot enough, place the tip of the corn tortilla into the oil. If they oil bubbles, then you know that the oil is hot enough.
- Place the tortilla in the oil, and using a tongs, submerge the entire tortilla into the oil.
- Once the tortilla has bubbled up and become golden brown on the bottom, flip the tortilla over and fold it in half using your tongs, about 30-60 seconds.
- Once the tortilla is golden on one side, flip it over to the opposite side and fry until it is golden brown, about 30-60 seconds per side.
- Lay the shells on a wire baking rack fitted with paper towels to absorb the excess oil.
- Finally, add shredded chicken, sharp white cheddar cheese, salsa, avocado, and any other toppings you like to your tacos.
Notes
Tips For Making:
- Slow cook: Slow cooking the chicken breasts not only makes for a super easy meal, but also for a juicier taco.
- Fresh salsa: Using fresh salsa to top off your tacos is always a great way to add additional nutrients and a layer of freshness to the tacos.
- Dried herbs: Don’t skimp on the flavor! Adding garlic powder and onion powder in addition to the fresh aromatics will add a lot of additional flavor to the chicken.
- Use fresh white cheddar cheese: I like using fresh, sharp white cheddar cheese as it does not have any food dye in the cheese. Buying cheese in the block form is also a better option as it is just straight up cheese and is not coated in anti-caking and anti-molding agents, which can be toxic to the body.
- Chipotles in adobo sauce: Using chipotle peppers in adobo sauce will help cut the intense heat of the chipotle pepper, while still giving the chicken all of the yummy flavor of chipotle.
