CrockPot Chicken Tacos are an easy family favorite meal! A handful of ingredients tossed into the slow cooker makes the most tender flavorful chicken for tacos (or for Chicken Enchiladas, burritos, loaded nachos and more)!
Add chicken breasts, salsa, tomatoes, and seasoning and let the slow cooker do all of the work. Before serving shred the chicken and enjoy! It’s that easy!
Crockpot Shredded Chicken Tacos
Taco nights just got easier! These Crockpot Chicken Tacos are such a snap to put together and always come out amazing! Tender shredded chicken is perfect added to tacos, burritos, salads and more.
Swap out the ground beef to make an amazing taco salad or add this flavorful shredded chicken to wraps, casseroles or soups.
How to Make Shredded Chicken Tacos
I have to tell you that this is one of those recipes that my whole family truly loves! Simply place the ingredients in the crock pot and walk away.
To season the chicken for tacos, I use … you guessed it, taco seasoning! I prefer homemade taco seasoning in this recipe to control the salt but a packet will work just fine as well.
While the ingredients call for boneless chicken breasts, you can certainly use bone in chicken as well (just make sure it’s skinless). Once shredded, this freezes perfectly making for a super fast weeknight dinner!
I’ve used this for making chicken tacos, chicken salads and even spicy chicken pizzas! Pile on your favorite toppings for a fabulous dinner loaded with flavor!
What to Serve with Chicken Tacos
These crockpot chicken tacos are insanely easy! I serve them with corn or flour tortillas and cilantro tomato rice or cilantro lime rice. We love to put out a big table full of toppings for everyone to dress their own! Our favorite toppings are:
- lettuce
- tomatoes
- pico de gallo
- cheese
- olives
- guacamole
- jalapenos
- cilantro
More Favorite Taco Recipes
- Shrimp Tacos – Weeknight favorite!
- Taco Soup – So easy and so much flavor!
- Beef Taco Pasta Skillet – Easy comfort food
- 5 Minute Taco Dip – Perfect last minute party dip!
- Beef Taco Casserole – Family favorite (kids love this recipe)
- Easy Fish Tacos – Reader favorite (quick and easy)
Crockpot Chicken Tacos
Equipment
Ingredients
- 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1 cup salsa
- 1 cup canned diced tomatoes with chilies drained or 1 can Rotel, 10 oz
- 1 package taco seasoning or 2 Tablespoons homemade taco seasoning
- ½ onion diced
Instructions
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Combine salsa, canned tomatoes, and taco seasoning.
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Place onions & chicken in the slow cooker and top with tomato mixture.
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Cook on low 7-8 hours or high 3-4 hours.
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Remove chicken from slow cooker and shred. Return to slow cooker and stir in juices.
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Serve in taco shells, on salads, pizzas or in bowls over rice!
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Dinner
Cuisine Mexican
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Looking forward to trying this out. I was wondering if this makes your tortillas soggy? If so what do you recommend to prevent it? Thank you. BTW Love many of your recipes.
Hi Missy, we add the shredded chicken to the tacos just before eating so they shouldn’t get soggy. You can drain off some of the liquid if you find them soggy. I hope that helps!
Looks great! Can’t wait to try!
This is so amazingly simple and delicious. Just a couple of notes. I opted to make the taco seasoning and it definitely made a difference. I highly recommend. As a variation I also added a can of black beans and chopped green pepper. Will probably make this at least once a week!
Hi Cami, I am thinking about also using black beans. Did you add them to the crockpot or cook separately? Thanks!
Can I use chicken thighs instead?
Yes, that should work just fine.
About how much is your 1/2 an onion? The sizes of onions vary so much it feels like 1/2 an onion could be 1/4 cup or almost a full cup!
This will be about 1/2 cup. Enjoy Tyler!
Most easy n delish…….best recipe out there. I add garlic and fresh jalapeños for more spice. But the chicken turns out amazing everytime.
Which is your preference for the best results, cooking on low or high?
Either works just fine depending on how long you have to make this recipe!
How many pounds of chicken is 4 breasts that you used? I made this and had 1 1/2 pounds of chicken breast. Mine was cooked and done on low at 4 hours. I can’t imagine how overcooked this would be had I cooked it for 8 hours total per your directions. I don’t know how old this recipe is, but I think newer crockpots cook faster and hotter than ones made many years ago. You may want to change your cooking times to reflect newer crockpots. This recipe was good, but I would suggest to check on your chicken at the 4-hour mark when cooking on low to see if it’s already done.
I use approximately 1 1/2 pounds of chicken breast and have not had this issue. It is possible that your Crock Pot cooks hotter than mine so I always recommend checking early. I hope this helps!
Does this freeze well?
Hi Kathy, I would freeze in an airtight container or zippered bag and thaw in the refrigerator overnight. Then reheat before serving!
If you double the recipe, do still only us 2 tablespoons of the homemade taco seasoning?
If doubling the recipe I would double all of the ingredients, including the taco seasoning. Enjoy Kimmie!
Outstanding! Teen boys loved it!
This is a quick and convenient meal that the whole family will enjoy !!!
Very excited to try this recipe tonight! I noticed in the comments you said there’s no need to drain the Rotel but the recipe says to drain the tomatoes. I’m going to use canned tomatoes should I drain those?
I recommend draining the canned tomatoes as they tend to have more liquid. If you don’t drain you may be left with more juices. You can always take some juices out of the Crockpot before you add the shredded chicken and add them back as necessary.
Delicious! Next time I plan to remove sauce and thicken by boiling it down a bit and we like onion so I’d add more to the recipe for us. We served over lettuce with grated cheese and sour cream on top.
Looking forward to trying this recipe. If using Rotel, do you still drain? I’ve never used Rotel but noticed it in the local store and thought I’d try. Not sure what it’s consistency is.
Rotel is a mixture of diced tomatoes and green chilis and is delicious! There is no need to drain it in this recipe Gillian, enjoy!
I’ve tried many different chicken taco recipes but this one is the best! Very easy and full of flavor!
How many pounds of chicken?
It’s about 1 1/2 lbs total.
This was really good! I usually make a different version and this one will be replacing it! I used fire roasted tomatoes which were so good and green chilis
What kind of salsa do you recommend?
We use whatever we have on hand. I enjoy a chunkier salsa but you can use your favorite kind!
Will be making these tomorrow. What is the white drizzle over the ?
The drizzle is sour cream. Enjoy the tacos!
can I use frozen chicken breast
Hi Viviana, it is not recommended to cook meat from frozen in the crockpot but if you would like to try it should work. You may need to give it a little extra time to fully cook through though.
Huge hit at my birthday party! Just needed drained a bit, but they had amazing flavor! All my friends asked for the recipe. Will definitely make again!