This taco chicken bowls recipe is definitely “slow-cooker 101”. It’s probably one of the first recipes that most people learn to make in their slow cooker. In fact, some version of Slow Cooker Taco Chicken Bowls is probably included in that little mini recipe book that comes with the slow cooker when you buy it. BUT, I had to post it because I know there are probably a lot of you who haven’t made it yet and I can’t bear the thought of you missing out.
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Set it and forget it…
Taco Chicken Bowls are great for bachelors, students, or the chronically busy because it’s a “dump and heat” recipe. All you do is dump all of the ingredients together in a pot, and let it cook.
How to Serve Taco Chicken Bowls
Of course, you’ll need to make the rice separate but even if you’re one of those people who can never get rice right, there is still hope. Just stuff the chicken mixture inside of a tortilla with a little cheese and roll it up for a quick burrito, or fold it over in a tortilla and crisp it up in a skillet like a quesadilla. Presto. Easy, delicious, cheap food.
Taco Chicken Bowls are Freezer Friendly
Oh, also, this taco chicken bowls recipe freezes well. Cheese and all. Then just nuke and stir for a couple minutes until hot. Instant freezer meal!
What Size Slow Cooker to Use
I use a 6 quart Hamilton Beach Slow Cooker and this recipe fills it about halfway. I would suggest using a 4-quart or larger slow cooker.
Okay, one more thing. If you for some strange reason need this taco chicken bowls recipe to be even easier or you don’t have a well-stocked spice cabinet, just substitute a packet of taco seasoning for all of the spices and herbs that I used below.
More Slow Cooker Dinners: Slow Cooker Chicken Tikka Masala, Slow Cooker Italian Chicken and Peppers, Slow Cooker White Chicken Chili, and Slow Cooker Beef Stew.
Taco Chicken Bowls
Servings 6 (1 cup chicken mixture, 1 cup rice, plus toppings)Ingredients
- 1 1/2 lbs. chicken breasts ($2.60*)
- 1 16oz. jar salsa ($2.15)
- 2 cloves garlic, minced ($0.16)
- 1 15oz. can black beans ($0.69)
- 1/2 lb. frozen corn ($0.73)
- 1 Tbsp chili powder ($0.30)
- 1/2 Tbsp ground cumin ($0.15)
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano ($0.05)
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper ($0.03)
- Freshly cracked black pepper ($0.03)
- 6 cups cooked rice ($0.60)
- 8 oz. shredded cheddar ($2.59)
- 3 green onions, sliced (or fresh cilantro) ($0.23)
Instructions
- Place the chicken breasts in the bottom of a 5 quart or larger slow cooker. Drain the black beans and add them to the slow cooker along with the salsa and corn. Add 1/4 cup water, plus the minced garlic, chili powder, cumin, oregano, cayenne, some freshly cracked pepper (about 10-15 cranks of a pepper mill).
- Give the ingredients a brief stir to distribute the spices. Secure the lid on your slow cooker and cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours.
- After 8 hours on low or 4 hours on high, carefully remove the lid of the slow cooker. Stir with a fork to shred the chicken (it should be very tender and will shred easily). Taste the chicken mixture and add salt if needed.
- To build the bowls, place one cup of rice in the bottom of a bowl and top with 1 cup of the shredded chicken mixture. Top with a little cheddar cheese and a sprinkle of sliced green onions.
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Equipment
- Slow Cooker
- Measuring Cups Spoons
Notes
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!This is definitely one of my favorite meals to keep in the freezer for busy days!
How to Make Slow Cooker Taco Chicken Bowls – Step by Step Photos
Place two large chicken breasts (about 1.5 lbs.) in the bottom of a slow cooker. I always buy my chicken breasts in large packs on sale, then individually wrap and freeze them for later.
Drain one 15oz. can of black beans and add them to the slow cooker along with a 16oz. jar of salsa and 1/2 pound of frozen corn (no need to thaw the corn first–the small kernels thaw quickly once the slow cooker is turned on. Do not, however, use frozen chicken breasts because they may take too long to come up to a safe temperature in the slow cooker.)
I usually just use a generic salsa for this dish, but I like generic salsa just fine. The type of salsa you use will greatly impact the flavor the of the overall dish, so make sure you use one that you like. This time around I found a “fire roasted” generic salsa, so I got that for a little extra smokey flavor. :)
Add 2 cloves minced garlic, 1 Tbsp chili powder (mild), 1/2 Tbsp cumin, 1/2 tsp dried oregano, 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper, and some freshly cracked pepper (about 10-15 cranks of a pepper mill).
Add about 1/4 cup of water to help the ingredients combine when you stir. Briefly stir to distribute the spices.
Secure the lid on your slow cooker and cook on high for four hours or low for eight hours. This is after 4 hours on high–doesn’t look much different!
BUT by this time the chicken is SO tender that just stirring the mixture will make it fall apart. Stir the pot or use two forks to shred the chicken.
When all the chicken is shredded it’s time to eat! You can taste the mixture and add salt if needed (this will depend on the salt content of your beans and salsa. I didn’t add any this time.)
To build the taco chicken bowls, place one cup of cooked rice in the bottom of a bowl and top it with one cup of the chicken mixture. Sprinkle a little shredded cheddar cheese on top followed by a few sliced green onions. Done! How easy is that?
Or you can eat the Taco Chicken Bowls not as a bowl, but as an actual taco. Just stuff the chicken mixture into a tortilla, top with cheese or sour cream, and you’re good to go!
I made no changes to the recipe, and it was deliccious! I will make this again!
So easy and SO delicious!
Everyone loved it!
This is one of our favorite recipes. I double everything but the chicken (maybe go up to 2 lbs on the chicken) and it still is hearty and you feel like you get shredded chicken in every bite.
We repeat this recipe often! Question… can you use soaked dry beans instead of canned?
Thx so much !!! Appreciate the helpful information.
I was looking through your archives and saw this where you mentioned Pinterest. I am pretty sure I saw this when it was posted when I was in college and made it all the time. In fact I have even changed it to just do the chicken part without the black beans- the chicken cooked in salsa is a great multipurpose shredded chicken and my husband affectionately refers to it as “Salsa chicken”. Now that I am a more experienced cook and make dinner almost every night and frequent your website, I know it was always meant to be :) Thank you for this!
This is probably one of the most repeated recipes in my house over the years! Now that I have an Instant Pot, do you have times conversion if you’re wanting to make this in an instant pot instead? Thank you!
Hi Victoria, Unfortunately we have not tested it in an Intant Pot and can’t give any guidance.
Excellent
Lbw this recipe. I have made it many times. Lots of left overs for my hubby.
This is so tasty. We did omit the corn but otherwise did not stray from the recipe (well…. we did serve it over cauliflower rice instead of traditional). Our salsa of choice is Herdez salsa ranchero, but I can’t wait to try different salsas. Can’t imagine it would ever disappoint.
Thanks a million!
Absolutely love this recipe! Wondering if anyone has ever made it completely following the recipe (pre-rice) and then froze? Thrown in crock pot to re-heat?
I don’t suggest adding frozen food to a slow cooker without thawing first because it can take the slow cooker far too long to get the food up to a safe temperature, which poses a food safety hazard.
This recipe was really good! I have a 3 quart slow cooker and it fit perfectly. My bf liked it too. Served it over quinoa because we did not have any rice
I’ve made this recipe a few ties now. For the 2 of us I use 2 ounces of soy curls, rehydrated in no-chicken broth, then ppin the slow cooker crock along with any remaining both. 1 cup of cooked black beans, 1 cup frozen corn, plus the spices, amounts halved, and 1 cup of salsa, red or green, whatever we have on hand. I usually cook it on low for 4 or 5 hours. It makes an easy tasty vegetarian meal.
Please fix the calorie count for the recipe. It’s wrong! The entire recipe for 4 people may total almost 800 calories – but a 1-cup serving does not.
I just reran the numbers through the calculator and it reduced a little, but not by much. Keep in mind that each serving includes one cup of cooked rice.
Seriously, you have to try this one! I have been making Budget Bytes recipes for a while now and they are literally all great. But THIS ONE! It is a dump and go recipe that tastes like a delicious Chipotle chicken bowl!
I used green chili salsa, a can of corn instead of frozen, and diced chicken breast tenders. No shredding was necessary.
We work very long hours outside the home and use slow cooker recipes to survive and THIS ONE is going into the regular rotation because it is simply awesome! Thank you!
I’ve been making this recipe for YEARS and rarely make changes to it. It’s perfect as is! Can be low carb by eating as is, served with rice for everyone else, wrapped in a tortilla when enjoying as leftovers, and add extra liquid(chicken broth) and enjoy as soup. Use your favorite salsa and you’ll love how delicious and easy this is. Definitely recommend!
I added green chilis as well to mine … thanks for this super good recipe!! I plan to use again (:
My kids loved this recipe. So easy and very inexpensive. Thank you!!!
This has become one of my kids favourites. They keep asking for it and I love how easy it is to make. I always have everything on hand so it’s perfect. Can’t wait to try more of your recipes
so easy and so delicious. This one will be a repeat recipe for sure.
Is the 1 cup nutrition info 1 cup of the chicken mixture or does it include rice?
Wondering if using course black pepper in the place of cranking a peppermill is a possible substitution. If so, how much?
Hi Eliza! Feel free to substitute to taste. Approximately the same amount. XOXO -Monti
I’ve made this many times before- it’s always satisfying and super easy. Most recently, I needed to use up about half of a rotisserie chicken, so I combined it with all the ingredients listed and heated it all up in a skillet. Swapped the black beans for cannellini beans, and the green onions for diced yellow onion, as that’s what I had on hand. It turned out fantastic!
What is the best way to freeze this? Follow recipe and then freeze in freezer bags, thaw and re-heat? Or put all “raw ingrediants” in freezer bag and throw in crockpot to cook for 4hrs high or 8 hours low?
I’ve never tried freezing it before cooking, only after. :) I usually freeze it after cooking and dividing it into single-serving portions so I can just reheat it one at a time in the microwave.
Ok, thank you! I will cook and then freeze, then just use crockpot to re-heat for large crowd! :)
How do you freeze a entire bowl?
Just divide into portions as if you were going to eat them, but put them in freezer-safe containers, and freeze. :)
I no longer own a slow cooker. Any idea if this would work in an instant pot and if so how long I would cook it for? Thanks!
I think most Instant Pots have a slow cooker button.
But you need a special lid to slow cook, which most people do not have
The more I hear about the extra costs associated with instant pots the less I want one. How can a kitchen appliance be listed as an 11-in-1 device if it doesn’t come with all the accessories necessary to use all 11 different functions?
Because you can pressure cook this exact recipe on high for 22 mins and achieve the results of 4 hrs in a slow cooker (and if cooking the chicken from frozen, cook for 27 mins on high). That’s why.
No you don’t need the special lid, just use the regular lid on “venting”
I made it today in my instant pot, on the slow cook mode. I wanted to eat it for lunch, so I did four hours on “more” (high setting). I don’t have a special lid, so I just use the lid from my frying pan.
This recipe is a lifesaver when I can’t bear to actually cook a meal. I add tons of sour cream to my finished bowls and it’s even better.
The whole family loved this recipe. The chicken was so tender. I used a lot less of the spices because we can’t eat really spicy food. The flavor was delicious and will definitely make again.
For those who don’t already have all the spices at home and don’t want want to buy all of them a low cost alternative is to get a packet of low sodium taco seasoning and mix it in.
Hey Beth!
Love your blog and your recipes! Your taco chicken bowls and spicy chicken rigatoni were one of the first “meals” I learned to make. So thank you! I noticed that you’ve updated your recipe maybe. In the past, frozen chicken breasts were used and now you don’t recommend it. I’ve made it with frozen and never had an issue. Can I ask why the change? Thank you!
Hi Harnoor! Nope, I never suggest using frozen chicken breast because that is a big food safety hazard. I have a background in microbiology and food safety, so that’s not something I would have ever recommended. The reason is that slow cookers take far too long to heat the frozen chicken to a safe temperature and it ends up staying in the “temperature danger zone” of 40F to 140F far too long. This gives bacteria an opportunity to feed on the meat and produce toxins that are left in the food even after the bacteria are finally killed once it reaches a higher temperature. You’re not guaranteed to get sick, but the probability definitely increases. I hope that helps it makes sense! :)
To get more veggies in there, what do you think about serving on a bed of shredded lettuce instead of rice? I may try it!
Yes, that’s a good option! Just make sure the chicken mixture isn’t too hot so it doesn’t wilt your lettuce. :)
Could I do it in an instapot?
Yes, slow cooker recipes convert very well to pressure cookers. I’d probably use the poultry setting for this.
Did this work well in the instantpot? Gonna try it tonight.
I made this tonight and it was fantastic, I finished my plate in less than 15 minutes! I’ve never actually cooked a meal from fresh ingredients before – I always buy prepared food, rely on my mums cooking, or order copious amounts of takeout. I imagine it would go really well with some nachos or in a tortilla wrap which I might try next! Thank you for posting these recipes for us to enjoy.
What is your suggestion as to the sides and desserts?
I honestly wouldn’t even bother with a side dish for this one because it’s a full meal in one bowl (rice, meat, vegetables) and it’s VERY filling. As for dessert, I would maybe choose something chocolate. Chocolate goes so well spicy flavors. :)
I’ve made this many times before- it’s always satisfying and super easy. Most recently, I needed to use up about half of a rotisserie chicken, so I combined it with all the ingredients listed and heated it all up in a skillet. Swapped the black beans for cannellini beans, and the green onions for diced yellow onion, as that’s what I had on hand. It turned out fantastic!
This recipe was shockingly good. I’m usually skeptical of these kinds of recipes where you just dump a bunch of ingredients in with chicken breast, because the breast usually turns out dry and the dish overly watery. However, after 8 hours of cooking the chicken was very tender and moist and all of the liquid from the salsa and other ingredients has reduced into a sort of flavorful sauce to coat the chicken when it shreds. She’s also not lying when she says it freezes well-I threw the leftovers in the freezer and they’ve been reheating with essentially no change in texture or flavor. Highly recommend for an easy dinner!!!
Can I use frozen chicken breasts for this?
I don’t suggest putting frozen meat into a slow cooker because it takes too long to come up to a safe temperature, but you can thaw them first and then use them. :)
ZI made this Yesterday. Put it on a about 10am, Went to Eye Doctor then grocery shopping, Gone 5hrs. Came home to wonderfully smelling house, put rice in the microwave, and 30mi later had a great tasting dinner. Made Quesadillas for lunch today. It was great with a dollop of Sour Cream and Onion greens.
I just wanted to share that I made this in my Instant Pot tonight and it came out really great.
I did 10 minutes at high pressure with a 5 minute natural release then quick release to release the rest of the pressure. I shredded the chicken using a hand mixer right in the instant pot and it cut the shredding time to about a minute.
Thank you so much for this comment. You saved dinner!
Thank you for the information!
This is what I came here looking for! Thank you!
Thank you! This is the info I needed because I no longer own a slow cooker. Looking forward to making this tonight!
I just made this last night and it was delicious! Everyone loved it! I will definitely be making this again.
This one of our favorite meals. We serve it with the lime tortilla chips. Just curious, would it be considered gluten free meal?
Yep! As long as there isn’t some sneaky gluten that made its way into your jarred salsa (there usually isn’t) then it should be fine.
Most packets of taco seasonings have gluten, if you go that route, so read your labels. I *think* salsa is usually gluten free. Double check all the food labels and you should be good. 👍
I’ve never seen taco seasoning with gluten in it. We are a gluten free household.
If it’s not labeled gluten-free, it may be processed on equipment that also processes gluten products. McCormick’s actually makes a gluten-free (labeled) taco seasoning that I, in the past, have found on occasion at Walmart. I always use Beth’s homemade taco seasoning from her “Crispy Baked Beef and Black Bean Tacos” recipe. It’s really better than the packaged stuff anyway and you know exactly what’s in it.
How would you tweak this so it would bony include meat? 🙂 I want to substitute the chicken for something else but I’m not sure. I’m not vegetarian but I love trying new recipes. I’ve made this plenty of times and it never fails but chicken all the time does get old
Can you rephrase? I think there’s a typo in there so I’m not sure exactly what you’re asking. Are you asking for a different kind of meat or no meat?
Oops. I didn’t even notice my typo. Either or. Have you tried this with a different protein? Or substituting with a vegetarian friendly meat. I do not eat much meat but love seafood so I’ll usually opt for no meat or eat seafood.
Gotcha. :) I haven’t tried it with a different meat, but I bet it would be good with pork or beef! If you’re doing a meat substitute you probably won’t need to slow cook it, just heat everything through really quickly on the stove top (slow cooking just makes the chicken tender and shredable). Without meat it’s basically just a burrito bowl, which is always fast, easy, and you can add all sorts of goodies! Here’s my post about basic burrito bowls with a list of all the fun things you can put in it.
I made this today in my 5 qt. crock pot. Tweaked a few items, sliced yellow onion, handful of chopped green bell pepper, added 3 tblspns taco seasoning with 6 breast cutlets, can of drained/rinsed black beans, drained can of whole kernel corn, added about 10 chopped pickled jalapeno ring slices, granulated garlic, 2 tblspns cajun seasoning & 1 can rotel tomatoes with chilies (not drained). Cooked on low for 6 hrs, we ate it with sliced avocado and tortilla chips – was great & seasoning was SPOT-ON. Leftovers tomorrow will be even better, will do with soft flour tortillas & queso, then hard shell tacos, if any left after that….Watched a football game while eating this – perfect!! This was so easy!! Thanks!
Wow! I’m so gonna try this. Thanks for sharing!
Made this tonight and it was delicious! Served it with sour cream. Will be making this again.
Could this be made with Pinto Beans in place of the black beans?
Yes :)
I don’t usually comment however just made this recipe. It is so easy and quick I did not expect much.
Was I ever wrong loved this with rice and would probably be even better in a tortilla shell.
This will definitely be one if my staples for a busy day.
Would this work with boneless chicken thighs I wonder?
It sure would! Enjoy!
Does the nutritional information include rice or is it just a cup of the chicken mixture? Is the cheese included? I don’t understand how it can be so high.
The nutrition data provided is calculated using all ingredients listed on the recipe card, including any ingredient listed as optional. Keep in mind that recipes that involve marinades, breading, salad dressings, oil for frying, or salt for cooking pasta and potatoes may be skewed because some of these ingredients will be discarded and not included in the final edible portion.
A solid, flavorful, easy recipe.
This recipe looks great! Where are the nutritional values though?
We only recently brought on a Registered Dietician to our team. She’s working hard behind the scenes to update the entire recipe database, over 1500+ recipes, with nutritional information. She’s working her way from the newest recipes back and it takes some time to update them all. Stay tuned!
I’ve made this a few times and it’s definitely easy, filling, and delicious. I serve it by putting a soft taco size tortilla in the bottom of a bowl, then layer on shredded cheddar, rice and the chicken mixture, and top with a little more cheese, sour cream and guacamole.
It makes quite a bit, so I’ve also served the leftovers quesadilla style by putting the chicken mixture and cheddar cheese between two tortillas and browning them on both sides. Also delicious and easy.
Could you use cook beef instead of chicken my husband doesn’t like chicken with southwest or Mexican flavors, and if so does that change the cooking time in the crockpot any or would it be just as easy to make on top of the store then?
Yes I think that would be delicious!
This is on my meal plan for the week. Always a good stand by. A solid recipe, crowd favorite around my house. Dump and cook, it’s so easy! And so good! I serve it over rice.
I don’t have cayenne pepper, but I do have crushed red pepper. Would that work as a substitute and would I use the same amount? Thx
Not the same, so I would just leave out the cayenne for now.
I made it that night, and I did end up using crushed red pepper for the cayenne pepper, but halved the amount to be safe:) It was absolutely delicious. One of my top 5 recipes I’ve ever made!!
This was so good! I love simple recipes like this. I added additional toppings of sour cream, guac, jalapeños, and tortilla strips. Yummy I will definitely be making this again
I made this the other day and it was absolutely delicious. My husband and I really enjoyed it and are adding it to our list of Re-Make Recipes. Yum! Thank you!
Had it this past week and loved it! Hooray for easy peasy tasty crockpot meals!
Thanks Kris!
Have you cooked this in an instapot yet? If so, how?
We haven’t tested it in an Instant Pot Michelle but some previous commenters have said this “I cooked it in an Instant Pot. Did 10 minutes on high pressure and allowed it to vent for 20 minutes.”
Just did this in my 6 qt Instant Pot. I used the manual setting, high pressure, for 16 min., then did a quick release. It didn’t fall apart, but shredded easily. I reduced the sauce a bit by turning it to “Saute” mode while shredding. Rice is cooked separately. Just as good as the crock pot, but ready in less than an hour. Yum!
Thanks for sharing your Instant Pot method Marie!
Could this be done on the stovetop with a quicker cooking time? It looks delicious but I don’t have a slow cooker.
Hi Emma, I have a skillet version that is almost exactly the same, except it uses pre-cooked chicken: Southwest Chicken Skillet. You could cook some raw chicken in the skillet before adding any of the other ingredients, but then it will just be chunks of chicken instead of shredded. :)
Hi Emma! I think I would simmer it on the stove top with a lid (less energy consumption than the oven). Put everything in the pot as if it were the slow cooker, bring it up to a boil over medium-high, then turn it down to low (or the lowest temp that will still have it simmering very lightly) and let it simmer for an hour or so. See how tender the chicken is at that point and if it is not shreddable yet, let it go longer. I suspect it will be shreddable after an hour, though. You also might want to give it a light stir every now and then since the heat is a bit more concentrated than in the slow cooker.
First crockpot meal I have actually liked! Perfect for weeknight dinner!
Hooray!
How do you make this ahead and freeze for later? Do you cook if first or put all of the ingredients in a bag raw and freeze and then cook it when you remove it from the freezer? Thanks!
You could do it either way depending on how you’ll want to cook it later on. By cooking it ahead of time, letting it cool to room temperature, then freezing, you can just have it read to reheat and eat. Or you can put it all into a freezer bag raw, and have it ready to just pour into the slow cooker after thawing and ready to go.
And just to reiterate what Kelly said, if you are freezing before cooking, make sure everything is fully thawed before it goes into the slow cooker. It’s not safe to put frozen foods into a slow cooker because they take too long to heat through and can become a food safety hazard.
Wow! This recipe was really good. Way better than I expected based on the ingredients. Both my picky 3-year old and husband loved it. I cooked it in an Instant Pot. Did 10 minutes on high pressure and allowed it to vent for 20 minutes. We tried it in tortillas and over rice. Both were great! Try this – you’ll love it and have plenty of leftovers.
My husband and I loved this recipe! I added about a 1/2 cup of crushed pineapple as well for a little sweetness and it turned out amazing! We added the chicken, rice and cheese to a tortilla with some fresh jalapeño and avocado and threw them on the griddle for some awesome quesadillas! I think the chicken would also be great for a taco salad. This will definitely be one of my go-to recipes for an easy and delicious dinner that provides plenty of leftovers as well!
One of my favorites I’ve made it a million times. Can it be made in the instant pot??? I just got one and now I wanna make everything in it!!!!
Yes, this would probably translate to the IP well. I would probably use the chicken setting.
I did it in my IP last night and it turned out great! Did 10 minutes on high pressure and allowed it to vent for 20 minutes. Also I put the spices directly on the chicken. It’s definitely a keeper!
Would making this with chicken thighs cha he the cooking time?
Chicken thighs are pretty sturdy in the slow cooker, so you don’t have to worry as much about over cooking them as you would a chicken breast. So, while I haven’t tested the cooking time with chicken thighs, I’d probably just do it with the same amount of time on my first try and adjust if needed the next time.
I make this ALL the time after one of my friends brought it to me after I had my little girl! Now it’s one of my go to’s for big groups! I also make it for a “take them a meal” quite often. I use a aluminum throw away 3in pan and put the rice in the bottom, main dish in the middle cheese and green onions on top! (I also give the family sour cream and avocado on the side)
SO GOOD!
Budget bytes, why are you always reading my mind, posting the exact recipes I’m looking for all the time? Thank you!
This is an awesome recipe. Super easy, and super tasty. I don’t like to rate recipes, until I’ve made it more than once or twice. I’ve made this almost once a month, for over a year. Everyone in the house will eat this, which is saying something considering we have six people under one roof, including a picky four year old. I actually make a double batch every time I cook it, because freezing this is a super convenient meal to reheat. It tastes just as good reheated from frozen, as it does the day you make it. Plus I use it for so many things. It’s really good in wraps, quesadillas, over rice, or eaten like nachos, or scooping with chips on the side. Thank you so much for this recipe.
This is so good! Right at the end I topped it with a few slices of Pepper Jack cheese, and let that melt. Then we made fajita type wraps, with sauteed peppers and onions, plus fresh avocado and sour cream. WOW!!!!
This recipe is great! My hubby hates salsa but loved this dish. He could not believe it was made with a jar of salsa. He and the kids ask for this dish now.
I just moved to a higher elevation area over 6000 feet. Is there anything different I should be doing while making this meal?
Unfortunately I’m not experienced with high altitude cooking, so I can’t advise on this one. :(
Hi Kenny! Possibly too late. I live at 7,500ft and follow the recipe. It works out perfectly for me.
I put this mixture in burritos. YUM! YUM!
If creating freezer meals to stock the freezer, could the ingredients for the chicken mixture be put into a freezer ziplock bag and frozen that way? Then dump the contents of the bag into the crockpot and cook as directed? I realize small cooked portions are freezeable, I’m just wanting to do a TON of freezer meal prepping for our family of 6 and searching for good recipes to get a lot done in as short of time possible. THANKS!
Yes, I think that would work great! But I do suggest thawing it in the refrigerator overnight before adding it to the slow cooker. Adding frozen meat can be a safety hazard because it takes too long to come up to a safe temperature in a slow cooker. :)
I regularly make this (although a little bit more plain–just salsa and chicken, no spices), but what I really love to do is after the slow cooker is done, shred the chicken and then add the dry rice directly to the slow cooker. There’s already a bunch of liquid in it, anyway! (I normally add the beans at this stage, too.) Then I put the lid back on and let it stay on the “keep warm” setting for about 30 minutes, and voila, everything is done and cooked in own pot.
Just made this recipe for supper tonight and to use for meals for the rest of the week. It turned out so good! Mixed cauliflower rice and regular rice for the base and it is amazing! This recipe will definitely be added to my weekly meal prep list; super easy to make and can be used for so much! Cant wait to make tacos with this later this week!
Looks delicious! So I will have to try this recipe!
This is such a great recipe, I have made it and had it requested for potlucks many times. I get lazy and use a low sodium taco seasoning packet and works just as well. I also stretch it a bit more by putting 2 cans of black beans and 2 cans of corn in the mix.
Another tip, if you shred it then let it sit it the chicken will soak up more flavor and the sauce will thicken a bit more. It also freezes beautify!
I haven’t found anything I don’t like with it yet, I’ve had it on salads, tacos, rice, burrito’s…you name it my family has probably tried it. Thank you so much for sharing.
Can I somehow put this rice in with this to cook? So I don’t need to do that separately??
Cooking rice in a slow cooker can be quite tricky. You have to get the amount of liquid just right and some cookers don’t cook quite evenly enough, so you get some rice over cook and some under cooked. I have another recipe with rice in the slow cooker and the feedback is quite mixed, so I don’t suggest it.
I have been making a similar recipe for years. As a serving suggestion, line a sheet pan with aluminum foil, pile on a layer of tortilla chips, spread the shredded chicken over the chips, top with shredded cheese, and broil until the cheese is bubbly. Scoop out a serving and top with the salsa/corn/beans, more cheese, and onions or cilantro.
This recipe is amazing! I swapped the spices with old el paso taco seasoning because I had some extra packets laying around. It turned out SO well. Will definitely be making again.
Love it made it twice will be making again
This is my favorite recipe so far. Made it this week while we had houseguests, so it was the perfect mix of easy and delicious. Our guests loved it so much they asked for your website and started sharing the URL with their kids. College students need all the simple, delicious, and cost-friendly recipes they can find!
How many calories per serving are in this and how much is one serving? I am using fitness pal for calorie counting and I can’t find any information on calories for this recipe.
I’m sorry, I don’t have the nutritional information. One serving is about one cup of chicken mixture and one cup of rice, plus any toppings.
I use Fitness Pal as well. You can build a recipe by naming your meal and adding all ingredients then put down how many servings – in this case 6. Also, you don’t have to include rice in the recipe and keep it separately listed, along with cheese, etc.. For recipes like this, I would only include the crock pot ingredients, but that’s my preference.
I would like to make this with dry black beans. Any suggestions for changes I should make to the recipe?
That won’t work well, unfortunately. You’d have to add copious amounts of liquid to get the beans to cook through, and the black beans will turn everything else in the pot grey-ish black as they cook.
I have made thos before, and it was amazing! I really want to make this today but don’t have salsa, recommendations on a substitute? I have canned tomatoes chilies and onion would that work?
Eh, I don’t think it will be quite as flavorful as the salsa, but it will probably turn out similar in texture.
I want to make this in a pressure cooker – instant pot. any idea about cooking time?
I would try the basic 30 min high pressure. That’s just a guess, though! :)
Great flavor and very easy to make
This has been a family favorite for YEARS. I can never get enough of it. :-)
Made this in my Instant Pot. Cooked bone-in chicken thighs with the salsa, seasonings and a tiny can of chopped chilies for 10 minutes. When done, I removed the chicken to cool a bit, but threw the corn and beans into the hot salsa mixture. I chopped/shredded the chicken and added back to the pot and turned onto “saute” for just a couple minutes to cook the frozen corn. It was perfect, served over rice and topped sour cream, shredded cheddar and some chopped cilantro. Great company or take-to-somebody meal.
I came to the comments to see if someone had cooked it in the IP. Thank you for adding your comments. I’m going to use boneless chicken breasts, how long do you think it should cook for?
Hi! If I double this recipe – how much does it change the cook time on high?
I’m not sure, I’d need to test it out. It shouldn’t take much longer, though. The only difference would be how long it takes your slow cooker to get the contents up to the right temperature.
Would canned corn also work?
Yes, just make sure to drain it first. :)
Can I substitute chicken for ground beef? If so, how much would you suggest, 1 lb?
I’ve never cooked ground beef in a slow cooker before, but I’ve read that you want to brown it before going in because it may take too long to come up to a safe temperature in the slow cooker. If that’s the case, you don’t need to use the slow cooker at all. Just add the rest of the ingredients to your skillet or pot after you brown the beef, let it heat through, and it will be ready to go. :)
Can I use frozen chicken?
Yes, but you should let it thaw before adding it to the slow cooker. Placing frozen meat in a slow cooker can be a food safety hazard because it can take too long to come up to a safe temperature.
I’ve made this many times with 2 frozen chicken breasts and have had no problems with that. If you use frozen, maybe set to 2 hours on high and 2-3 on low, or shred the chicken about 1 hour before serving so it can cook through.
Hi!
How spicy is this dish? My mother in law likes the flavor of the chili and cayenne powders, but too much and it’s too spicy for her. Is this relatively mild or should I reduce the amount of those two powders?
Thanks!
It’s fairly mild, as long as you use a mild salsa.
My family LOVES this recipe and we make it all the time. I recently purchased an instant pot, any suggestions on if I could cook this under pressure? I’d love to know how long to cook it for.
Thank you again!
Yes, you can definitely do this one in a pressure cooker. I would just check the guides that come in the booklet with the IP for the suggested settings for boneless, skinless chicken breasts and cook it using those settings. :)
Ahhh so I made this today ( right now actually ) and I followed the recipe to the T and I just stirred mine and at 5 hours my chicken was perfect and shredded just by stirring it. I tasted it and it tasted great!! Is it okay if I stop the cooker now??
Yep!
If I start with frozen chicken that I thaw, can I then re freeze the leftovers? I always thought you couldn’t re-freeze meat that had been frozen. Thanks!
As long as the chicken doesn’t spend more than an hour or two in the temperature danger zone (40-140) it’s safe. The issue with thawing-cooking-freezing is that it’s easy to accidentally let the chicken get too warm while thawing, and then let it stay warm for too long when cooling down again. As long as you’re diligent by thawing it in the refrigerator only (so it stays below 40 while thawing) and cool it down quickly and immediately after cooking, it shouldn’t pose a problem. That being said, the more times you freeze and thaw food the more the texture breaks down, so that’s something to consider as well.
Can you use a packet of taco seasoning if you dont have all the spices?
Yes you can. :)
This recipe is fan-freaken-tastic, I normally add an extra chicken breast (for leftover purpose) and add an extra can of black beans, and use frozen edamame instead of the corn sometimes, also I never have cumin on hand so instead of all the individual spice’s I just use 2 packages of low sodium taco seasoning. And then there’s the toppings which are endless but my favorites are cheese, sour cream, tomatoes, avacodo, green onions and some taco sauce. Bonus…the kids love it just as much as me!!!
One of my FAVORITES! I’ve made and shared this countless times.
I’ve been a fan for quite some time and love your recipes and your “down to earth” approach. I’m looking forward to trying this one–I’ve never been disappointed in any of the ones I’ve tried.
LOVE this recipe. Do you think if I double it, it will still fit in a standard crockpot?
Double will probably fit in a 6 quart slow cooker.
Can I use frozen chicken breast?
Yes, but you’ll want to thaw them first. Placing frozen meat into a slow cooker is not recommended because it can take too long for it to come up to a safe temperature.
Any advice for someone who added too much corn? The ingredient list shows up as 2 lbs of corn but the recipe shows 1/2. Help!
The recipe shows 1/2 lb. corn. I wonder if you were looking at the recipe on Pinterest? Pinterest pulls ingredient information automatically, but it always messes up the fractions. Unfortunately they don’t give us any way to edit the information on the pin.
Easy, delicious, thank you!
Hi Beth – I’ve made this recipe many times and I love it. I love the flavor of your enchilada sauce more than the jarred salsa. Have you ever tried meat in the slow cooker with your enchilada sauce? I’m curious of the ratio of sauce to meat/ veggies since it’s thinner than salsa. Thanks!
Oooooh, great idea! I haven’t tried that but now I want to!!
Have you tried this in a pressure cooker? If so how long should I put it on for?
I haven’t tried it in a pressure cooker, but I would probably start with trying 30 min. high pressure.
Could I double or even triple this recipe? Feeding 12 adults and wondering if tripling it would fit in a 6 quart crockpot!
I made this and it’s sooo good, I qualify on all three fronts of busy, poor and a student (a PhD seemed like a good idea) and this was took like 20 mins to put together (and only bc I opened my can of beans with a knife) and tastes amazing. I’ve had a slow cooker for a couple of years now and barely used it but this is inspiring me to find the right recipes and give it another go around. I added cilantro and that really added a great finishing touch
I just made this turned out great ty!
Can you tell us how you would convert this to any instant pot recipe??? It looks fabulous!
You could probably check the IP manual for the recommended cooking time for boneless chicken breasts and just cook it for that amount of time. I’m sure it will be really fast! :)
Super easy and beyond yummy! Can adjust the spiciness accordingly!
This looks delicious. I love anything that I can make in the slow cooker. I’m going to try this recipe this week as a taco instead of a rice dish.
I’m wondering, since you seem to have an instant pot, did you try this recipe in it?
I would love to know if it works well in there because it’s one of my favorite recipe!
I haven’t tried it since buying the IP, but I’m sure it would work great! You could probably just use the “poultry” button. :)
I would like to make this recipe using dried black beans instead of canned. What changes would you suggest to accommodate this?
Also I need the recipe to be enough for at least 20 people.
I actually wouldn’t recommend cooking the beans from dry in the slow cooker with all the other ingredients. They will bleed color and turn everything grey-ish black. :(
I’ve watched your website for a long time and have used many of your great recipes — but I had to comment on the taco chicken bowls. This is about as close to perfect as it gets! I left out the corn and the cayenne pepper, just as a personal preference, and it was absolutely delicious. And easy! I think it would be just as great in a taco with sour cream and lettuce as it is with rice. I’d give this six stars if I could. Thank you Beth! You never disappoint! Love your website.
This is probably one of my absolute favorite recipes to make! And it makes SO MUCH that my husband and I can eat a few helpings at dinner, freeze a bunch, and have leftovers! This recipes makes the best leftovers, too. So far, we’ve taken the leftovers and added them to leftover mac and cheese (yum!) and and spread the leftovers over a wheat pizza crust and topped with cheese for southwest pizza (double yum!).
Yum! Eating this right now, thank you!
This looks so good and easy! By the way, can you use “bone in” chicken instead? I have some in the freezer I’d like to use.
Yes, you can, but be sure to remove the skin if it’s on there and you’ll need to pull out the bones after cooking. :)
I got a late start making this. Do you think 3 – 3.5 hours on high will be enough for 3 chicken breasts on the thinner side? Thanks!
It’s hard to say. It depends a lot on your slow cooker as well.
I plan on putting everything in the slow cooker before I head out to work. Unfortunately, due to my commute, I probably won’t be back to the house until after about 10 hours. Will the extra two hours in the slow cooker make the ingredients too soft/mushy?
P.S. Five Stars because I’ve made this recipe before on a weekend and loved it!
Nope, this one holds up really well to extra cooking time, so I think you’ll be fine. :)
Made this for dinner and it was fabulous! Chicken was tender and delicious. I’m freezing the rest for dinners over the next few weeks. I’ve got class three nights a week, so it will be a lifesaver when I get home late and need something quick to eat. Thanks for sharing!
This was delicious! I needed a quick lunch meal and just looked up burrito bowls on the internet and your recipe came up. So I didn’t have time to use the crock pot, just took some rotisserie chicken I had in the freezer and put that in the pan along with all the other ingredients. I also added a large fresh tomato I had and some red pepper I just got at the farmers market. It was so easy, quick and so good! I will definitely be making this again! Thanks for a super easy recipe.
If I could give this recipe 10 stars I would. Stumbled upon this site couple years ago and tried this recipe…. It was a hit, even with the picky eaters in my house. We never have leftovers of this meal lol
We love this recipe! So easy yet so tasty! Once cooked, how long can this be frozen for?
I usually try to eat it within a few months.
Hi, what size crock pot do you recommend for 1 1/2 lbs chicken that you here?? Looks great.
I think my slow cooker is 6 quarts, but I lost the papers long ago, so I’m not 100% sure.
I LOVE this recipe! It’s been one of our family’s favorite dinners since I was diagnosed with celiac disease and switched to a gluten-free diet. Thanks, Beth!
I know someone else said they did this, but I’m assuming it’s OK to cook on high for 4 hours? I don’t cook chicken often and would appreciate the advice. Thanks!
Yes, that will work fine. :)
I made the recipe today and it came out delicious. All the instructions and timings were perfect. Thanks for posting the recipe.
I know your recipe says it serves 9 but I’m curious what the actual serving size would be for 9 people. It’s currently in the crockpot cooking and I can’t wait to try it!
Unfortunately this recipe was from when I first started blogging and I didn’t record the serving size. :( I’m going to guess it was about 2/3 cup of the chicken mixture per serving, though.
I’m finally using this as taco bowls this week, but I have made and used this for enchiladas and Mexican lasagna before, and it’s great!
Awesome recipe!!! I just discovered your web site yesterday, and this was recipe #3, and we love them all so far!
I just added 1 1/4 cup of water to the whole mix, let it cook 4.5 hours on High in the slow cooker, then added 1 cup
of instant rice at the end, let it cook for another 30 minutes, and now the kids can just scoop it up and stuff a soft tortilla,
add grated cheese and they got a Burrito!! It’s a winner! Thank you so much for your great and simple ideas!
Hey Barb!
When you added the cup of Rice did you turn your slow cooker to low or did you keep it high? I think I’m gonna add 2 cups of rice also
I used the “rice” function on my cooker. There is a link in the post about how to cook rice in a pressure cooker if it doesn’t have a specific “rice” function. :)
It’s in the slow cooker right now. I added an onion and 1.5 bell peppers (bought a pack of three, one of each color – the other 1.5 were used in your oven fajitas a couple days ago which is a big favourite at our house) and cut back on the corn a little bit. Really curious how it’ll turn out! smells fantastic already.
Where can I find the nutrition facts for this recipe?
I’m sorry I don’t have the nutritional information.
I wouldn’t expect your to, Beth :)
This recipe was soooo yummy! It was the first dinner I made in my new crockpot and wow! It’s so easy. I’m a convert :)
I started making another recipe that called for balsamic vinegar, but the rest of the recipe is fairly close, loved it!
We’ve made this one again and again! I usually include a bag of frozen spinach too as a sneaky way to get some extra veggies. I’ve also made it without chicken and just added in a little more seasoning with great results. I usually put the leftovers (if there are any) in tortillas and freeze them as individual burritos for a quick grab and go lunch!
What can I subsitutue salsa for because I don’t have any
You really need salsa for this recipe, unfortunately. It provides most of the flavor and moisture needed for cooking.
I’ve used a can of diced tomatoes and a can (small) of diced green chilies, or a can or two of Ro-tel . Came out great.
I am breastfeeding and can’t eat spicy foods, but wanted to try this recipe. I substituted petite diced tomatoes (undrained) and this turned out to be delicious! I just had salsa on the side for my husband to kick it up a notch for him. :)
I made this tonight and my house smelled (still smells) absolutely amazing. I made it way too late to actually enjoy for dinner, but I taste-tested it and oh my gosh, it was soooooo yummy!!! I plan on pairing it with your cilantro-lime rice out of your cookbook. (It took a year of “begging” for hubby to finally get the hint and buy it for me lol)
Is there a way to adjust the recipe for those of us who don’t have a crock pot (yet)?
You could probably simmer the ingredients in a pot over low heat for an hour or so (or until the chicken is tender enough to shred). Even on low, the stove tends to be hotter than a slow cooker, though, so it will cook much faster. You can also try this Southwest Chicken Skillet, which is very similar but uses precooked chicken.
You can do this in a 250 oven, tightly sealed with aluminum foil. It will take less time than in the pot.
Hello,
As a broke college student who recently got my first crock pot, thank you so much for posting this recipe! It turned out fabulous (I used a verde sauce and queso fresco instead). I’m planning to make it again, but I want to know if I need to change how long/what setting I cook at if I increase amount of meat. Your recipe calls for 1.5 pounds, and I’m wanting to do 2.5-3. Is that doable?
Yep, as long as it fits comfortably in your slow cooker, it probably won’t need any additional time.
I just made this right now. I put it in my crockpot for 4 hours on high, and it’s delicious! I added some red and green bell peppers also, and used hot salsa. I will probably add a squeeze of lime to my plate to make the salsa kick a bit more.
Nice recipe but where the heck do you 1.5 lbs of chicken breasts for $2.90? They were $12 at my store!
My local grocery store has sales on chicken breasts for $1.99/lb. about every other month and when I catch it I stock up (I keep it in the freezer). :)
Can I use uncooked pinto beans? I’m learning how to cook still it’s basically a stupid question :(
That’s not a stupid questions. :) You can’t use dry beans for this recipe because they need quite a bit of moisture to cook and this recipe doesn’t include any significant liquid. You’ll need to use canned beans (but those don’t need to be “cooked” before adding to the slow cooker).
This is fantastic. I substituted in pinto beans and 1 tbs. of taco seasoning. It’s so good. This will be come a regular menu item in our house
You should be happy to hear that after making this for my parents during their christmas visit, they promptly went out and bought a slow cooker :)
I made it as stated, although i did use home-made black beans, and i used a mix of Trader Joe’s regular and mango/pineapple salsa. Everyone devoured it, and there were no leftovers!
I have a 1.5l size slow cooker – would I have to adjust the quantities in this recipe for it to work in that?
I can only guess, but I think you might need to cut it in half. I used a 6qt slow cooker, which is close to 5.5L and it filled it maybe 1/3 to 1/2 of the way full.
Can I just tell you how much I love your site? I mean I love it. And this is one of my favorite recipes from this site. The only change I made was I used chicken breasts with bone-in because it is most cost effective. I just shredded the chicken at the end and got rid of the bones. Comes right off. Beside the bowl I also made burritos with lots of cheese and sour cream. Thank you for this wonderful site.
This was, by far, the best taco chicken I have had yet! and who would have thought this much chicken would feed four of us? so tasty and lots of flavor!
These were wonderful!!! My husband and I had them gone within a day (after storing the leftovers for lunch the next day of course). I can’t wait to try more!
Would it be possible to replace salsa with crushed tomatoes or make salsa from scratch? My daughter does not like ready made salsa from supermarkets.
Thank you so much for the website. I have made three of your recipes so far; always happy with the results!
You could probably do a mix of fresh diced tomatoes, onions, chiles, and cilantro, although I think it will just inherently taste different. You might need to add a little moisture, like chicken broth, too. I’m really not sure how it would work out without testing it.
I actually always make it this way because I don’t like buying packaged dressings/salsas, etc. I just add 4-5 diced plum tomatoes, one yellow onion, and one jalepeno in place of the salsa. The tomatoes when cooking down generate plenty of liquid on their own. I made this on Sunday and added a little bit of chipotle in adobo I had in my fridge for a little more smoky kick.
Delicious recipe and a great way to use up the chicken that’s been in the freezer as it comes out juicy and delicious.
Do you feel you could do this with ground beef? Cook the beef first (say the night before?) and cook it in the crock pot w/ the medley?
Curious because I have a lot of ground beef on hand!
The only times I’ve put cooked ground beef in a slow cooker, it ended up over cooking and turning into really small almost pellet-like beef granules. Hahaha. The only reason the slow cooker is really needed for this dish is to soften the chicken to the point where it’s shreddable, so if you wanted to use ground beef you could just cook it in a skillet, then add the rest of the ingredients and heat through. It will be super fast and easy! :)
This was excellent, I made it according to the recipe and it was a big hit with three very picky children tonight!! And a huge hit with my company as well. Not watery like some I have made.
Thank you!!!
I forgot to rate it. :)
We’ve been making this recipe with chicken thighs, and it works well.
When I saw this recipe I knew I had to try it. I’m not very familiar with Mexican or “Tex-Mex” cooking but it seemed easy enough. I planned to go to the store to get some chicken breasts but remembered I had some smoked chicken drumsticks in the freezer. Oh my heavens! I can’t even begin to describe how incredible this was. The smokey flavour of the chicken really took this to spectacular territory. If anyone has an opportunity to try this with smoked chicken, DO IT!! I will try it with chicken breasts as it says in the recipe just to compare but wow, smoked chicken is everything in this dish! One note though, I added a bit of water because mine didn’t appear as saucy as your pictures then I saw that you mentioned 1/4 cup of water further down in the description. It’s not included in the ingredients list which can be confusing.
I made this for dinner tonight. Oh my! It is so good. The only things I did differently was made it with taco seasoning instead of chili power because I didn’t buy it at the grocery store because I thought had some already. I added chopped onions because I need to use them up before they went bad. I omitted the cilantro and rice and we just ate them with taco shells. This will definitely be a recipe I will make again and again.
I just tried this recipe for the first time this week, and it’s definitely a keeper! Incredibly easy, and super delicious to boot. I followed this recipe exactly and had great results. I’ve been eating the shredded chicken with tortilla chips & cheese to make a variation on classic nachos. Tonight, I’ll try some of it with rice. Definitely recommended!
I have made this at least once a week for the last two months, it has been a lifesaver for the warmer days where being over a stove top is a no go. My adjustments are a taco seasoning pack (40 grams dry mix), 15 oz can of corn kernels and 2 teaspoons of minced/finely diced garlic. Serve this with white corn tortilla chips, avocado & Tabasco. Thank you!
Forgot to mention, my slow cooker is a 6 liter & I have only ever cooked this on high for 4 hours, perfect at 3.5 hours.
Hi! I’m going to be making this this week but I was just curious if you think it’d make a difference if I used canned corn rather than frozen? Can’t wait to try it!
Canned corn just usually has more salt and sugar added to it, but other than that, it will still work. :) Just be sure to drain the corn first.
We’ve made this recipe a number of times and just decided to do it again this week. It’s filling, DELICIOUS, and incredibly easy. We LOVE you Budget Bytes! And if you ever get an app, well… that would be lovely :)
I’ve always used frozen chicken breast for crockpot meals, would it have to cook longer if frozen? Also not sure if I missed it but is it 8 hours on low or high?
I don’t recommend putting frozen chicken in a slow cooker because it can cause the contents to stay in a dangerous temperature zone (for bacterial growth) for too long. Using a thawed chicken breast, though, it’s 8 hours on low or four on high. :)
This sounds awesome! Oh my! I do have 2 questions –
I am vegetarian and would leave the chicken out. If I subbed that with another can of beans would it be too bean’y?
Also, could you add the dry rice into the pot maybe about 45 minutes before eating and just have it be a 1 pot mix?
Thanks in advance
Personally, I don’t think it would be too beany, but I love beans. :) I’ve never attempted to cook rice in a slow cooker, so I’m not sure how that would work, but I would guess that you would at least need more liquid.
I love this recipe! I just made it for the first time yesterday and I already know it will become one of my standard go-to recipes.
The only thing I changed was that i pan fried the chicken and then pulled it apart by hand because I don’t have a slow cooker and I’m pretty impatient (having it simmer for at least an hour would have totally killed me).
And I really can’t believe how much food you can make with so little money.
This is my 2nd Budget Bytes Crockpot experiment and was super happy! My only complaint was that the chicken seemed a lil dry – which to me doesn’t make sense cause it cooking for so long in a lot of liquid. Any suggestions on how to kept that from happening next time?
I think the dryness is more a factor of how much fat is in the meat than the liquid that it’s cooked in. Chicken breasts can sometimes be very lean and will seem a bit more “dry” because they don’t have that thin coating of oily fat. Does that make sense? Dryness is not always about water/moisture, but sometimes fat and oils. :)
I cube my chicken first and only cook for six and a half hours.
You should check the chicken yourself and adjust your time accordingly.
Also I put very little butter in first.
This is amazing. I’ve already made it serval times. Once I ate it with rice and another time I tried it with taco shells. It was just as amazing either way :)
Hi beth i love your recipes i was wondering what brand of salsa or kind of salsa do you use
I don’t have a particular brand that I go to. I usually get whatever is the best price that day, which is often the generic store brand. :)
Hi Beth! I love this recipe (as well as a ton of your other recipes). It’s so easy and I get requests for it a lot. I was wondering: if I wanted to make steak tacos instead of chicken, how would I adjust the recipe? What cut of beef would you suggest?
Well, it would turn out a little different than steak tacos that you get from a restaurant. Any meat that you cook in a slow cooker like this will break down and shred, so you won’t get chunks of steak. Rumps and shoulder roasts do very well in slow cookers. Make sure to cut it into chunks, though, to increase the exposure to all that flavor! :)
:) Yummy, I love burrito bowls. If you add cilantro, salt, and lime juice to the rice, it tastes amazing. :)
Hi! Looks delicious! If I’m at a time crunch for dinner, can I cook it on high. For how many hours do you think? Thank you.
I think it would work on high for four hours.
Do you know about how many calories?
No, I’m sorry I don’t. :(
Nutrition Facts
9 Servings
Amount Per Serving
Calories 370.3
Total Fat 7.8 g
Saturated Fat 3.9 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 0.9 g
Monounsaturated Fat 2.8 g
Cholesterol 56.6 mg
Sodium 430.8 mg
Potassium 389.2 mg
Total Carbohydrate 47.7 g
Dietary Fiber 5.6 g
Sugars 0.9 g
Protein 27.6 g
Vitamin A 16.5 %
Vitamin B-12 1.7 %
Vitamin B-6 13.8 %
Vitamin C 16.9 %
Vitamin D 0.4 %
Vitamin E 2.3 %
Calcium 13.8 %
Copper 18.0 %
Folate 34.5 %
Iron 18.1 %
Magnesium 14.9 %
Manganese 40.0 %
Niacin 13.2 %
Pantothenic Acid 7.0 %
Phosphorus 19.9 %
Riboflavin 7.5 %
Selenium 15.2 %
Thiamin 21.1 %
Zinc 11.1 %
*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
Does the 370 include the rice?
No, because there are several ways to eat the resulting dish, with or without rice, in a burrito, as taco filling, etc. There are so many things you can do with it. :)
It will depend on which salsa you get, how much chicken you use, etc. I weigh and track my food, so I’ll give you my information. I used 25 oz chicken breast (raw weight), a jar of Pace Picante medium salsa, a bag of Publix Greenwise frozen sweet corn, a can of Publix black beans, and what ended up being 1.12 cups of white rice (dry). I divided this into five servings.
The resulting per serving nutrition:
566 calories
12g fat
68g carbohydrates
47g protein
Hello Beth, I was wondering if it is possible to just use a normal cooking pot for this, as I do not have a slow cooker myself, nor the money for one at this point in time.
– Max
Yes, you can let it simmer on low in a regular pot on the stove and it will also cook much faster. You’ll only need to cook it long enough for the chicken to become tender and shredable. Check it after an hour.
i am just about to make it on the stove myself. it is fantastic no matter how it’s made.
you can also use pre-cooked and shredded chicken. i pre-cook and shred chicken breasts and keep them in the freezer for quicker dinners.
I love this meal and so does my family. Enough so that we would like to serve it for a larger get together. How long should I cook it if I double the recipe? Thank you.
As long as your slow cooker is big enough, it should be okay to cook in the same amount of time.
ooooo Beth. I made this last night, only, instead of the frozen corn, I added a jar of Trader Joe’s corn and coriander salsa (I think they call it tomatoless salsa). It added the PERFECT balance of kinda sweet and spicy. It was delicious and WILL be repeated. often.
Does it need to be frozen corn? Could you use canned corn instead?
You can use canned, but I find that frozen corn has a better texture and flavor.
I made this last night and loved it! I just posted my version of your recipe on my blog with link included.
Thanks for the inspiration
https://paperhartlife.wordpress.com/2015/08/12/small-budget-big-meal/
For the past month or so, ive made a budget bytes meal once a week every week, in order to find new favorites for my family (our meal plan was getting SUPER dull). This is by far my family’s favorite meal we’ve tried from this blog. My hubby goes so far to say this is one of the best meals hes ever eaten, and my two year old ate a big helping as well. i added avocado and tomato chunks to the top of each bowl to give it some freshness, and used picante salsa. I will be making this weekly, thanks so much for the fantastic recipe!
I have made this once a week for over a year, it never gets old! For any Aldi shoppers out there, the “simply organic” medium chunky salsa is my favorite for this recipe so far.
You should check out the refrigerated salsa at Aldi. It’s quite good.
The slow-cooker chicken taco recipe was awesome! I am gluten-free and my family is not so it satisfied pretty much all of us. I used the chicken in a taco bowl as shown above for me and I made quesadillas out of it for my husband and sons. They loved the spicy chicken chessey crunchy tortilla combo! Will definitely make this again. Great blog!
This is, hands-down, one of my family’s favourite meals! Even my super-picky two year old gobbles it down. My husband asked that we have this every Monday, and I believe I shall! It’s really easy to make, and so delicious! If you have a rice cooker, you can literally come home to dinner ready to eat! Thanks, Beth, for all the excellent recipes!
The kids request this often, so it’s one of our go-to, easy meals.
This is the most amazing recipe. I have made it numerous times and my family devours it every time! With two hungry boys and hubby, I am always looking for good, filling meals. I am so happy that I have found this wonderful website!
Keep up the GREAT work!!!!
I’ve made this recipe several times now and every single time it’s turned out amazing. I was entertaining at my new place for the first time last week and made this dish – there was plenty for 5 people and it was such a hit!
I’m a newlywed and trying to become a great cook for my husband! I am interested in making this dish, but I am wondering if it will taste okay if I cook it on high instead of low…If so, how long should it take?
Yes, you can do this on high for about four hours and that should do the trick. :)
I love this recipe and make it pretty regularly, because it’s SO EASY and it reheats really, really nicely on the stovetop. (No microwaving here!) In fact, I think I like it better on day two.
I just wanted to add: I only have a tiny 1-1/2 quart slow cooker, so while I use a whole can of beans and jar of salsa, I cut down on the corn and can barely cram two breasts in there. I usually just use one breast, and the chicken is cooked and easily shreddable at about 6, 6.5 hours on low. Update for those of us who cook for just ourselves, or two people max, regularly. That said I often let it go for eight hours and it comes out just fine still.
Thank you for your blog and these recipes!
I’m preparing to go to college and I finally know how I’m going to put good food in my stomach at a low price and I’m excited about it!
This recipe is relish. I served it to my mom and dad and they were blown away. It tastes exactly like a bowl you would buy at Chipotle or Qdoba for $10. Highly recommended
Congrats on your college transition! Let the slow-cooker be your best friend! I love the freaking thing and don’t know what I would do without mine! It’s the perfect kitchen contraption, year-round.
Hi Beth!
I have some frozen chicken and I wanted to give this recipe a try but I haven’t worked with frozen meats while using a slow cooker, so I was wondering what’s the best course here? Do I let the chicken thaw then put it in the slow cooker?
I definitely suggest thawing first. If you put frozen meat into a slow cooker it can make the whole pot take too long to heat to a safe temperature and you risk bacterial proliferation.
I often cool chicken in the crockpot from frozen. I typically cook it on high for the first two hours then switch it to low.
Made this today and really enjoyed it! My 12 month old daughter loved it and gobbled it up! I served hers with a bit of rice, but ate mine as a burrito – really good. Plenty of leftovers in the freezer!
Next time, I would probably add more corn and black beans.
I made this on Saturday and it was delicious! Hubby and kiddos approved. We had some left over and the kids wanted it the next day.
Will definitely make it again. :)
CHEDDAR?! CHEDDAR CHEESE ON MEXICAN FOOD?! UNFORGIVABLE!
for real though this was incredibly tasty and i look forward to the leftovers for lunch tomorrow as well as the next batch. I used a pineapple salsa this time for a nice twist but i want to try regular salsa next time. I also used some chihuahua cheese instead of cheddar.
I’m all about what tastes good and am not really concerned about what’s traditional. Cheddar tastes great! I’m sure chihuahua does too, but it’s much harder to find. :)
I just started my real journey into cooking this week. I have made your freezer breakfast burritos, slow cooker whole chicken and broth, honey mustard chicken salad, and tonight is chicken noodle soup. I never thought I could actually cook! One question I have is how do I substitute in cooked shredded chicken when I have so much I am trying to use? Thanks again. I’ve tried on and off over the years to start cooking and this is the furthest I’ve gotten.
Congratulations! For precooked shredded chicken, you won’t even need to use the slow cooker. You can just combine the ingredients in a pot and heat through. The slow cooker just facilitates getting the chicken to the point where it is shreddable. :)
This looks incredible!! My slow cooker is only a 4-qt. Should I half the recipe, or will this fit?
I think it will probably fit. It didn’t fill mine very far and mine is somewhere between 5-7 quarts.
I’m so wanting to try this, but I was gifted a 3 qt slow cooker. Can you think of any alterations I would need to make?
You could try just reducing everything by half, but if you don’t want to use half a can of beans, you can still add the whole can. :)
Hi Beth,
I love your website and all of your recipes. I am not much of a cook but your recipes are easy for me to tackle. I made this dish once and liked it. I’ve also done your lentil soup and dragon noodles a few times. I tried someone elses slow cooker cilantro chicken but didn’t care for it. I am sticking with your recipes as I know they are good. Thanks.
I just made another batch of bowls for freezing. It’s so comforting to have full meals tucked away for when I am tired. I make the budgetbytes cilantro lime rice to go with this, as I am not super fond of plain white rice. I have tinkered with this recipe to find what works for me and am very pleased with it! The idea is genius.
Really nice recipe, sounds kinda not-overloadad with saturates and sodium – will defo give it a try and come back with more comments after the weekend.
This looks incredible, but my husband is highly allergic to corn. What would be a good substitute for the corn? I love corn in dishes like this because it adds a nice color, and of course, a little sweetness… so I would hate to just leave it out and not replace it with something else. Thanks!
I think I’d just leave it out. :) It still has plenty going for it without the corn.
I also just visited your website from buzzfeed and oh my goodness!! You are awesome! I am a sophomore in college and next year I will be living in an apartment cooking for myself so I am SO grateful to have found your awesome website! You have just guaranteed that I don’t starve next year. I’ll be sharing your site with all of my friends.
I made this Friday night and it was great! I had dinner, packaged up a lunch and froze the rest for enchiladas. I saw your enchilada sauce recipe too!
So I’m enjoying a Saturday morning coffee & Facebook, Bussfeed comes up with a link, from there I go to a few more Buzzfeed articles, some of which were food-related, from there I click through to the websites they got their list of recipes from and I’m bookmarking various recipes in a folder called “New Recipes to Try”… from there I click around a bit more on the sideboards of various food blogs… and ended up here.
Thanks to this post of yours my “New Recipes to Try” folder now has a sub-folder … called “OMG MUST MAKE IT NOW!!!!!!!”
Seriously, I am drooling and thinking of all the other things I could eat this with besides rice. THANK YOU!
Sorry I was drooling so much I didn’t see that I typed “Bussfeed” lol …
Hahaha love it! Browsing the internet can be so random sometimes, right? I love how I never know where I’ll end up. :) Glad you found your way here!
Mine is still in the slow cooker but I wanted to add a tip for the rice: Cook a couple pounds at once and freeze in two-cup portions. No more cooking rice at dinner time. (I always use brown rice, which takes ages to cook, but even with white rice, you’ll save a lot of time, not to mention saving energy by cooking a big batch. It reheats in the microwave easily enough.
Man, this is good! Five stars!
My mouth is watering– I must try this recipe!
I love this recipe!! Just wondering where the author finds chicken breasts for $2.90???
My local grocery store puts previously frozen breasts on sale for $1.99/lb. on a fairly regular basis. So, I only buy them on sale and save them in the freezer.
The stores near me put packages on sale BOGO now and then. They’re usually 3.99 full price, but it brings them down to about $2… so even better! I will often use one and freeze one.
Took less than 8 hours (6 hours on low and probably could have been even less). Absolutely delicious! Thank you for sharing!
I just wanted to say that this recipe is amazing. My husband and I eat it every week now. It’s so good and so easy to make. Thank you for doing what you do. I’ve got a few recipes from your site that use similar ingredients and I now save a ton on groceries AND we’re eating better meals… AND we’re not sick of chicken any more.
my sister and I both love this recipe for our families. She’s getting ready for baby #5 (!!) and I am making meals ahead for their family. Have you ever assembled all of the ingredients (uncooked), thrown them in a giant Baggie to freeze, then taken the Baggie out and thrown it in the crockpot a couple weeks later?
Thanks!!!
I haven’t tried that, but I think it would work well for this recipe (minus the rice and cheese, of course).
this recipe? amazing! I cook a lot of mexican-spiced things, mostly because it’s easy. But my boys (5 & 7) will just pick at it. But this was a real hit! I used the chicken on flour burrito-sized tortillas and they’ve had it for dinner three days in a row (a REAL winner in my house!)
Hi Beth! I’ve made this several times already, and it’s turned out perfect with each attempt. So good that I threw it in before bed last night, and got up this morning to prep it for my husband to have for his lunch today and the leftover for our dinner. This is one of the easiest and most delicious recipes you have on your site. The more slow cooker or skillet meals you can post, the better. It’s so simple to use one pan (or add rice from a rice cooker). We are in love with this recipe!
Hi! How would you reheat this the next day? Thanks
I just use the microwave. :)
I prepped this recipe on Wednesday night and put it in the fridge, cooked it on high when the b/f got home from work and it was FANTASTIC and AMAZING. I will definitely be making this again and probably sharing this recipe. Thank you again.
For some reason (the salsa maybe?) mine didn’t look as wet as yours, but I cooked it the same way anyways. It came out pretty dry, but it was still very, very good! Any suggestions for next time?
You could add a little chicken broth to help give it more moisture. :) Maybe 1/2 to one cup?
Wow! I am generally a vegetarian but have started eating some free range chicken lately. Partly so I could make a slow cooker recipes that my husband would also eat in the interest of making dinner easier and faster. I have never had slow cooker chicken before and I couldn’t believe how tender it is! We both loved this but used it on soft tacos instead of rice. I did add a splash of lime juice and a dash of liquid smoke after it was done. This was so easy because I just put aside some of the beans and corn for the picky kids so there was just one meal to make instead of feeling like I’m making 4! I put it all together in a bowl last night and this morning dumped it in with the chicken, it only took a minute. Thank you for a yummy, fast recipe for this busy nursing student/mom of 2/wife!
Ooo, just saw the rating stars. 5!
If I cook this on high how much time would I leave it for? I want to try to bring the cooking time down to about 4-6 hours. Thoughts?
Yes, 4-5 hours should be enough to make the chicken tender and shreddable. :)
Amazing. Made it into wraps and then the leftovers were served over spinach as a salad. It’s so good to win shred some cheese over and serve as is with a dallop of sour cream. Delicious. I’ll make this again for sure.
I made this last week and it was soooo good! I got eight servings out of it, though I think it could probably stretch a little further if we wanted (my husband had a big portion when I first cooked it because it was so good!) We ate it over brown rice, and topped it with shredded “3-Chile Gouda” and sour cream. It would also be delicious in tacos, which we might try next time as I’ll definitely be making this one again!
I have made this recipe a few times and love it, I have tweaked it a little and used the packaged taco seasoning mix and it made it even more delicious than it was with the spices in your recipe
i love this recipe but usually
Make way too much and end up waisting it, is this freezable after its cooked? Thanks
Yes, absolutely. It freezes great, even with the rice and cheese! :)
This is an absolute hit to everyone I introduce it to! My husband regularly requests it and since it’s delicious and easy to just toss in the crockpot I am happy to comply! We modify it slightly, in part because he does not like cheese :( but it’s still wonderful. I recently took this to a potluck at work and since I didn’t want to fool with cooking rice at work, I just served the chicken mixture over tortilla chips like nachos and it was a success. Thank you for sharing!
I forgot to rate this 5 stars! It deserves it.
I made this tonight and my kids, husband and I loved it!! Takes a lot to please the little ones, but they loved it! Thanks so much!!
i made a recipe similar to this last Sunday for a group of about 15 people. They all loved it. I will definitely be making it again.
As soon as i practically seen this recipe i went and made it !! Man is this stuff good and I haven’t even finished the whole bowl yet !!! :-) :-) Yummy !!! I luv cilnatro any ways and if you have any more recipes easy and budget wise to cook or put cilantro in it !!! Pass it my way !!!! LOL :-)
My husband and I love this recipe – it’s definitely a keeper! I served some of the leftovers over baked potatoes. Yummy, too.
great recipe! I’m allergic to tomatoes and I was wondering if there is a substitute for the salsa. I’ve used red hot sauce before but I’m not sure how much I would need for this. Looks delicious!
No, unfortunately the salsa is key here for the flavor. Without it the bowls just won’t be the same!
Are you allergic to tomatillos also? If not, you might substitute a salsa verde.
I really enjoyed this simple and yummy meal. I did have to improvise when it came up to the Salsa. I didn’t have any in my pantry. So I took a quick glance in the fridge and decided to make my own. I used fresher bell peppers, Roma tomatoes, onion n minced garlic. I chopped them all up n fried them until translucent. I added some salt n pepper for taste and finito. The black beans absorbed the flavors so well and all the other ingredients fell in place wonderfully. Thank you so much for this blog. It has saved me so much time and my family loves it !:)
Ridiculously delicious and so easy to make. It is a keeper for sure!
What size crockpot ?
Probably a 5qt or larger.
I don’t have a slow cooker. Can I made this on the stove?
You could probably simmer it all on low for an hour or so, or until the chicken is soft enough to shred. The only danger is that the heat from the burner is much more concentrated, so you’ll have to be careful not to let it scorch on the bottom.
I don’t have 8 hours- could I cook this on high for 3-4?
Four hours on high should be enough to make the chicken tender and shreddable. If it is, then you’re good to go! :)
Yup, 4 hours on high works great! Thanks Beth, this is a fantastic recipe!
I made this and loved it! I’m wondering though, would this recipe freeze well? And if so, how long would it be good for frozen?
Yes, this one freezes very well. I try to use all frozen foods up within three months because they slowly dry out and degrade after an extended period.
Do you just freeze it in a freezer bag? (Sorry, totally new to freezing stuff) I have this in the crockpot right now and it smells SO good!
I usually use those Ziploc or Gladware resealable containers. You can freeze and reheat right in the same dish and they come in all sorts of sizes and shapes. :) I freeze in single serving portions.
This recipe is part of my regular rotation. Everyone loves it. Thanks.
Has anyone ever tried this with turkey? Wondered how it would be with leftover turkey.
Just wondering how many calories per serving?
Wondered about putting it on top of lettuce in said of rice. Kind of like a taco salad.
That would be awesome!
I left out the rice, put it over lettuce with a little light sour cream and tortilla strips…awesome taco salad and only 330 calories.
I make “Rotel Chicken” at least once or twice a month… it’s a can of Rotel, a couple pounds of chicken, a shopped onion, and half a packet of taco seasoning, and sometimes a small can of Hatch green chiles. We use brown rice instead of white. This sounds LOADS better! I can’t wait to try it!
I’ve made this recipe several times and absolutely love it! However, I am terrible at planning ahead so I never decide to make this early enough to use the crockpot. Instead I boil the chicken for about thirty minutes (you can do this from a frozen state) and it shreds very easily when it is done. Then I put all the ingredients that were supposed to go in the slow cooker into a saucepan and let them heat up. A little more work than the slow cooker but still every bit as delicious! :)
When I make this recipe, I use packets of taco seasoning, instead of the seasoning listed
I made this yesterday and it was absolutely AMAZING! First time making a dish on my own in a crock pot…complete success!! My roommate almost cried it was so good. I made a quesadilla with it, and then the next day made some rice and put the leftovers on it. YUM.
I made this tonight and it was so delicious! I added more broth and salsa that in the recipe because I wanted it to be more of a soup. It works really well as soup, and it warmed me up after the cold spell we’re having here. My family has already asked me to make this again, so it was a success!
So happy I found your website! Made your chunky lentil and vegetable soup and my Boyfriend loved it. He finished the whole pot the same day
Can you cook it for 6hours on high or would low for 6 hours be ok?
I think six hours on low would probably work.
any suggestions/modifications if starting with frozen chicken?
It’s not recommended that you add frozen meat directly to a slow cooker because it can take too long to come up to a safe temperature, so you’ll definitely want to thaw it first. A quick way to thaw is to place the wrapped chicken in a bowl of water and run cool water over it until it’s thawed. Cutting into smaller pieces (3-4 pieces) can help it heat up faster in the slow cooker, too.
Hi, Beth. I recently made the Spinach and Feta Grilled Cheese sandwich, and It was AMAZING! Is it possible that I can cook the chicken inside the slow cooker on high for four hours?
Yes, I think that should work the same and be MUCH faster. :)
I made this last night and it was great! I followed the recipe, but the only thing I changed was the cook time. By hour 6 on low, my chicken was cooked so I shredded it and then let it cook for another hour so the shredded chicken could soak up the juices and marinate a little more. Will be making again for sure!
Looks good and pretty simple. How did you come up with $1.33 a serving? I came up with $1.18 a serving.
If there are about 8 servings, it will be $1.33 per serving. :)
This was so delicious! Served with your cilantro & lime rice recipe and added homemade guacamole, scallions & some sour cream. I cannot wait to make this again! Highly recommend! Love your website along with many of your recipes!
I have vegetarians and mourn the use of my crock pot. This looks so yummy. I wonder if the consistency would be OK if I just left out the chicken. Maybe not cook for the whole 8 hours?
If you leave out the chicken, you really don’t need to use the slow cooker at all. :) You can just heat the ingredients together on the stove top until warmed through (15 minutes?). The slow cooker just makes the meat tender and shreddable.
I have made a vegetarian version of this on the stove using a combination of roughly chopped temphe and much more beans, I also mixed them up and also added some cannellini or haricot beans as well. It’s very good that way.
I made this and instead of using white rice, I used authentic Mexican rice and it was fantastic!
Omg, your recipes look sooo yummy!! I am so happy I stumbled across this site. I will be trying MANY of these recipes, thanks!
I’ve made this a few times with the totally lazy way (using Penzey’s taco seasoning) and it’s amazing. We serve it with cilantro lime rice and that puts it right over top! I have made double servings before and any left overs freeze beautifully.
Hey,
I do not have a slow cooker. I’ve thought of first boiling the chicken breasts, then adding them to a normal cooker and execute the recipe as suggested. How long will it take for the food to get ready? Thanks
Hmm, I’m really not sure without having tried that method.
This was amazing. Since we had rice the night before, we eliminated that and used corn chips. I received high praises for this one and said it was a keeper! Thanks for the recipe.
Love this recipe!!! I add an extra can of beans & a can or two of diced tomatoes if I need to juice it up! We love this & use it regularly! Thanks for the great recipe!!
This is great! I just subbed the rice for lettuce and made it a taco salad without all the work – because the crock pot did it for me. Thanks!
Super good! My NEW crockpot is on crack and had this done in 2 hours on low… but very easy. My girls tossed everything in the crock and let it cook. I added extra black pepper, plus chipotle and ancho to spice it up at the end and we added a dollop of sour cream to each bowl but otherwise followed the recipe. Made the rotation.
I’ve made this recipe a few times now, and it’s so easy and delicious every time. I find it’s done in 5-6 hours on low. We actually recently served it on top of corn bread, and it was our favorite way to eat it yet! The sweetness of the corn bread is a really great contrast with the chicken. Topped it with sour cream and guacamole…so yummy!
This was seriously a BIG hit in my house! Even after I forgot to put this in the slow-cooker before I went to work, it still turned out amazing after 4 hours on high. I will definitely be making this again :)
Could I use frozen chicken?
It’s not recommended that you put frozen meat into a slow cooker because it takes too long to get hot and can become a food safety issue.
I use frozen chicken every time in the crock and never had an issue.
Do you think if I added extra water, I could make this into a soup?
Hmm, yes, it might be kind of like chili! Maybe try adding a mix of broth and water, so that the flavor doesn’t get weak.
Could you sub beef for the chicken in this recipe?
Yes, perhaps, although I haven’t actually tried it. I’m not sure how well ground beef holds up to the long cooking time. Maybe if you can find some sort of small roast or steak that will shred like the chicken does.
I roasted a whole chicken and have tons of leftovers…can I use that instead? How would I go about the sauce?
Yes, you can definitely use the precooked chicken in place of the raw chicken, with no other alterations to the recipe.
Hi! Have you ever doubled the recipe? How long do you think it would take to cook in the crock pot?
I haven’t tried doubling it, but I bet it would still work in the same amount of time.
Can I use pressure cooker and cut the cooing time in half?
Probably, although I’m not experienced with pressure cookers, so I can’t say for sure.
Do you know how many calories per serving?
No, I’m sorry I don’t.
If you go to myfitnesspal.com and join, you can actually add the URL to Budgetbytes recipes, and it calculates all of the calories for you based on Beth’s recipe and the number of servings she makes. You can also adjust the recipe (I remove the rice, and add lettuce and tomato and serve this with soft taco shells) and the site recalculates.
Everyone loves this when I make it.
I was wondering if I cook this on medium in the slow cooker, what time can I cut from the final recipe?
Spelled my own name wrong. Boy.
Hmm, good question. My slow cooker only has “low” and “high”. :) I would guess maybe take two hours off the cook time?
Can I cook this on high for 4 hours instead of low for 8?
Yes, that should work.
Just a word of warning for this recipe. Don’t use cheap Great Value or store brand salsa in something like this. It’s so salty it leaves a nasty lingering taste in your mouth and you’ll probably end up throwing the rest out like I did. You can skimp on all the other ingredients but the salsa. I made it a second time with a all natural salsa and it was great.
I’ve found if I don’t use my own salsa, that those fresh salsas in the deli section are the best; and they conveniently come in 16 oz. containers.
This recipe is so delicious! It was so easy to make and it makes quite a bit so I had plenty for leftovers. I like my food a bit spicy so I did spicy salsa, I also added kidney beans to the mix. Instead of the rice, I decided to do whole wheat flour tortillas and they were fantastic.
Two questions:
1) If I used dried beans instead of canned, would I need to cook them first?
2) What suggestions do you have to replace the corn, because I have a food allergy to corn?
1.Yes, I would cook the beans first because there is not enough liquid in this recipe to cook them through (plus cooking black beans makes everything turn black :) ).
2.I think I’d just leave the corn out with no need to replace it with anything.
I just tried this but subbed the rice for grated cauliflower! Delicious!
I just want to say that I follow a LOT of food blogs. A lot. But I recently found yours, and never have I made so many recipes from just one site! Smitten Kitchen comes close, but I’ve been following her for 4 years. Let me just say, it is GENIUS to suggest using the slow cooker in the summer! I previously had only pulled mine out in the winter for stews, roasts, and chilis. But, you suggested this chicken dish as a way of avoiding kitchen heat in the summer, and I never would have thought of it, and it’s totally brill. Mind blown. Any other suggestions for summer crockpotting? (I’d want to stick to chicken, to keep things light).
I plan to come up with some more summer crock pot recipes over the next month or so! Keep watch :) And thanks for your kind words!
hey I’m in Australia and I can’t seem to find black beans! is there an alternative??
Red kidney beans might not be that bad, or you can try pinto to keep with the southwest theme.
Beth M is right. Black beans are hard for me to find in Germany, I use red kidney beans all the time.
Can this be made with canned instead of frozen corn ???
Yes, but it will taste a little different. Make sure to drain the can of corn before adding it.
Not tomtis–i don’t even know what that Tostito chips!
I make this every year while on Girls Trip to beach. Put all of this in crockpot, head to the beach all day, and after sun & many libations its ready for us to eat when we come up for showers & food. I serve it with rice, burritos, tomtits–they can fix it any way they like. It has been a must cook for us!
Curious if anyone knows if this recipe time can be cut down by setting the crockpot on high? And if so, how long should I cook this for?
Yep, you can probably do 4 hours on high and be just fine. :)
Could u tell me what is the taste of this?
Spicy? Sweet? or
I would like to know what is Jar Salsa?
is that tomatoe paste or?
is Jar Salsa spicy?
It’s a jar of salsa (not tomato paste), so it mostly tastes like salsa. You can buy spicy or mild salsa, your choice.
thinking about swapping out the chicken for some tofu and a little better than bullion chicken flavor. think this will work, i’m new to tofu and wondering if this will work?
I’ve never really cooked with tofu either, but I think if you are skipping the chicken you can skip the slow cooker all together. The only real advantage of the slow cooker here is that it cooks the meat down to the point where it is tender and shreddable. So you could really just combine all of the ingredients in a pot and warm them on the stove top in about 15 minutes without the chicken! :D And if you want to use bouillon to add some chicken flavor, I’d suggest cooking your rice in it instead of using plain water.
I made this for a party and everybody LOVED it.
I want to try to make a salsa verde version. Do I need to make any changes to the spices?
I don’t think I would change anything else. Just swap out the salsa and you’ll be good!
Thanks!
I made this and added a package of frozen spinach for extra nutrition… DELICIOUS!
I’ve been making a similar dish to this for years, but just came across your site today! I make it all different ways, different salsas, different or no extra spices, and sometimes I finish it off with a cubed block of cream cheese during the last 30 minutes. Gives it a great creamy texture. We put it over rice, as you suggest, or over chips for nachos, in taco shells, in burritos, and even in enchiladas! It’s so versatile!
I “dumped” this in the slow cooker earlier today and stepped out for a few hrs. I can’t believe how insanely delicious my house smells right now and it still has a few hrs to cook. I used only ingredients I already had in so instead of chicken breasts I’m using boneless skinless thighs and instead of salsa I put a can I’d diced tomatoes, a small chopped onion and some mixed diced peppers. I think I’ll serve it over yellow rice. Looking forward to dinner time!
OMG I love,love,love this! I never leave reviews but I had to tell you how much my whole family loves this, I make it once a week! Thank you so much!
So good! Made this tonight..super easy and the whole family loved it! Thank you!!
Seriously amazing! So easy and so delicious!! I threw this together in 5 minutes and it was ready when I came home. So good! Will DEFINITELY be making this again!
Made this for my picky eaters (talking about my husband here!!) with your homemade black beans and everybody loved it! Even my three and seven year old daughters.
I have not yet tried one of your recipies we have not liked.
Thanks for sharing!
This recipe has become a favorite in our home. My daughter asked for it for her birthday dinner-chicken burrito bowls “with all the fixins'”!
I’m so happy that I found your site! I just tried this out for dinner tonight and my hubby and I both loved it. I upped my budget a bit and added some sliced avacado on top, which was perfection. I look forward to trying more!
Made this for my family of five small children. They loved it. My 18 month old twins were spoon shoveling it–literally–into their mouths. I used half green salsa and half fresh pico de gallo for the salsa. I also added a couple of tablespoons onion powder, 1 tsp ancho chili powder and 1 tsp of paprika, just to add to the depth of chili flavor. I omitted the cayenne because of the babies, but even so it had a little heat that was just right for the family. Thanks!
Made this last night for two adults, not only was it amazing and tasty I still have two containers worth of it to freeze!
This meal reminded me of a similar thing I have eaten at a Mexican restaurant and soo simple to make!
Def recommend it!!!!!
Ran across your website looking for meals I could make and freeze for lunches. I just can’t eat sandwiches anymore.
The Taco Chicken bowl was the first one I tried and it was easy and delicious, everyone in the family loved it (and we are a picky lot).
The only things I changed was I added some salsa verde (green salsa) as my jar of regular mild salsa was not enough (12 oz instead if 16 oz.) and I doubled the beans and corn to stretch it out more.
Thanks Beth for the website. Going to make the Jambalaya next!
Delicious. Perfect for busy days. I used boneless, skinless thighs, and added a dollop of sour cream in my bowl. Very tasty!
Cooked on low or high for 8 hours?
Can you cook it faster on high for 6 hours?
Low for 8 hours, or high for 4 hours.
So good, I take tortillas and put the rice and chicken inside, roll them up and it’s like a burrito. Yum.
This was so good! A keeper for sure. We had it for dinner, and there was still tons for lunches the next couple of day! Love your recipes!
Found you on Pinterest and tried this tonight. Cooked according to directions, only used pinto beans in place of black beans. This recipe is a keeper for sure. My husband liked it too! Similar to Qdoba’s Naked Burrito, which we love. I also like the fact that it is gluten free. Thank you for a great recipe.
Can’t wait to make this recipe for my friends tomorrow night! Just wondering if it’s spicy with the cayenne pepper? I have a friend who doesn’t like spicy items. So excited to make this dish!
It’s not too spicy, but I’m a spice-a-holic so my scale may be different than yours. If you’re concerned, I would reduce the cayenne pepper a little and definitely use a mild salsa instead of medium.
This is recipe is good and easy, but there is no way I can make this for around $10, $20 maybe, but not $10. That is very misleading.
Prices are different for everyone. I list the price I paid as an example. Many people actually report back that they’re able to make the recipes for less than I did. :)
I think it depends on where you live and shop. I used boneless, skinless chicken thighs if that helps? This recipe was about $10.50, and we get two dinners out of it.
I don’t find this misleading, prices are different for everyone. I shop at Aldi & Kroger. I got to 2 lbs of chicken breast for only 2.21 because it was on sale. Salsa (24 oz) for 1.79 and black beans for 89. Frozen corn for 89 cents. I had all the spices already.
I made this for dinner tonight and it was wonderful! My husband had seconds! :) Thanks for sharing!
So good on tortillas
How long would it take if i used chicken tenderloins, and cooked it on high.
Using chicken breast it needs about four hours on high, but I’m not sure about tenderloins because I haven’t tried it with those. Probably shorter since they’re smaller.
I used this recipe tonight, kind of added things like red and orange peppers that I wanted to use up, and cooked it on the stove but seasoned as the recipe stated and it was great, very hearty meal on a snowy cold night!
This was delicious!!!! I ate it on top of a sour cream rice recipe that I found, and it was PERFECT. Thank you so much for sharing! This recipe will be rotated in with my other regulars.
I am so sad it took me months to try this recipe. I kept forgetting to make sure I had the right items on hand.
OMG this was AMAZING. My super duper picky husband devoured it. I found a recipe for a copycat Chipotle Cilantro Lime rice I made it with and it was just perfect.
For what it’s worth it only took my crockpot 6.5-7 hours to fully cook everything. Congrats on the book too!!
I don’t know if you’ll get this message and reply fast enough. But… do you know if I can cook this on Low heat for 3 hours, and then HIGH heat the rest of the time? Or vice-versa. I want to make this tonight but I only have 5 hours.
I would do high first, then low the rest of the time.
This is by far my favorite Budget Bytes recipe! I beef it up by adding a green pepper, onion, and jalapeno. The more veggies the better!
Made this and loved it! But what would you suggest as a substitute for salsa? My husband isn’t a huge fan of salsa and we were thinking like tomato purée with a little water?
Hmm, I just don’t know about that. The salsa is what gives the dish most of its flavor, so switching it out would really change it a lot.
For what it matters my husband HATES salsa and yet he loved this dish. I chose a medium Chipolte salsa for extra kick over tartness and it was perfect. Hope this helps!
Made this yesterday to cook the chicken I thawed out. Reheated it tonight for dinner. Super easy, smelled super good while cooking, super delish.
Thanks.
This has great flavor! I made it a few months ago for family and everyone loved it! I prepped it all in a freezer bag this time and just tossed it in the crock pot after it thawed…just as good. Thanks for a great recipe.
I love this recipe, I made it once, and even reveled in the leftovers for a few weeks (quesadillas mostly), and now I am making it for my sisters. I am looking at my crock pot and smelling it’s deliciousness as I write this! I cannot wait for dinner!
Mmm that would be good with shredded beef too
I made this last night. It was simple and easy. I always love a crock pot meal. But I think I’ll pretty much double the spices next time to add more flavor.
Thanks for the recipe, Beth!
I made this yesterday (Christmas day) as a bit of a nice lunch for the whole house (8 roommates plus 3 visitors).
No one was home or hungry at lunch time, so I just stored it in the refrigerator.
I omitted both the salt & the cilantro; and given that the store was fresh out of a few of the spices, I substituted a bit of Pico Pica hot sauce; in addition to not having any garlic to add.
I’m eating it slowly as I type this, and I have to say that this recipe is a KEEPER! I cannot wait until I get home and make this for the family in their BIG crock pot, so I can upsize everything.
This is by far the best slow-cooked meal I have had in years!
made this overnight and brought it in for lunch. love that this is budget friendly and leaves me with plenty to bring in to save $ on lunch.
I put this in the crock pot today to cook while I was at work. I followed the recipe exactly minus the corn and it turned out wonderful. My son said he didn’t just like it, he LoVED it! We added sour cream and grated cheese on top. Next time I will add some advacado slices also!
Oh my stars!!!! this meal is delicious. It is absolutely perfect with the rice. The only alterations I made to the recipe is I added more salt at the end, I omitted the cilantro, and I added Tabasco. PERFECT!!!
Thanks so much for this! I pinned it a few weeks ago and made it today. Huge hit with the whole family!! I put half in the slow cooker and put the other half in a freezer bag to cook another time (instant meal) since we are a family of four with two toddlers. Easy, cheap, and popular… Pretty much a perfect meal!
Sad to say I don’t own a slow cooker. Am I better off simmering this in a big pot or putting it in an oven? What kinds of temperatures and times would I be looking at?
I think I would simmer it on the stove top with a lid (less energy consumption than the oven). Put everything in the pot as if it were the slow cooker, bring it up to a boil over medium-high, then turn it down to low (or the lowest temp that will still have it simmering very lightly) and let it simmer for an hour or so. See how tender the chicken is at that point and if it is not shreddable yet, let it go longer. I suspect it will be shreddable after an hour, though. You also might want to give it a light stir every now and then since the heat is a bit more concentrated than in the slow cooker.
Could I use another meat instead of chicken? Like maybe, pork? It sounds absolutely delicious!!
Yes, pork would be absolutely amazing in this!
Is there a way that you could tweak this recipe to make a taco soup. I love the taste of this but am wanting to serve it in a soup form for the upcoming winter season.
Interesting thought! I’ll have to play around with that. Thanks for the fantastic idea. :)
I make a version of this, that includes a whole green pepper and a whole onion, sliced, at the bottom, then the chicken (we prefer dark meat), salsa, beans and corn. Gets a few extra veggies in there, and served over quinoa instead of rice, kicks up the nutrition factor a notch. This really is a great go-to cold-weather meal, and literally takes me 10 minutes to put together. I love your blog, BTW, you are the budget-friendly, pragmatic version of Ree Drummond, and that is totally meant as a compliment.
That is a HUGE compliment! She is like Wonder Woman. I look up to her because of everything she has accomplished!
I am terrible at making rice from scratch, so we’ll have this over a bed of fresh romaine with some tortilla chips I think. Looks delish… someday I will cook rice, someday.
I made this for dinner for my boyfriend and I and it was ammaazzinnggg. Neither of us are huge bean fans but we put them in anyways and could barely tell. Super easy to make and really great over rice or for leftovers in a burrito. He already wants me to make it again!
Why would you use dry ice? What is that for? Can u use anything other than dry ice?
Look at the recipe again it says dry RICE…I started laughing because I read it as ice too and went searching through the comments as to why the recipe needed dry ice! Glad I am not the only one – Lindsey
I would love to make this, but I have a question about timing. I work 9 hour days—would cooking an extra hour on low cause the chicken to be too dried out or something? Sadly, I have an old crockpot, which won’t automatically go to low after a preset time (I think that may be on my wishlist for Christmas, since I regularly work 9 or 10 hours).
I don’t think an extra hour will hurt. There is so much moisture in the pot that it should be okay.
Got this in my crock-pot right now, and if it tastes even half as good as it smells then it’s going to be AMAZING! And the best part, I’m only making it for me so I can look forward to plenty of leftovers :)
Yup, it was good! Seemed a little watery until I shredded the chicken and then it was okay. I did add some sour cream towards the end of cooking, because I had some I needed to use up. Quite tasty! Thanks for the easy and cheap recipe.
BTW I’ve tried a cilantro lime chicken recipe that is amazing using salsa verde. Similar concept, and I’m sure it’s in the same price range at this one.
I recently made this and did not use a crock pot! I boiled my chicken in some water with a little salt until it was fully cooked. I then let the chicken cool and shredded it, after shredding the chicken I added it to a pot with the salsa, black beans, frozen corn, and spices and let it simmer for 30 mins. While that was simmering I made some spanish rice to go with the chicken mixture and that was a much better choice than white rice! After eating it for dinner that night I mixed the rice and chicken mixture and ate it with tortilla chips like a dip the next day.
Sadly, I don’t have a crock pot (sigh) but I still wanted to make this recipe with a leftover chicken breast I had in the freezer. I am cooking on a stovetop, so I am not sure how long to cook it for (I’m guessing at least 2-3 hours) on low heat. Brought it up to a boil first, then reduced to simmer. I also had to add an extra cup and a half of water because the piece of chicken is so large, it was poking out of the top. I hope it turns out!
It turned out wonderfully! I used Green Mountain Gringo mild salsa. Tasted so fresh! Next time I might notch it up with their hot salsa. For the spices, I used my own homemade taco seasoning mix. Thanks for the great (and easy) recipe, Beth!
The flavor is great and I can’t wait to put ontop of rice, a salad, or even inside whole wheat tortilla! The only problem I found was that it’s too dry! I followed the exact directions. Maybe next time adding more salsa or water?
Yep, more salsa or a little water should help. I guess some salsas are just more liquidy than others – my final product was pretty watery! :)
this made for a nice bowl of happy today!
Made this last week and it was delicious! :) I subbed fresh red pepper for the corn as it was the only appropriate vegetable on hand and it turned out great. I also forgot to add the minced garlic until shortly before it finished cooking, so I just stirred it in really well. Turns out I kinda liked the extra kick it gave from not being fully blended into the overall flavour!
Such a yummy recipe.
Can you sub something for the salsa .. I can’t have tomato .. Any ideas!?
Hmm, I can’t think of anything. The salsa is the ingredient that kind of brings everything together and provides the most flavor.
There are recipes out there for tomato-less salsas.
My boyfriend and I really enjoyed this dish! Quick, easy, and super delicious. I cooked the exact recipe provided and it came out flawless. Thanks for sharing these awesome recipes :)
This was so easy and delicious, I’m always trying to make chicken in the crockpot, because otherwise I find it very dry or boring. But this gave me INSTANT heartburn. ): Hoping my boyfriend can handle the leftovers on his own!
Bummer! I wonder if using a different salsa or less spices would help. :(
Made it with Costco mango salsa and it was amazing!!!
Can I set this in 4 hours -v- 8? And can I use a can of corn -v- frozen?
You can do 4 hours on high instead of 8 hours low, and yes, you could do canned corn instead of frozen (just drain it first). :)
Tried this and love it!!! I think it would be pretty low cal. Any ideas how to figure it out?
Yep, there are several websites that allow you to enter in ingredient information for a recipe and then it will calculate that for you. Check out my FAQ page for some links to a few.
Beth, can you suggest a way to do this with beef or pork instead of chicken? Thanks!
Yes, you can easily sub either one for the chicken :) Just use any type of roast, although they are usually quite a bit larger than the chicken breast that I used. You can cut off a piece about the size of a chicken breast and freeze the rest, though.
Just got this started in the crock. We had tacos a couple days ago, but I just couldn’t resist trying this out! Instead of red salsa, I used a jar of our favorite green salsa. In addition to it being super cheap (about a buck for 17.5 oz), it is the perfect level of spiciness for us and goes well with a wide variety of foods.
Can’t wait for this to start smelling amazing!
I am a vegetarian. Can you think of a good replacement for he chicken? Lentils, fake chix, chickpeas? Thanks!
I think I would just add more beans, like a can of pinto probably. Beans + salsa + rice + cheese = heaven!
Trying this right now! Looks so good. I was wondering how spicy it is? My bf loves spice so I added a jalapeño but I’m hoping it won’t make it too spicy. Thanks!
The spiciness will depend on how hot the salsa is that you used and how many of the jalapeno seeds got in there :)
I’m making this for dinner tonight, and it smells terrific! I think I may also add diced tomato, lettuce, onion, and sour cream to the topping. After all, what’s a taco without a smidgen of sour cream? Looking forward to it!! Thanks!
I’ve made this recipe many times before, it’s amazing. But this time around, I only have chicken thighs, bone-in and skin on. Can I keep the skin on the chicken for more flavor?
I suppose you could, although you’d want to remove it at the end because I think slow cooking the skin would make it turn mushy and gross.
Added a can of pinto beans and a can of green chili peppers and it definitely seemed to give the dish an additional boost. Due to the added beans we upped the quantity of all the seasonings, especially the chili powder, garlic and cumin. Also made the salsa a hot one as we tend to like things spicy. Love the recipe and today was our second time making it. Always look to modify but really happy right now :)
I have a crock pot not a slow cooker. Will this cook the same way? I know there is a little difference so just making sure I don’t need to adjust anything.
Yep, you’ll be happy to hear that they are the same thing – it’s just that Crock Pot is a brand name and slow cooker is the generic term for the appliance. It’s kind of like how Kleenex is a brand name, but people use that as the word for facial tissue even when it’s not Kleenex brand. :P So, anytime you see a recipe for a slow cooker, you can use your crock pot without any modifications!
I am planning on making this some time soon, but I am not keen on most beans. Do you think chickpeas would be a good substitute?
Hmm, I think my opinion is that they would be “interesting.” hahaha, that means neither terrible or particularly good :)
I made this last week and it was phenomenal! The taste was delicious, it was super easy to make, and the chicken shredded so easily at the end of the day in the crock pot.
I actually used a packet of taco seasoning — it was in the pantry and needed to be used. I ate it over rice the first day, then put it into tortillas and topped with shredded lettuce the next. Very versatile. Great recipe!
We made this tonight and it was so yummy! Everyone had seconds!! Great meal for busy moms with kiddos going back to school, or anyone looking for a great meal with very minimal effort! Thanks so much!
Add a can of chili beans and you have chicken taco chili! Serve with rice and/or cornbread!
Regarding using frozen chicken.. I cook mine frozen all the time. No matter what method you use, I would recommend using a meat thermometer whenever you use a crock pot for the meat! Taking the cover off to check it can lose up to 1/2 hour of cooktime. Using an exact tool like a meat thermometer ensures proper doneness. There is a guide on most thermometers to tell you what temp for what meat, else charts which tell you the same thing are readily available online… and my family loves this. We make it frequently. Thanks for sharing! :)
My hint for getting rice right… I use the bags.. Plus you can freeze the left over rice.
Just want to give a hint to any newbies at crockpot cooking- boneless skinless chicken breast should be done in 5 hours on low, so check before 8 hours. You could end up with dry chicken(I did often before I discovered this tip), newer crockpots are hotter than the older ones.
You’ve earned another huge fan! Made this tonight after having stashed my slow cooker in a closet for almost 2 years. It was fantastic! Absolutely perfect for a busy grad student and her carnivorous husband! Can’t wait to learn more crock pot recipes!
This is my first time using a crockpot. I kinda got ahead of myself and added the rice to the slow cooker. Is this going to be a problem? I already mixed it in with everything else. I’d hate to ruin all this food!
Hmm, well, there might not be enough moisture to cook the rice, but let’s hope it works out okay! Also, it might cook up a bit more mushy than regular cooked rice.
When asked what’s my favorite crock-pot recipe, this one comes up without pause. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve made this, so yummy! Thank you so much.
This has become a staple around my house; thanks for teaching it to us!
Made this yesterday – delish w/ Monterey Jack and added diced bell pepper on top. Thanks!
May I suggest that when cooking the rice,(especially if using a microwave rice cooker), add a pkg of taco seasoning to the rice.
I made this in my electric pressure cooker this afternoon – I set it for 12 minutes, and it came out perfect. The time doesn’t include the several minutes it takes for the pressure cooker to heat up and come to pressure – so in total about 20 minutes or so. I used chicken tenders instead of breasts, so if using breasts it would probably help to cut them up a bit for more even cooking.
I’ve GOT to get one of those.
New family favorite. I buy spicy salsa and don’t use the pepper. I squeeze some lime in after it’s done. It’s great over rice or stuffed in soft tortillas.
Have done this recipe a dozen times and it is always great.
We use quinoa instead of rice and it is perfect.
Today I tried it with around 1.5lbs of steak I got on sale. Just cut if into a bit smaller chunks to cook and it turned out fine. Everything else the exact same and it worked out perfectly as well. Tender meat and great flavour.
Can not see why it would not work with the same amount of boneless pork shoulder or something like that as well.
Your recipes are fantastic. My family will love this and I will love the grocery bill! Reva K
Made this for my family today. Delicious! Used boneless, skinless thighs in pl.ace of breasts to make the cost even lower.
My fiance puts in requests for this recipe all the time! This is one of my Budget-Bytes favorites!
Someone copied this and added cream cheese. Good idea, but I already know I prefer your recipe. Will be making my third batch this weekend!
http://rita-may-recipes.blogspot.com/2011/11/crock-pot-cream-cheese-chicken-chile.html
This looks so delish! Definitely moving it to the top of my dinner list!
My husband has been learning how to cook new things from scratch while he’s looking for a new job, (his previous specialties were limited to tacos and sweet & sour meatballs) and he is in love with our slow cooker now as much as I am. :-) I passed this recipe along to him to try when he was asking me what he could do with the chicken in our freezer. He made it last night and it was absolutely delicious! A new simple, yummy meal to add to the rotation.
I’ve made this with dry beans a few times and haven’t had too many problems. Though if I add tomato stuff I add it in last after the beans have softened. I also wash and soak them over night.
I wouldn’t suggest using dry beans and cooking them at the same time with the rest of the ingredients, the whole mixture will turn black. Plus, when you cook dry beans you usually want an excess of liquid, which you later remove. If you want to use beans cooked from dry, cook them separately.
But, I usually use six cups of water per pound, which yields about three cans worth of beans.
How much water would you suggest adding if i were to add dry black beans?
Seriously was awesome. EVERYONE ate it asking for more! We only made a couple of changes. My husband has issue with tomatoes so we commonly blend salsa … very well … so I just added it all blended up, it totally worked. Then we changed out the rice for quinoa. GREAT texture! Hubby said he could eat it 2-4x a week and be happy!
Anon – skipping the cayenne won’t mess up the flavor, it will just be less spicy :) I do find that the type of salsa used makes a big difference. If it’s not a tasty salsa to begin with, the end product won’t be so good. That being said, some of my favorite salsas are generic, so it doesn’t have to be an expensive one :)
I’m making this as we speak but I don’t have cayenne pepper, do you think it will mess the taste up?
Wow!! This is so, so good! I think I’ll be renaming it “magic taco bowls” as we were able to keep eating it for three days! It was even better each time and I especially enjoyed eating it cold. I mixed in fresh chopped tomatoes from our garden, guacamole, greek yogurt and cold (leftover) rice—whoa. Can’t wait to make it again, and I am saying this after eating it three nights in a row =)
I don’t have a slow cooker so I improvised and made this on my stove top. They turned out fantastic so now I have a freezer full of meals for the beginning of the semester!
Wow, thanks! I’ve been having a great time poking around your site and everything looks so yummy. I made this one tonight. I had it for dinner as you suggested, and it was fabulous. I’m having some more as a late night snack, on top of some “scoop” style tortilla chips. Still just as good! I plan to try some in a big burrito wrap a la Chipotle next!
Beth,
Thanks for this recipe. I’ve been a fan of your site for two years now, but recently stopped cooking because of a busy new job. This recipe is what I made after cooking again, and it’s wonderful! It’s cheap, delicious, and feeds me for a week. Thank you so much!
Alex
This is SO good omg. I tried it with beef and added pickled banana peppers/jalapenos… mmm. Thanks Beth!
with a squeeze of lime! Yum!
WARNING: This recipe is almost entirely dependent on the type of salsa you use. Or at least, mine was.
I went with Newman’s Own instead of good ol’ Tostitos brand and regretted it deeply. The recipe was delicious but I could tell my choice of salsa greatly altered the flavor. Lesson learned.
I made cilantro lime rice with this and it was divine! My boyfriend and his three helpings strongly agree. All in all, this is a great recipe and I will be using it again very soon.
Made this yesterday and it was very good. I doubled the beans and corn and used peach salsa. I would highly recommend this recipe. This would be great with other meats as well.
Thank you for the quick response Beth as always. A Sno Cone sounds good right now especially with ice cream in the middle. I wish I was in New Orleans instead of up north. Disfruta!
Anon – Yes, a mix of beans would still work very well :) I LOVE pinto beans!
Could you use a mix of canned pinto beans and black beans in slow cooker for this recipe? Thank you for all the wonderful recipes, Beth!
This was so tasty and quite easy. First recipe I’ve tried from your site and I’ll be coming back for sure!! Thanks!
Great! Thank you :) I can’t wait to make this!
Yes, a packet of taco seasoning is the super quick, easy alternative! One packet should be plenty :)
Could you use a pack of taco seasoning instead of all the individual spices? Would one be enough?
Anonymous – I suggest cooking everything before freezing it. After cooking, I portion out single servings of rice and the chicken taco mixture into ziplock containers (the kind with a clear bottom and blue top) and then just freeze it. That way I can just take single servings straight from the freezer directly to the microwave to reheat.
How do i freeze this..in actual bowls with plastic wrap on top? Also you said to someone dont cook before freezin should just freeze everything except the topping ingredients-including the raw chicken- in a ziploc bag and then thaw it kn refridgerator and put in slow cooker ??
Anon – Yes, if you leave out the chicken you don’t even have to bother using the slow cooker :D The only reason the slow cooker is used for this is to cook the chicken long enough so that it will shred easily. If you’re going vegetarian, simply heat it all together on the stove or microwave and you’re good to go. Super easy! I’d substitute by adding a couple other types of beans in addition to the black beans. Sounds delicious :)
I’m going to try a vegetarian version of this. Would you alter it in any way if you were to leave out the chicken?
I made this with the ingredients listed, but not in the method listed. I didn’t have 8 hours to slow cook the chicken, so I poached the breasts and then threw them into a slow cooker for 2 additional hours to finish the dish off. The chicken wasn’t quite as tender as it might have otherwise been, but it still pulled apart with two forks. I topped this with Sriracha for some additional kick. Delicious!
The only thing I changed was to use 16 oz of homemade salsa rather than something from a jar. Those store bought salsas are just terrible IMO. It probably cost more than just buying a jar, but it was worth it. I also added juice from one lime to the rice.
Made this for dinner tonight…Definitely a keeper…YUMMY!
This was so freaking good!!! My boyfriend was skeptical – “ew what is that??”
But let me tell you – he had seconds!!!! This is going to be a regular meal in our home. Thank you <3
I made this tonight with cilantro lime rice. Let me tell you, my husband and son both told me we have to make this one again! It is so yummy!
This was so awesome. I made it using chicken thighs because I didn’t have chicken breasts. I also added two cans of beans (black and red). Served with brown rice, cheese, salsa verde, and cilantro. I will so make this again!!
made this yesterday – soooo good!
A friend of mine made this recipe and we made soft tacos out of it. He told me where he found the recipe, and I’ve been addicted to your site ever since! I’m a newlywed on a budget, and my husband is on a diet, so your healthy, cheap options are great for us!! I made this again tonight and it is soooo good. Thanks!
I am planning on making this wonderful recipe one night this week. I am thinking of having tortilla shells on hand. It sounds like it would be good. thanks for the recipe.
Hamilton House – I like to actually build little servings with rice, cheese, and all! It reheats quickly in the microwave for a fuss free meal :)
I made this over the weekend for a Mexican themed dinner alongside your Sweet Potato and Chorizo Enchiladas and both were a HUGE hit!! I’m still happily eating leftovers…mmmm :-)
Your site rocks!
Kind of confused how to freeze. Should I make a large batch in the crockpot and freeze in individual meals with rice included or should I make it and freeze, then add rice and toppings the day I am serving it? About to have a baby and want to make it easy but yummy.
Thanks Beth! I bought Tostitos salsa because it was on sale. I’ll let you know how it turns out!
Alisha – I honestly don’t remember but I bet it was the cheapest jar on the shelf ;) I like all types of salsa, from homemade to the inexpensive store brands!
I can’t wait to make this tomorrow. It’s exactly the kind of recipe I was looking for! Question: what kind of salsa did you use?
Why would you put canned or already cooked beans in this? If you’re cooking it for eight hours anyway, add some extra water and just throw the beans in (dry–no need to soak first, if you’re cooking them in the crockpot). This looks delicious, though. I’d add more veggies and majorly enjoy!
I’ve made this twice. The first time I used beans I had already cooked in the slow cooker and thought it was dumb to cook something twice in the slow cooker. So this time I added 1/3 cup of dry black beans and an extra cup of water. I was short on time so I cooked it on high for six hours shredded the chicken and cooked on low for another hour. The beans were done but they could have been a bit softer. I think the full eight hours on low would have been perfect. I love beans and 1/3 wasn’t quite enough for my taste so I’ll try 1/2 cup with maybe 1 1/2 cups more water than Beth’s recipe next time.
Ate this over rice the first day and it was delicious. Made nachos with it the second day and it was even more delicious! Thanks for sharing because I was one of those people who had somehow never tried this!
Awesome, my new favorite go to ! Thanks for sharing! Love your blog!
Have a Suneday!
Carly
Just made this (after following your instructions for making beans from dry, woo!) and it’s delicious. I put it over brown rice and added diced red onion after it was done cooking. I had leftovers and made a sandwich with it – OMG. Depending on how much I like it with the rice, I might make this as a sammy filler.
– Julia
I made this yesterday, and am eating a bowl right now for brunch. Not over rice, it’s delicious on it’s own. I forgot to buy salsa so just used canned tomatoes and a diced jalapeno instead. My roommate likes it too!
I’m about to make your (un)refried beans as well. You are turning me into a Crock Pot fiend!
Ooooh! I am going to have to try these! They look so yummy!
this turned out so good, so easy to do, few ingredients, yummy. i did worry about the exact measurements i had two large boneless chicken breast, my can of black beans was 19 oz, i just eyeballed the half bag of frozen corn, and the salsa too. cooked it for about 41/2 hours on high. i didn’t make rice but wrapped the mixture in toufayan brand sun dried tomato and spinach wraps. i put cilantro and sour cream inside. salsa on the outside for dipping. i will make this again
My whole family gobbled this up! I had made a crock pot taco chicken recipe a few weeks ago and frozen half of it. I took that out of freezer, added some beans and corn and cooked up some rice. Made a little guacamole, cut up some fresh tomatoes and put some sour cream on top. Easy and totally customizable! Thanks for the great ideas, keep them coming!!
Excellent! My new go-to chicken burrito/taco/rice bowl recipe.
amazing.. i made it without the corn (forgot it at the grocery store) and the cayenne pepper but it is delicious i love it!
This meal was amazing! When I warmed up the leftovers in the office today I had people oohhing and ahhing all over. It was so yummy. Thanks!
Hi – I just wanted to say that I found this recipe through Pinterest & tried it today. It was great!! Everyone in my family loved it & we have plenty leftover for tomorrow. Thank you so much for your recipes. It doesn’t get better than easy + healthy + delicious!
I didn’t read all the comments above, so please forgive me if this is repeated. I take a cup or two of minute rice and add it in the last hour of cooking. The rice absorbs the salsa and tastes wonderful, plus it’s one less thing you have to do. Also, we take this and put it in burrito shells with sour cream and cheese! YUMMY!
This was awesome! My family loved it. Thanks for posting this.
I was channeling my inner-Beth yesterday while trying to figure out something else to do with some leftover pulled pork from the freezer that my husband had smoked several months ago, when I thought of this recipe. Whipped up a quick tomato sauce with a BBQ kick, added the pulled pork and some black beans, ladled it over some rice and topped with some cheese and a good pile of coleslaw, and VOILA, BBQ Pork Rice Bowls. Thanks for the inspiration!
This is DELICIOUS!!!!! Next time, we are going to make some guacamole to put on top. Love how easy it was and the taste wasSO good. Love the cilantro on top!
I’ve never been able to cook rice according to the package directions very well. But, when I use your method of 2 cups of rice and 3 cups water for 20 min it seems to turn out perfect somehow! Thanks!
This meal is super good and easy too. I’m making it tonight since my in laws are coming into town and it feeds a lot of people easily. yum!
Made this for tonight’s dinner, and it turned out to be a big hit! My chicken was still frozen, so I cooked it on high for the first 4 hours, then cooked on low for 2-3. We will definitely be having this again!
Yummy! I used about 1/2 a jar of salsa + a little chicken stock to make it less spicy for my 4 kids.
Then my hubby & I just loaded on salsa in our own bowls. Plus we added avocado. Definitely something I’ll make again. Thanks for all the fun recipes :)
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I am going to try this recipe this week. I wanted to “pin” it but don’t see a button for it. Are you on Pinterest?
This was a GREAT recipe. I love that you can use it for tacos or burritos or my son can use in his quesadillas, or like the recipe says, over rice…very versatile. I doubled the recipe and it made 9 cups of food, so I worked it out at 5.8 weight watchers points per cup, but I only used less than 1/2 cup to put in my 2 point corn & flax tortillas, so I had a great meal for only about 5 points.
This is awesome and only 3 weight watchers points without the rice!
Thank you for the advice on adding a cup of water- dinner was great!!
Yes, you can use frozen chicken. I would suggest thawing it in the refrigerator (put it in the fridge the day before) before making this, though. Adding frozen meat to a slow cooker can prevent the temperature from getting hot enough fast enough to be in the “safe zone”. Or, you can cook it on high for an hour or so, then turn it down to low for the remaining 7 hours.
I only have frozen chicken will this still work?
Anon – Yes, you can definitely add water as needed. Everyone’s slow cooker is a little different, some let more moisture escape than others. That sounds like the problem you’ve been running into. I would start with a cup of water and then add more during cooking if needed. Good luck!
Can I add some water or stock to this recipe? I made this and it was delicious, but it was pretty dry. I’ve had the same problem making pulled pork, even though I follow the recipes exactly- any tips would be appreciated!
Made this for dinner tonight and everyone LOVED it! Plus there is enough left over so we can eat it throughout the week. Thanks for sharing!!
I made this for our Friday night dinner. It was very good. I served it with rice and tortillas. I also added a big can of diced tomatoes near the end of the cooking time. We have been eating on it all weekend because it made a big pot full. Will make this again.
After 4 hours it was absolutely perfect!!! Super delicious, even though i was very disappointed with a local salsa i bought (tasted like tomato sauce that needed sugar). It was STILL amazing!!!! I will sooooo be making this again! It was the perfect inaugural recipe for my crock pot :)
Gina – Slow cookers usually cook twice as fast on high as they do on low, so four hours should be safe!
Does anyone know about how long this recipe takes when you cook it on high? This is literally the first time i’ve ever used a slow cooker (thank you Santa!) and i’m not sure if it’s okay to open the lid and chek for doneness. It’s been in about 3 hours now and smells AMAZING!
Cannot wait to try this! Looks awesome!
Made this for supper tonight and it was delicious! I do, however, have a question. You state that the recipe has 8 servings– what serving size is this? A lot of recipes have the servings per recipe, but don’t have what the serving size is; then you’re stuck having to measure your entire pot/crockpot/pan of food and then dividing by the number of servings.
So super yummy. I made this last night and we both went for seconds! I switched the black beans for kidney beans because that’s what I had in the pantry, though. Still tasted great. And we added a bit of guacamole and sour cream on top. Thank you for sharing this recipe!
This makes a nice taco salad as well for those of us constantly watching our carbs!
This sounds yummO!! What would be really great… is adding lime and cilantro to the rice. It is GREAT!
YumYum. I also wanted to add that anyone who makes rice frequently, or has trouble making it should try a small rice cooker. Just add rice, water and set the on swtich, it turns itself off when its done. It’s sort of like a crock pot for rice, and I love it.
I made this for dinner tonight and oh.my.goodness. It was bliss in my mouth! I added sour cream, but other than that, made it exactly like your recipe. Will probably make once a month! Loved it! Thank you for your blog.
We just had this for dinner and I had to comment. It was awesome! Thanks for a super recipe!!!
Hi! Found this recipe on pintrest and tried it out tonight… Omgosh! So lovely! Everyone in my large family enjoyed it! Thank you so much! Will def be a part of our rotation!
Ok, so this is the most amazing chicken taco recipe EVER! Thank you so much for posting this! It is so moist and the chicken literally shreds with no effort :) My chicken was still partially thawed and it turned out just fine! I made the cilantro lime rice to go with it as well. Now back to my dinner :) (thank you again!)
Laura – That should be okay! (sorry it took so long to respond)
My chicken was only partially thawed out. Is that ok?
This has been my go-to budget freezer meal since you posted it! It’s so yummy and having healthy frozen meals keeps me from hitting up the drive through. I usually double the black beans, and add raw, diced onions and green peppers, avocado and some fat free greek yogurt (instead of sour cream) before serving. After freezing, sometimes the meal reheats a little dry but a little extra salsa does the trick. I also just realized if you add the raw onion and green pepper, then freeze, the juice from the onion keeps the meal from drying out. Thank you for sharing this!
I made this tonight and it was great … my whole family liked it! I served it over rice as you suggested but I think it would also be great over baked potatoes.
making this for dinner tonight! it looks SO yummy!
Julie – You’ll definitely have better results if you freeze first then cook later. That being said, you *can* cook, portion, and then freeze (rice and all)… you’ll just sacrifice a little on the texture and flavor. It just depends on if you want fast/easy reheating or longer cooking and better flavor and texture?
I am in a group where we are doing 10 freezer meals and exchanging them once a month. I love this recipe and would love to make it for our freezer meal group, but I’m unsure if I should cook everything first and then freeze it or just dump all the ingredients (except cheese, rice and cilantro) in a ziploc bag and freeze it. Any suggestions? Thanks.
anyway you can do a nutritional breakdown of this recipe and others
Delicious! Thank you!
Beth, thank you for posting such a wonderful dish. My whole famiily, including our two-year old son, loved it and even wanted seconds!
Thanks Beth!! I am making it now on high!!! :) You rock!
Anon – yes, you can cook it on high and it will probably only take half the time! As soon as it shreds easily with a fork, it’s done. :)
can you cook this on high for less time in the crockpot?
Just made it tonight and it was delish!
Shawnta – I bet it would work great in a pressure cooker although I have no idea how long because I’ve never used one :( If you can find a pressure cooker recipe for pulled pork or something like that, I’m sure the cooking time would be similar. Good luck!
I have a pressure cooker with a slow cooker function but can’t seem to find any information on that part of the cooker. Do you think the recipe would do well in a pressure cooker…maybe 30 minutes?
Great recipe! We had this for dinner tonight and I love how tender the chicken comes out. We will definitely be making this again and again. This recipe fed my family of 5 (although tow of them are only 2) and there was plenty to put in the freezer for another meal.
MJ – yes, actually, a crock pot is just like an electric dutch oven! They both have the same method: cooking in a closed container (to retain moisture) with heat coming from all sides. You could probably even do this in a regular pot on the stove. Just let it simmer over low heat for a couple of hours or until the chicken shreds easily. I simmered some chicken with beans on the stove the other day and it was tender after 3 hours of cooking on low. You’ll need to bring it up to a boil over medium/high heat just to get it hot before turning the heat down to low for the rest of the duration. I hope that helps! Beth
I haven’t invested in a crock pot yet… But I do have a large Dutch Oven. Any ideas how I could make that work? I’m very much a cooking newbie.
Cook low and slow in it
My family loved this recipe…my 17 year old daughter went back for 2nds, and asked if she could also take some for her school lunch the next day! I actually forgot to serve the cheese on top, but nobody missed it. Although someone did say it would be good with sour cream, and I think it would!
For anyone who has a fast/hot crock pot, like me…I added 1 cup of extra water and it could have used even more as there was no liquid in my pot when I got home. Add more spices if you add more water. Very good recipe and I’m sure I’ll be making this often! Thank you :)
Just made this for dinner in a burrito wrap with the chipotle knock-off cilantro lime rice (and a small scoop of guacamole). Two very excited thumbs up, this is awesome! Thanks for the recipe :)
Anon – Yep, you can use any flavor salsa!
Could you do this with salsa Verde?
Hello fellow food blogger! Love your blog and this taco chicken bowl is great!
I was wondering, have you ever blog hopped before? We’d love it if you contributed this awesome taco bowl recipe to our blog hop budget-friendly recipes. It’s a great way to get links back to your site. Hope to see you there!
You can check out the blog hop here:
http://www.recipelionblog.com/fabulous-food-friday-august-blog-hop/
Thanks,
Sarah @ Recipelion.com
Made this Sunday night and we ate it over rice but then we used the leftovers and made yummy quesadillas…The kids 3 years and 10 months scarfed it down and I have a hard time to get them to eat corn and beans so itw as perfect…and it was two meals in one which made a Monday night so easy…Thanks for the recipe…
I made this for dinner tonight! Ohemgee! SO SO SO good! I kept saying to my husband, “Oh, my gosh this is so good!”. I will for sure be making this again. I did like the idea of trying out different salsa’s so I’m anxious give that a try!
I made this for dinner tonight and it was so good. I can’t wait to try your other recipes.
making this tonight for dinner! soooo easy — love using the slow cooker because i can make it during my daughter’s nap & don’t have to worry about dinner :) may sound strange, but i added olives & instead of the black beans, used pinto simply b/c we didn’t have any. can’t wait to eat dinner tonight!!!
Yum! I am linking back to you tomorrow on my August menu! http://www.craftybalancing.blogspot.com
This was delicious! I think that some chopped up avocados on top would’ve made an already excellent recipe even better.
Sooo….I’ve never used a crock pot before – and now I’m counting down the hours until I can have this for dinner!
This was delicious! I used a Rival 5 qt crockpot and 2 lbs of chicken. Flavor-wise it was perfectly fine to add that extra bit of chicken. I checked it after 5 hours and it was more than “done”…. (on the low setting). My W-S Food Made Fast Slow Cooker Cookbook has much shorter times for the chicken dishes.
I made this tonight…only on top of the stove because I was pressed for time with 4 “starving” children :-D It turned out wonderfully and made enough to serve for lunch tomorrow (make it into burritos!)
This is my kind of recipe. So very simple and delicious!
What a good idea to add in black beans and corn. DUH!
This was honestly the most deliciously simple thing I’ve ever made! AND I didn’t use black beans and used bulgur instead of white rice–so healthy and great!
That looks absolutely delicious! I honestly cannot wait to try it :)
This is my favorite thing I’ve made from your recipes! It turned out perfect and a lot like my current vice (chipotle!) Thank you again!
Oh, and I mixed some lime juice and cilantro with the rice and it was heaven with the chicken.
My almost 20yo son is moving into his first apartment at school this year, I’ll have to print this out and give it to him, I think he could handle this!
I am all about the slow cooker, right now I have pulled pork tacos simmering for tonight. Can’t wait to try it!
Look delicious! :D
easy recipes are good! thanks for this one.
This looks amazing and so easy! Thanks for sharing :)
V- I would add them either fresh for a nice crunch or saute them up really quickly (fajita style) in a super hot skillet then add them on top. I wouldn’t add them in before cooking because they’ll pretty much disintegrate into the sauce :P A nice fresh pico de gallo would be amazing as well! Oooh, or some avocado!
I really like your idea V. I want to make this but add some more veggies too it. xD I was thinking about adding diced tomato’s, onion, and thinly sliced bell peppers. I plan to saute the bell peppers because they’re so firm but I like the idea of crunchy onion in it. I’m also going to substitute the cilantro for parsley because the people I cook for are kind of picky. haha Let me know how yours turns out! :)
You’re great. SERIOUSLY! lol Will try this for my husband. This also looks like it would freeze well. Another plus! :)
What do you think about adding fresh bell pepper and onions a la chipotle? Should I add those during the cooking time or sautee them up and add them later? I don’t really like corn but I’d love to experiment with other veggies.
It depends on how you want the texture- if you add them at the beginning, they’ll just become part of the sauce and be “mushy.” If you want more of a fajita flavor (caramelized onions/peppers), I would saute them and add them to the finished product. Veggies like mushrooms would probably work in this, too! :)
This sounds really yummy. It’ll be great for busy nights when I don’t have the time or energy to turn on the oven. Thanks so much for sharing it!
I’m trying this out today! It sounds delicious :) Although I’m doing it sans black beans, seeing as we don’t have any–I keep forgetting to pick up more at the grocery :/
That looks ridiculously delicious! Definitely going to have to try it out this week.
Definitely thaw it first. It’s never a good idea to add frozen meat to a slow cooker because it can take too long to come up to temperature and then it’s at a food poisoning risk (even if the bugs get killed when it heats up, they may leave behind toxins).
My mouth is literally watering, this sounds so good to me right now! I love to use the slow cooker as much as I can. In fact, you’ve got me sold on slow cooker black beans. One question for this recipe: I usually have my chicken frozen. Can I just dump it in like that and add more time for the cook, or should I thaw it out first?