Slow Cooker Shredded Chicken Taco Meat is perfect for large gatherings or to freeze for other meals. A simple trick makes the shredding of the chicken breasts effortless too!
Is there anyone who doesn’t love Mexican food? It’s my favorite! Whenever I’m not sure what to make for dinner I whip something up in that direction.
I love that it’s so relaxed and unpretentious but mostly those gorgeous, earthy, spicy flavors!
This Slow Cooker Shredded Chicken Taco Meat recipe is a great way to cook up a large batch of succulent, spicy shredded chicken for a taco party, for salads, or soups,
Perfect for a Mexican-themed meal or Cinco de Mayo.
A simple trick shreds the chicken in about 30 seconds with no effort from you.
It’s an easy recipe and makes a ton of savory, taco meat perfect for meal prepping, party taco buffet OR to freeze and pull out when you need something quick to make for dinner (tostadas, on taco salad, etc.).
If you use an Instant Pot try this Mexican Shredded Chicken recipe too!
Crockpot Chicken Tacos – Ingredients
The shredded chicken taco recipe is very easy. It uses:
- skinless boneless chicken breasts
- chicken stock
- a can of spicy diced tomatoes
- spices that create a homemade taco seasoning
That’s all it takes to make mouthwatering meat for shredded chicken tacos!
Which Diced Tomatoes to Use
A few notes on the ingredients. We are so fortunate that canned food producers have dialed in on all the uses for canned diced tomatoes and do the work for us.
For this recipe, I use diced tomatoes with some sort of spicy flavor that works with tacos (and the can juices).
Homemade Taco Seasoning
Prepared taco seasoning is convenient but often overly salty.
Though it takes a few minutes longer using a blend of spices creates flavors that are on point.
Well-rounded seasonings that create mouthwatering meat that’s spicy enough and not overly salty (if you LOVE salt, you can add more but this way it doesn’t highjack the natural flavors in the recipe).
A TRICK for Making Shredded Chicken Taco Meat
Use our favorite trick to shred this chicken found here Moist Homemade Shredded Chicken Breasts.
I have a little trick I use to shred chicken: I put it in my standing mixer!
In about 30 seconds the meat is wonderfully shredded with no pulling it apart with forks. You can watch a video of it shredding chicken.
A TIP About this Shredded Chicken Taco Meat
The beauty of a slow cooker is that the liquid does NOT evaporate (as well as you can fix it and forget it).
During cooking it may appear there is too much liquid. Toward the end of the cooking, the chicken is shredded and returned to the slow cooker to cook a bit longer and drinks in the savory spicy broth.
It keeps the shredded chicken taco meat moist with some juices but certainly not more than is needed.
On the other hand, if you are a person who loves lots of juice in their meat, add an extra ½-1 cup of broth when you begin!
Perfect for a Shredded Chicken Taco Bar
Thinking of the Big Game this weekend, this pot of Slow Cooker Shredded Chicken Taco Meat would be great to set up on a buffet with all the taco fixings.
Set up the slow cooker with the shredded chicken taco meat along with:
- Hard taco shells OR soft corn tortillas (for soft tacos or tostadas)
- Shredded iceberg lettuce
- Chopped fresh tomatoes
- Shredded cheddar or Mexican cheese blend (you can buy this already prepared in the dairy section of the grocery store)
- Salsa
- Sour Cream
- Lime wedges
It’s a perfect make-your-own meal situation. It will stay warm for people to nosh throughout the day.
How to Freeze Shredded Chicken Taco Meat
If you are making this shredded chicken taco meat for yourself or your family, it makes a ton!
Leftovers can be packaged up in freezer-safe containers and saved for another meal or prepped for salads for the week. So many options!
Slow Cooker Mexican Chicken Taco Meat
Ingredients
- 2 cups Low Sodium Chicken Stock
- 1 14.5-ounce can Fire Roasted Salsa-Style Tomatoes with can juices (or another diced tomatoes flavors with Mexican-themed flavors)
- ¼ cup Chili Powder
- 2 tablespoons ground Cumin
- 1 tablespoon Smoked Paprika (regular not hot)
- 2 teaspoons Crushed Red Pepper
- ¼ teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
- 1 ½ teaspoons Kosher Salt
- 1 ¼ teaspoon Garlic Powder
- 1 ¼ teaspoon Onion Powder
- 1 ¼ teaspoon Oregano
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground Black Pepper
- 4 pounds Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts , rinsed and patted dry with paper towels
Instructions
- Add the chicken stock, tomatoes and spices to the insert of a 6 quart or larger slow cooker; stir to mix together. Add the chicken breasts; flip each to coat with the liquid. Place the lid on the slow cooker and cook for 5 1/2 hours on LOW.
- At 5 1/2 hours, remove the chicken breasts from the slow cooker and place them into the bowl of a standing mixer (note: do this in batches with about 3 breasts maximum at a time). Process on a slow speed, increasing to shred the chicken (about 30 seconds). Place the shredded chicken back into the slow cooker and stir into the sauce. Allow to cook 30 additional minutes.
Tanya D says
Perfect for our tacos! Delicious and loaded with flavor!
Renee says
This is such a tasty, handy recipe. I really like what the smoked paprika and fire-roasted tomatoes do for the flavor of the chicken, and having taco meat ready when needed makes it nearly effortless to get a meal on the table fast.
Dannii says
I made this for a dinner party and every one loved it. 10/10!
Kelley says
This was so easy and made a great meal prep recipe! We ate half and froze the rest thanks for sharing.
Aimee Mars says
We’re a taco loving family and needed to switch up our taco Tuesday! Love this slow cooker recipe. Will be making again!
Sharon Chen says
Thanks for the recipe! It’s a great way to elevate the white meat of chicken!!
Sour Chipmunk says
This recipe hit it off with the masses in a BIG way! No alterations other than using the instapot instead of crock pot, but all ingredients worked the same way. The flavor was amazing! Using the stand-mixer to shred the chicken was not only effective, but really fun! I took 4 lbs of shredded chicken to my wife and said, “40 seconds… done.”
Thank you so much for sharing!
Toni Dash says
So glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for leaving your comment!