Succulent Slow-Cooker Pulled Taco Chicken Recipe Is a High-Protein Budget Dinner (8 Ingredients) by Elisa Schmitz
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When I'm cooking for our extended family, I immediately reach for my slow cooker. I find that the slow cooker not only makes cooking for a crowd easy, but also results in mouth-watering meals the whole family wholeheartedly loves.
This succulent slow-cooker taco pulled chicken recipe turned out super zesty and juicy. A simple combination of fresh and pantry ingredients turned ordinary chicken into a tender, flavorful high-protein dinner that everyone wanted seconds of. (Read about the health benefits of protein.)
To make this easy Mexican-inspired chicken recipe, you need only eight ingredients: chicken breasts or thighs (or a combination), diced tomatoes, diced tomatoes with green chilies, taco seasoning, bell pepper, onion, kidney beans and black beans. After just five minutes of prep and four hours of slow cooking, this spicy, low-calorie dinner is ready to eat.
Variation: I scooped the chicken into chickpea tortillas, added cheese then baked them in the oven for a few minutes to crisp up the tortillas and melt the cheese. But you can scoop the chicken directly into taco shells or tortillas, or serve it over rice.
You can serve this gluten-free chicken dinner over rice, or in taco shells or your favorite tortillas. I served it in oven-baked chickpea tortillas, taco-style, topped with shredded cheese and plain Greek yogurt (though others used sour cream)!
Cuisine: American
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 4 hours (high)
Total Time: 4 hours and 5 minutes
Servings: 8
Ingredients
- 2 pounds boneless/skinless chicken breasts or thighs (or a combination, which is what I used)
- 15 ounces (1 can) diced tomatoes with liquid
- 10 ounces (1 can) diced tomatoes with green chilies with liquid (I used Rotel brand)
- 2 ounces (2 packets) taco seasoning (or make your own taco seasoning)
- 1 cup green bell pepper (or other color bell pepper), diced
- 1 cup onion, diced
- 15 ounces (1 can) kidney beans
- 15 ounces (1 can) black beans
- shredded cheddar cheese, for serving (optional)
- plain Greek yogurt or sour cream, for serving (optional)
Here's how to make it:
- Turn on your slow cooker. Place the diced tomatoes, diced tomatoes with green chilies and taco seasoning into the slow cooker. Stir to combine.
- Place the chicken into the sauce in the slow cooker. Season with salt and pepper, if desired. Toss to coat and ensure that everything is covered in the sauce. (If you'd like even more heat, you can add a sprinkle of red pepper flakes.)
- Cover the slow cooker with the lid.
- Set to cook on high heat for 4 hours. After 2 hours, add the bell pepper, onion, kidney beans and black beans. Stir to combine.
- Allow to cook for 2 more hours. Chicken is done when it reaches 165 degrees F on a food thermometer.
- Remove the chicken from the slow cooker.
- Shred the chicken with two forks.
- Put the chicken back into the sauce in the slow cooker and stir to incorporate.
- Serve the chicken mixture over rice or scoop it into taco shells or corn, flour or chickpea tortillas. Garnish with your favorite taco toppings.
- Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge and reheat in the microwave.
Recipe cooking times, nutritional information and servings are approximate and provided for your convenience. However, 30Seconds is not responsible for the outcome of any recipe, nor may you have the same results because of variations in ingredients, temperatures, altitude, errors, omissions or cooking/baking abilities. Any nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and it is up to the individual to ascertain accuracy. To ensure image quality, we may occasionally use stock photography.
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