CrockPot Chicken Tacos are an easy family favorite meal! A handful of ingredients tossed into the slow cooker makes the most tender flavorful chicken for tacos (or for Chicken Enchiladas, burritos, loaded nachos and more)!
Add chicken breasts, salsa, tomatoes, and seasoning and let the slow cooker do all of the work. Before serving shred the chicken and enjoy! It’s that easy!
Crockpot Shredded Chicken Tacos
Taco nights just got easier! These Crockpot Chicken Tacos are such a snap to put together and always come out amazing! Tender shredded chicken is perfect added to tacos, burritos, salads and more.
Swap out the ground beef to make an amazing taco salad or add this flavorful shredded chicken to wraps, casseroles or soups.
How to Make Shredded Chicken Tacos
I have to tell you that this is one of those recipes that my whole family truly loves! Simply place the ingredients in the crock pot and walk away.
To season the chicken for tacos, I use … you guessed it, taco seasoning! I prefer homemade taco seasoning in this recipe to control the salt but a packet will work just fine as well.
While the ingredients call for boneless chicken breasts, you can certainly use bone in chicken as well (just make sure it’s skinless). Once shredded, this freezes perfectly making for a super fast weeknight dinner!
I’ve used this for making chicken tacos, chicken salads and even spicy chicken pizzas! Pile on your favorite toppings for a fabulous dinner loaded with flavor!
What to Serve with Chicken Tacos
These crockpot chicken tacos are insanely easy! I serve them with corn or flour tortillas and cilantro tomato rice or cilantro lime rice. We love to put out a big table full of toppings for everyone to dress their own! Our favorite toppings are:
- lettuce
- tomatoes
- pico de gallo
- cheese
- olives
- guacamole
- jalapenos
- cilantro
More Favorite Taco Recipes
- Shrimp Tacos – Weeknight favorite!
- Taco Soup – So easy and so much flavor!
- Beef Taco Pasta Skillet – Easy comfort food
- 5 Minute Taco Dip – Perfect last minute party dip!
- Beef Taco Casserole – Family favorite (kids love this recipe)
- Easy Fish Tacos – Reader favorite (quick and easy)
Equipment
Ingredients
- 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1 cup salsa
- 1 cup canned diced tomatoes with chilies drained or 1 can Rotel, 10 ounces
- 1 ounce taco seasoning or 2 Tablespoons homemade taco seasoning
- ½ onion diced
Instructions
- Combine salsa, canned tomatoes, and taco seasoning.
- Place onions & chicken in the slow cooker and top with tomato mixture.
- Cook on low 7-8 hours or high 3-4 hours.
- Remove chicken from slow cooker and shred. Return to slow cooker and stir in juices.
- Serve in taco shells, on salads, pizzas or in bowls over rice!
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Dinner
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Hi! I’m making this with Rotel tomatoes. Should they be drained?
I would suggest a drained can of Rotel so it doesn’t get too watery. Let us know how it goes!
Is it better to make the same day, or is it just as good to make a day ahead and reheat in crockpot?
Do the Rotel tomatoes bring extra heat?
Either works just as well! You can buy rotel in regular, mild, or hot.
Delicious and easy to make!! A crowd pleaser 🌮
This was perfect! I used the chicken to make shredded chicken quesadillas. I only used two chicken breasts, 1 tablespoon taco seasoning, 1/2 cup salsa and 1 can undrained Rotel(omitted onions). Cooked on high in small crockpot for 2.5-3 hours.
Then in a large fry pan I laid out a thin layer of cheese on one half, adding the chicken and a few quick drizzles of chipotle mayo, another thin layer of cheese. Cooked on medium-high until cheese melted and tortilla lightly crisp. I griddled some cheese on too! Put some shredded cheese on the pan and then place the quesadilla on top of it, cooking until the cheese bonds to it and becomes a little crispy. Topped the quesadillas with sour cream, guacamole and a little salsa.
Plenty for two of us and leftovers.
Yum! That sounds wonderful.
Absolutely a hit!!! Made this for the family and it was pretty much gone. Served with cilantro rice and black beans. Used a hand mixer to shred the chicken right in the crockpot – made for fast work!
This is simple, but the results are incredible. Everyone wants more, more, more.
Great! Made for my daughter’s volleyball potluck for walking tacos. Quartered the chicken breasts to make the shredding more manageable for the walking taco bags.
hi,
Can you freeze this for a short time?
Joanie, yes! This recipe freezes and reheats well.
I want to make this recipe, but don’t know how much onion equals 1/2 an onion.
Hi Kim, it’s about ½ cup of diced onions.
Could I Chicken Thighs instead of chicken breast? What would the recipe look like if I used 5 lbs of chicken in the crockpot?
Hi Beth, you can use thighs in this recipe, you’ll need about 1 1/2 to 2lbs. If using 5 lbs you will need to almost triple the recipe, and you will want to make sure the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165°F before serving. You may need to cook them a little longer to achieve this.
This looks so good! Does anything in the recipe change if I use frozen chicken breasts?
It is not recommended to cook meat from frozen in the crockpot but if you would like to try it should work. You may need to give it a little extra time to fully cook through though.
Great recipes I use it all the time! Making it for dinner tonight !
This recipe is so easy and awesome, I threw in a can of black beans and frozen corn towards the end as well. So fire
What size are the chicken breasts or how many pounds of chicken breasts do you need for this recipe?
Hi Cheryl, it is approximately 1.5 pounds of chicken. I hope that helps!
I’m glad you clarified the weight. The chicken breasts I buy are a pound each!
This dish is a favorite among my family and friends! I’m preparing it now for guests arriving this afternoon – it’s such an easy and tasty meal! I really love your recipes!
Hi. Does the cooking time remain the same if I double this recipe?
Hi Tina, you shouldn’t need to increase the cooking time much if at all.
Is this recipe enough to feed 6 adults, or should I do 1.5 times everything?
You might like to make extra (at 1.5x, cooking time will remain the same). If you have leftovers, it reheats and freezes very well!
I don’t have salsa. Could I substitute with a can of tomatoes or a second can of rotel?
I would suggest a drained can of rotel so it doesn’t get too watery. Let us know how it goes!