Looking for a filling healthy dinner that practically makes itself? Look no further than these crockpot chicken tacos! With just a few simple ingredients, this recipe checks all the boxes for a great meal – it’s affordable, delicious, easy, and…my kids LOVE it.
Crock Pot Chicken Tacos
My family is obsessed with Mexican food. I have two somewhat picky eaters, but they will ALWAYS eat tacos. And who can blame them? Tacos are so good!
Plus they’re usually simple to make, so that’s even better. That’s particularly true in this recipe – it’s as easy as tossing in your ingredients and hitting a few buttons!
This is seriously one of the best meals EVER. And it’s so unbelievably easy to prepare that you’ll find yourself saying “No, it can’t be THAT easy.” (I did when a friend first gave me the recipe 10 years ago.)
But this slow cooker meal really is THAT simple. You literally just toss a few ingredients in the slow cooker and can head off to do whatever you’re doing that day. Then about 30 minutes before you need to serve dinner, you shred the chicken and add the cream cheese. That’s it!
Looking for another easy and delicious way to serve chicken for dinner? You’ve got to try this easy Hawaiian chicken recipe!
Shredded Chicken Tacos in a Slow Cooker – Perfect for Everyone!
I’m not joking when I say this recipe has universal appeal. Literally everyone who has tried this dish loves it and has begged for the recipe.
I’ve brought Slow Cooker Chicken Tacos to potlucks and it’s been gobbled up. I’ve made it as a meal for sick friends or loved ones who just had a baby or a loss. Yes, I’ve made it for lots and lots of guests too! Including groups of kids. It’s a hit all around!
My favorite way to make Slow Cooker Chicken Tacos is as an easy middle-of-a-busy-week dinner for my family. I usually make it twice a month and no one ever tires of it.
How to Make Crockpot Chicken Tacos
Let me show you just how simple it is to make these tacos. You’ll need about 10 minutes of hands-on time total!
Ingredients:
- chicken breast (stock up when it’s on sale!)
- chunky salsa
- taco seasoning (grab our easy homemade taco seasoning recipe here!)
- softened cream cheese
- tortilla wraps (or whatever else you want to serve this shredded chicken in/on)
- your choice of toppings – lettuce, tomato, avocado, onion, sour cream, cheese, etc.
Step by Step Directions
First, place the chicken breasts in the slow cooker and season with half the taco seasoning. Turn over and season with the remaining taco seasoning.
Then, add the salsa on top and cook on medium-high for 4 hours. (Alternatively, you could cook on low for 6-8 hours.)
Next, remove the chicken from the slow cooker and set aside. Add the cream cheese to the sauce in the slow cooker and cover.
Shred the chicken with a fork (or simply toss in your stand mixer for even quicker shredding.)
Back to the slow cooker – stir in the cream cheese until well incorporated:
Add the chicken back in and cook for another 20-30 minutes.
The next time you need an easy meal for a busy weeknight, try this Slow Cooker Chicken Tacos. You and your family are going to love it!
How to Serve Shredded Chicken Tacos
Since our family is now gluten-free, we make this dinner using gluten-free tortilla wraps. Or hard taco shells. (Though tortilla wraps are our favorite way.) A few other options include:
- serve over a bed of greens to make a delicious salad
- scoop over a bed of rice
- serve with crackers or toast for an open-face sandwich
- scramble with eggs for a fun brunch idea
- sprinkle it over a pizza with chopped tomatoes and a Mexican blend cheese
- eat it right out of the bowl – no judgment here!
The Best Toppings for Slow Cooker Chicken Tacos
Part of the fun of taco night is getting to personalize your tacos with toppings! This is especially true for kids—it’s nice to let them choose their own. Some of our favorite options include:
- lettuce
- diced tomatoes
- sliced avocado
- cilantro
- beans
- chopped onion
- sour cream
- cheese
- taco sauce*
- salsa*
*You may not need any salsa or taco sauce at all! These crockpot chicken tacos have a delicious salsa and cream cheese sauce that’s seasoned with taco spices. It’s so tasty!
There you have it! Your new favorite weeknight meal! Give it a try and let me know in the comments below how you like this one.
More Slow Cooker Dinners:
- Slow Cooker Paleo Beef Stew
- Easy Slow Cooker Sloppy Joes
- Beanless Turkey and Sweet Potato Chili
- Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken
Slow Cooker Chicken Tacos
This crowd-pleasing recipe is unbelievably easy to make and it’s so delicious, it will quickly become a favorite family dinner.
- Prep Time: 5
- Cook Time: 360
- Total Time: 6 hours 5 minutes
Ingredients
- 2 pounds chicken breast
- 16 oz chunky salsa
- 2 tablespoons taco seasoning (grab our easy homemade taco seasoning recipe here!)
- 16 oz cream cheese, softened
- 12–18 tortilla wraps
- toppings – lettuce, tomato, avocado, onion, sour cream, cheese, etc.
Instructions
- Place the chicken breasts in the slow cooker and season with half the taco seasoning. Turn over and season with the remaining taco seasoning. Add the salsa on top and cook on medium-high for 4 hours. (Alternatively, you could cook on low for 6-8 hours.)
- Remove the chicken from the slow cooker and set aside. Add the cream cheese to the sauce in the slow cooker and cover. Shred the chicken with a fork (or simply toss in your mixer for even quicker shredding.) Stir in the cream cheese until well incorporated and add the chicken back. Cook for another 15-30 minutes.
- Serve on tortilla wraps with your favorite taco toppings.
Notes
- To make this dinner go farther, use less of the chicken mixture and more toppings on each tortilla wrap. (The kids won’t even notice and you might even have leftovers.)
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 6
Pin the image below to save the recipe for later!
winter says
Really look yummy
Jeanette says
Oh many you can’t get much easier than this! I am all for easy! We are all so busy I would love my meal to be done by the time I get home.
Lori Felix says
I love cooking meals in my slow cooker. I will have to give these easy chicken tacos a try one day soon .
Kristin says
This looks very yummy. Thank you for the yummy share.
Ty @ Mama of 3 Munchkins says
I absolutely love chicken tacos but I’ve never had them in the slow cooker. I’ll definitely be making these soon. Thanks!
Krystal says
Tacos are my FAVORITE. I’ve never tried slow cooker tacos before, but this sounds really good!
Kristi says
Those sound delicious! I just purchased quite a bit of chicken as it was on sale and have been trying to do more slow cooker recipes so this is perfect.
stephen says
very good and useful recipe my kids loved it
Renee says
Can’t wait to try this… But is the chicken frozen or thawed when you put it in the crock pot?
Erika says
Renee, you can do fresh or frozen chicken with this recipe – great question! Frozen chicken breast obviously will take longer to cook – I plan for another 2 hours on average. I’ve found they also tend to release more water so I will sometimes use a little less salsa to compensate. It really doesn’t get much easier than this!
Tanya says
The meal looks amazing, I’d love to try it, but to be honest the Subaru ad on your page was so overwhelming, kept opening and popping up on my screen in such a spammy way, it made finishing reading the post not worth the effort. Might want to look into that. Monetizing isn’t worth it if it drives viewers away. Feel free to delete my comment, I just wanted you to know. (I’d want to know)
Erika says
Thank you for letting me know, Tanya. I will contact my ad provider and check into this.
Stella says
Delicious! I would love to see more of your recipes, keep sharing.
Erika says
Thank you, Stella!
Heather says
Oh gosh, these look SO good! I was looking for something to make for a group and wasn’t even thinking about tacos. But now that I’ve seen this, I can’t think of anything else! Thanks – I’m excited to try them!
Melissa says
This came out great! I followed your recipe exactly and we really enjoyed it. Thank you much.
★★★★★
Erika says
That’s great to hear!