Name: Crock Pot Chipotle Chicken Tacos
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 240 min
Total time: 265 min
Ingredients: 1 recipe Family Dinners Chipotle Marinade (Use pre-marinated chicken breasts from your fridge or freezer or make a fresh batch.); 2 lbs chicken breasts (2 lbs of chicken breasts is equivalent to about 4 large chicken breasts.); 1 cup chicken broth; 1/2 cup Cilantro Lime Sour Cream; 1 cup soft Mexican cheese; 8 soft taco size flour tortillas; 1/4 cup chopped cilantro; 1 cup black beans, rinsed

Delicious and flavor packed shredded chipotle chicken made in a slow cooker or crock pot. This makes great chicken to put on tacos, burritos, enchiladas, salads and more.

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Our crock pot chipotle chicken tacos are made with a smokey and flavor chicken marinade, great for prepping meals ahead of time, and can be served many different ways!

Table of Contents

One thing we love when creating recipes is that you can use the same ingredients to make several different meals. This not only helps to cut costs (because you are reusing the ingredients you have on hand), but it also makes coming up with new dinner recipes easy! The marinade that we use for this chipotle chicken recipe can also be used to make a lot of other Mexican inspired meals like our chicken burrito bowls, chicken wings, quesadillas, fajitas, nachos, and burritos. If you need a low carb option, you can also serve the chicken on a bed of cauliflower rice.

collage of images showing crock pot chipotle chicken being made in the crockpot and served as tacos

CROCK POT CHIPOTLE CHICKEN INGREDIENTS

You may have all of these ingredients for this easy crock pot recipe in your refrigerator or pantry and not need to make a trip to the grocery store! If this is your first time making this delicious recipe you might want to read the possible variations before deciding on your ingredients. Exact ingredient amounts are in the recipe card below.

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Chicken: We are using chicken breasts, but you can also use chicken thighs instead.
Marinade & Broth: This is the best marinade! We use canned chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, garlic, cumin, coriander, chili powder, oregano, salt, shallot, and chicken broth.
For Tacos: Cilantro Lime Sour Cream, Mexican cheese, flour (or corn) tortillas, cilantro, black beans

ingredients needed to make crockpot chipotle chicken

MORE WAYS TO SERVE CHIPOTLE CHICKEN

Enjoy this great Chipotle Marinade with so many different recipes:

Chipotle Chicken Burrito Bowls– A simple lunch (or dinner) dish that is also great for meal prepping.
Air Fryer Chicken Stuffed Pasta Shells – An easy and delicious way to use the leftover chipotle chicken if you get tired of chipotle chicken tacos.
Air Fryer Chipotle Chicken Wings – These are so good you won’t want to stop eating them.
Chipotle Chicken Sheet Pan Fajitas – Making fajitas on a sheet pan is one of the easiest ways to make dinner!
Chicken and Pineapple Kabobs – Time to fire up the grill for these delicious kabobs.
Instant Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup – Just dump the ingredients in and you have delicious soup the whole family loves in less than 30 minutes!

Sheet Pan Chicken Fajitas

Delicious and easy fajitas cooked on a sheet pan in the oven. Slice up peppers, onions and chicken and combine with Family Dinners' chipotle marinade for a recipe the whole family will love.

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chipotle chicken in flour tortillas drizzled with lime sour cream next to guacamole

Essential

TOOLS AND SUPPLIES

Prepare your work surface and gather these kitchen tools and supplies before you begin this delicious, easy-to-make recipe so you don’t waste extra time trying to find things you need.

Crockpot (slow cooker)
Cutting board
Forks to shred chicken

INSTRUCTIONS

Follow the full instructions and kitchen tips and quick tips for the best way to make this recipe. Don’t forget to check the prep time and cook time in the recipe card below before you begin.

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MARINATE CHICKEN: Use a premade chipotle marinade or combine the marinade spices from our fabulous Family Dinners Chipotle Chicken Marinade. Marinade for at least 30 minutes-24 hours in the refrigerator or freeze for up to 3 months. Defrost before putting into the crock pot if you freeze.

ADD CHICKEN AND BROTH: Add the marinated chicken breasts to the bottom of the crock pot and cover with chicken broth.

COOKING TIME: Cover and cook on high for 4 hours or on low for 8 hours.

KITCHEN TIP

You can marinate the chicken up to 24 hours before using it. So it’s a good idea to do that the day before to make cooking easier.

chicken breasts in liquid in a crock pot

SHRED CHICKEN: Once the chicken has finished cooking it’s time to shred it. You can do that in a few different ways. The most popular are to shred in the crock pot or remove from the slow cooker and shred on a cutting board. Use two forks to shred it quickly. Then place the shredded chicken back into the pot about 15 minutes so it has time to absorb all of the chipotle flavors.

KITCHEN TIP

An easy way to shred chicken is to transfer to a bowl and use your electric mixer. Do not overmix or it will become tiny little pieces of chicken.

SERVE: Add the chipotle chicken to your tortillas and top with your favorite taco toppings. We recommend black beans, cheese, and cilantro lime sour cream

KITCHEN TIP

Some of our other favorite toppings are lettuce, salsa, and pico de gallo, purple cabbage or guacamole.

cilantro lime sour cream drizzled on chipotle chicken tacos

STORAGE TIPS

Storing your food properly is important to prevent spoiling or food poisoning.

Refrigerate: Store your crock pot chipotle chicken in an airtight container or ziploc bag and refrigerate up to 3 days if you can’t eat it the next day.

Freeze: Store chicken in an airtight, freezer safe, container. If you’re storing in a zip top plastic bag, try to get as much air out as possible. Freeze for up to 3 months.

Defrosting: A great way to defrost is in the refrigerator overnight.

Chipotle Chicken Marinade

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Bold, flavorful chipotle marinade that's perfect for chicken, beef or vegetables. Make a double batch and freeze with your meat for an easy meal prep In the future.

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Cilantro Lime Sour Cream

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Tangy sour cream recipe is a perfect complement to spicy Mexican inspired food. Use on rice bowls, burritos, tacos, vegetables or anything you enjoy pairing with sour cream.

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Cilantro Lime Rice

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Delicious rice that's perfect for adding to burrito bowls, burritos, as a side dish to any Mexican recipe or just with rice and beans.

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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Click the questions to see the answer.

What is chipotle chicken?

Chipotle chicken is made with a blend of spices such as garlic, cumin, chili powder, and lime juice along with chipotle peppers and adobe sauce. It has a smokey flavor and depending on how it’s made, it tastes a little spicy.

Do you need to cook chicken before adding to the slow cooker?

Some recipes may require cooking chicken ahead of time, but this one does not. You can cook raw chicken in the slow cooker without having to worry about food safety as long as the internal temperature has reached 165 degrees prior to serving.

chipotle, cilantro

5 from 7 votes