This Slow Cooker Chipolte Shredded Chicken is my new favorite. Remember when that Tasty video for Slow Cooker Barbacoa was going around? I decided I would try it with chicken since beef roast is always so expensive. I tweaked it just a little to work better with chicken and it turned out AWESOME!
I’ts such an easy recipe too, you do is toss some chicken in your slow cooker, chop up a few chipoltes, mix the chipoltes in with a few other ingredients and pour the resulting sauce over the chicken. Six hours later you’ve got a slow cooker full of delicious Chipolte Shredded Chicken.
When I tasted one of the chipoltes before adding it to the sauce mixture, I was like, “Wow, that’s spicier then I thought.”I was a little scared it would make the meat too spicy for my kids, but by the time everything cooked together I could barely detect any spice at all. The flavor was perfect. And my kids all gave it two thumbs up and gave it the, “Put it on the blog, Mom,” stamp of approval.
Now if seeing chipoltes as an ingredient freaks you out. “Maria, I have never cooked with those before and they scare me.” “I don’t think they have those at my grocery store, is there something I can substitute?” Don’t worry!
I actually had never cooked with chipoltes until making this recipe. I knew what they were had eaten them in things and had thought about cooking with them, but I was nervous about it for some reason.
I’m weird sometimes.
Turns out they aren’t scary and actually they have such an awesome spicy smokey flavor that you are going to love in this recipe. Also, mixing a little of the adobo sauce they come in with sour cream makes an awesome sauce to drizzle on taco’s or any of your favorite Mexican dishes.
There are a few stores you may not be able to find them in, but for the most part you should be able to find chipoltes in the Hispanic isle at your favorite grocery store. I found mine at Aldi, they are a seasonal product there so I bought a few cans to keep on hand. When you find them they will most likely be in an 8 or 10 oz can and look something like this.
If you can’t find them, a good substitution would be to add a can of green chilies and a tsp of smoked paprika.
I cook about 5 lbs at a time when I make this. It is enough for 3 meals for my family.
We eat a portion the day I make it and then I freeze two in Ziploc bags to pull out of the freezer on busy weeknights. Call me crazy but I think it gets even better after it’s been frozen.
Here are some ideas of what you can use the precooked meat for. Taquitos, Burritos, Taco’s, Chicken Chili, Chimichangas, Tostadas, Nachos, Enchiladas, Burrito Bowls, Taco salad, and anything else Mexican inspired that you love. Go crazy, get creative. With flavor like this, you can’t go wrong.
- 4-5 lbs chicken breast
- 4-5 canned chipoltes, chopped
- 6-7 cloves of garlic, crushed
- 1 tbsp cumin
- 1 tbsp oregano
- 1-2 tsp salt (depending on how much chicken you use)
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- ½ cup water mixed with 1 bullion cube or tsp of chicken bullion (try and crush the cube if you use a cube or heat the water and dissolve it in it.)
- ¼ cup vinegar, I prefer white vinegar or apple cider vinegar
- ¼ cup lime juice
- Place chicken in the slow cooker.
- In a small mixing bowl combine all other ingredients and pour over chicken
- Set Slow cooker to low for 5½-6 hours or until meat is tender and shreds easily. (can also be cooked on high for 3½-4 hours)
- Once chicken is cooked, shred it either in the slow cooker or remove it to shred and then put it back in to soak up the juices.
- Serve with all your favorite Mexican fixings.
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