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An easy 3-ingredient Mexican slow-cooker Salsa Chicken meal made with chicken, salsa, and chipotle peppers. It creates a tender, flavorful chicken that can be used in any dish!
Slow Cooker Chipotle Chicken
The crock-pot may go down as one of the greatest kitchen inventions of all time.
It’s the ultimate time saver and every food that enters it comes out tender and flavorful.
I have the most SIMPLE, the EASIEST recipe for you EVER.
This Mexican Slow Cooker Salsa Chicken is made in a crockpot and calls for just 3 ingredients. I kid you not.
We have been making this for years and my kids go crazy for it. We eat Mexican food on the daily in our household so this is a staple in our home. We use this crockpot chipotle chicken for everything – topping crispy tostada shells, filling tacos, loading up the ultimate nachos, adding it to fresh salads, and being the star ingredient in our burrito bowl.
My friends and I swap dinner recipe ideas and I was shocked that not a single one of them have ever heard of making salsa chicken in the slow cooker. I was floored! This is as easy as it gets and everyone needs this in their dinner rotation.
It’s three ingredients – chicken breasts, jarred salsa, and chipotle chilies. We could even call this 2 ingredient salsa chicken because sometimes we even leave out the chipotles. Now, we are getting crazy.
It’s hard to even call this a recipe.
When we are striving to eat extra healthy in our home, this is our go-to recipe for the week. We make a double batch, place it in the refrigerator, and we are all set with seasoned, flavor-packed protein ready at all times. And because this Mexican salsa chicken it’s so adaptable, it can be the base for many family dinners.
How to make Chipotle Chicken Tinga:
Here’s how you do it. Are you ready? It’s going to take me less than 30 seconds to explain.
Slow Cooker Salsa Chicken: Take two pounds of chicken breast and place them in a slow cooker. Add your favorite jarred salsa (we usually use La Victoria medium) and chipotle chilies in adobo sauce (optional). Place the crock pot on the low setting and cook on low for 6 hours or on the high setting for 4 hours. Take it out, shred the chicken, and you are done! It’s unreal.
Top crispy tostada shells with the slow cooker salsa chicken. Sprinkle on cotija cheese (or monterey jack, feta, cheddar). Drizzle on Mexican crema or sour cream. Top with fresh avocado and cilantro. Bam! Dinner is done and on the table.
If you want to be an overachiever, you can fry your own tostada shells. It’s an extra step but holy moly, it is good. Fill a pan with about 1/2 inch of oil and heat over medium heat. Once the oil is hot, place corn tortillas in pan and fry for 30-45 seconds per side. Using tongs, take off heat and place on paper-towel lined plate.
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Slow Cooker Chicken Tinga Tostadas
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 lbs. Chicken Breast
- 1 - 16- ounce jar Salsa
- 4 Chipotle Chilies in adobo sauce diced (optional)
- 8 Tostada Shells
- 1 cup Cotija or feta, Monterey Jack, or Cheddar Cheese
- 1 cup Mexican Crema or Sour Cream
- 2 Avocados
- 1/2 cup Cilantro
- 1/2 cup White Onion diced (optional)
Instructions
- Place chicken breast in slow cooker. Add your favorite jarred salsa (we usually use La Victoria medium) and chipotle chilies in adobo sauce (optional).
- Place the crock pot on the low setting and cook for 6 hours on low or 4 hours on the high setting. Shred chicken and it's ready to serve.
- To make chicken tinga tostadas:
- Top crispy tostada shells with the slow cooker salsa chicken. Sprinkle on cotija cheese (or Monterey jack, feta, cheddar). Drizzle on Mexican crema or sour cream. Top with fresh avocado and cilantro.
- *You can fry your own tostada shells. It's an extra step but holy moly, it is good. Fill a pan with about 1/2 inch of oil and heat over medium heat. Once the oil is hot, place corn tortillas in pan and fry for 30-45 seconds per side. Using tongs, take off heat and place on paper-towel lined plate.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Thanks as always for your overwhelming support. Happy Eating!
PIN Slow Cooker Chicken Tinga on Pinterest:
This was so easy and excellent! A top recipe. By the way, I did the tostadas in about 2 T of oil in my cast iron. They took a little longer to cook (probably 1 minute per side) but used alot less (expensive) oil. Still crunchy and delicious. Thank you!
So yummy!!!
Very good & simple. Followed the recipe as written, but used Chicken Thighs. Very flavorful and the family loved making it their own with all the additional toppings.
I made this recipe for bunco. I made it into bowls with rice, black beans, chicken, pickled onions and jalapeños, lettuce, cheese and a plain guacamole on top. It was delicious. Thanks for a recipe you can do so much with.
This was such a great recipe. It was so easy and all four of my kids loved it. Thank you!
I recently came across your site and the recipes look amazing. I made the chicken tinga tacos last Sunday and loved them. I used La Victoria chunky mild salsa and only two chipotles in adobo. That was spicy enough for me. My son and husband smeared a layer of canned refried beans on the bagged tostadas, and I put out a bag of angel-hair shredded green cabbage to top the chicken for extra crunch. I learned that from a restaurant here in Modesto, CA that puts shredded cabbage on their great grilled fish tacos. The cotija cheese may be a little strong for some tastes, but I think it adds just the right amount of sharpness. A perfectly ripened avocado gave the tacos a cool creaminess. Great blend of flavors and textures.. Best of all we had leftovers for another dinner and lunch. I can’t wait to try the lemon sugar cookies and lemon cupcakes.
These are fabulous ideas! I want to eat the tacos at your house. 🙂 Haha! Thanks for sharing your tips.
Big bang for your buck with this tostada. Easy and clean recipe (we air fry our shells) and I could eat 10 of them. So good!!!!
Looks awesome. Pinned it although like you say, hard to call it a recipe. I can see where it would be used for many dishes. Love your blog Melissa
You are so right! It’s the easiest recipe and we make it all of the time! Thank you for your amazing support. You are such a great friend! xo