Shredded Taco Salsa Chicken – An Easy Slow Cooker Meal

If you are looking for an inexpensive, simple weeknight meal that you can throw into the slow cooker and enjoy when you get home, then this Shredded Taco Salsa Chicken recipe is one you definitely don’t want to miss out on!

In our household, we love tacos in almost any form. Traditional tacos? Of course! Walking tacos? Definitely! Taco haystacks? Oh yeah! Taco Taters (one of my favorites)? Another big YES! Heck, we even enjoy going way out of the box and making taco spaghetti or switching out the protein source and making chicken ranch tacos. It all works in this household!

Having multiple different options for “Taco Tuesdays” is great because it allows you to still enjoy the same flavor profiles of traditional tacos but without getting burnt out on making and eating the same old recipes over and over again. This Shredded Taco Salsa Chicken adds a fun twist on your typical taco ingredients.

One of the best parts of this recipe is that you can get all of the ingredients prepped and in the slow cooker in the morning and come home to an almost-ready meal. And with only 5 main ingredients, it’s quick and inexpensive, yet a super delicious recipe that definitely makes it into the weekly rotation in our household.

How To Make Shredded Taco Salsa Chicken

*Scroll down to the bottom of this post to see the full recipe, including exact measurements and amounts. You can also print out the instructions. I go into a bit more detail about the recipe here first, just in case you need it.

Ingredients

• Chicken – You can start with either chicken breasts or tenders for this recipe. Both will cook up nicely in the crock pot and be able to be shredded after fully cooked. You can even change things up a bit and use thigh meat for an even cheaper meal option.
• Cream of Chicken Soup – You can use your favorite brand of store-bought condensed soup, or you can use your own homemade mixture if you prefer. The soup helps to add richness and creaminess to the sauce.
• Salsa – Here’s where you can really play with the flavor profile a bit. We usually just use a jar of homemade canned salsa, but you can use whatever salsa you prefer. If you want a little more kick to your finished dish, use a spicy or medium heat salsa. For a dish with little to no heat, use a mild salsa. Most of the salsa I can is on the mild side (mainly because I am a bit of a whimp when it comes to spicy foods!). As an alternative, you can also swap out the salsa for Rotel.
• Taco Seasoning – Again, use your favorite brand or try your hand at making homemade taco seasoning. It’s one of those products that I’ve started making homemade and have never looked back from! Use your choice of mild, medium, or hot taco seasoning to play around with the heat of the finished dish.
• Sour Cream – The sour cream doesn’t get added to the mixture until right before serving. You don’t want the cream to curdle while the other ingredients cook for so long, so we wait to add it right at the end of the process.

Optional Topping Ingredients

There are a lot of different ways you can enjoy this Shredded Taco Salsa Chicken. Of course, you can add it to hard shell or softshell tacos to enjoy with your favorite taco toppings. You can also dump it on some tortilla chips to turn the meal into nachos (definitely one of my kids’ favorite methods).

In addition, you can serve it over a bed of white or Spanish rice or add it to a salad. I’ve even enjoyed the shredded taco salsa chicken as-is right from a bowl (with a few extra toppings, that is)!

No matter how you serve it, here are some of my favorite toppings or pairings that you can try out:

• Shredded Cheese (A must in my opinion!)
• Sour Cream
• Shredded Lettuce
• Diced Tomatoes
• Diced Peppers (Or jalapenos if you are feeling extra spicy!)
• Sweet Corn or Street Corn
• Homemade Guacamole (Yes, store-bought works, too!)
• Hot Sauce
• Tortilla Chips or Doritos (You can thank my kids for that last idea!)

Instructions For Shredded Taco Salsa Chicken

First off, you are going to need a slow cooker. I use my 3-quart Crock Pot slow cooker that has three settings: Low, High, and Warm. A small 2 to 3-quart slow cooker is all you need. If desired, pop in one of those crockpot liners to make cleanup even easier for yourself! (Here’s my slow cooker – Product Link: Crockpot Manual 3-Quart Slow Cooker.)

Next, it’s time to add in the ingredients. Like most slow cooker recipes, this is mostly a dump-and-go recipe, but it does require a bit of stirring.

Into the slow cooker, add your salsa and the can of cream of chicken condensed soup. Add in the taco seasoning as well and give that a good stir. You want the sauce to be smooth and creamy and all the ingredients to be well incorporated.

I don’t add any salt and pepper at this point because some taco seasonings are pretty salty on their own. You can always taste the finished product once it’s done cooking and adjust the salt and pepper to your liking at that time.

Finally, add the chicken right on top of the sauce. Flip the chicken over so both sides get covered in the delicious sauce.

Set It And Forget It!

Close the lid on the slow cooker and set it on Low for 4 to 6 hours or on High for 3 to 4 hours. You can cook the chicken for longer if you won’t be home after 6 hours. Just note that the chicken might end up a bit chewier. It’s still good, just not as good if it weren’t a little overcooked.

When the time is up, ensure that the chicken has reached an internal temperature of at least 165º Fahrenheit. If it hasn’t, put the chicken back in the slow cooker and cook it for longer.

Once the chicken is fully cooked, remove only the chicken from the slow cooker. Shred using two forks or a chicken shredder tool. (This is the one I recently got and love because it makes shredding chicken or other meat products super easy. I don’t know why, but it’s one of those kitchen tasks I hate, so this tool helps – Product Link – Large Chicken Shredder Tool.)

With the shredded chicken still out of the slow cooker, mix in the sour cream until the sauce is nice and creamy. Add the chicken back to the slow cooker, stir, and allow it to warm back up for about 5 to 10 minutes. Serve with your favorite toppings or enjoy as-is!

Until next time, thanks for stopping by!
– Chelsea

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