First up in the “Week of Recipes” is this Slow Cooker Taco Chicken. My family loves this recipe and I love it because it’s so easy to throw together early in the day. Just toss together chicken, salsa, black beans, water and taco seasoning mix in the slow cooker, then set and forget. While I love the idea of making elaborate meals each night of the week, the reality is that easy and healthy is the name of the game and this recipe is certainly easy.
We actually served this dish for a group of college guys who came over on Sunday after church. I had plans to use the leftovers in another recipe, but with three college guys eating the meal, plus my husband, we had ZERO leftovers when it was all said and done. I set out a bunch of toppings, including sour cream, shredded lettuce, whole grain scoop style tortilla chips, shredded cheese and sour cream and let everyone customize their own bowls as they saw fit!
- 2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 1 jar (16 oz.) mild or medium salsa
- 1 can (15 oz.) black beans (undrained)
- 8 oz. water
- 1 packet taco seasoning mix
- 1 bag whole grain scoop-style tortilla chips
- 1 heart of Romaine lettuce, shredded
- 1 cup shredded Mexican cheese blend
- Sour cream
- Combine chicken breasts, salsa, black beans, water and taco seasoning mix in a large slow cooker, stirring to combine all the ingredients. Cover and cook on HIGH 4 to 5 hours or LOW for 8 hours. Uncover and use two forks to shred chicken breasts* Turn slow cooker to warm and let stand, uncovered, 5 minutes to cool slightly.
- Spoon chicken mixture into bowls. Top with shredded lettuce, tortilla chips, cheese and sour cream.
- Store leftovers in a resealable container to use for next meal.
- *If you have a vegetarian in the family, you can portion out some of the black beans before shredding the chicken for a veg friendly option at this point.