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The most delicious and easy way to serve up tacos. 4 ingredient Crockpot Chicken Tacos are loaded with flavor and serve a crowd. Plus, we’ll give you our secret for moist, tender chicken in the slow cooker.

overhead view of chicken tacos on a serving platter

Crockpot recipes are a lifesaver on busy days or when you need to serve a crowd. Prep in the morning, simmer all day and the dinner is done perfectly right on time.

One of those time-saver meals is Crockpot Chicken Tacos, which I’ve made for years and am finally sharing. 3 ingredients. 4 hours on high. It really is such an easy recipe.

Load the tacos with your favorite toppings and it will chicken tacos from any local Mexican restaurant!

Our Secret: Choose the Right Chicken

I used to be a boneless, skinless chicken breast only type of home cook. They were easy and familiar and no-fuss. However, the past year I’ve swapped out chicken breasts for chicken thighs.

Boneless, skinless chicken thighs are an excellent alternative to chicken breasts for any recipe, but especially when cooking in the slow cooker (like in our shredded chicken sandwiches).

Chicken breasts can dry out quickly, but chicken thighs have a higher fat content so it doesn’t dry out and shreds perfectly. After the chicken cooked for 4 hours, I simply stirred with a spoon to shred it. No tearing with forks or cutting with knifes. It was so, so tender. And they have more flavor, too!

Either cut will work, but I will always recommend you use chicken thighs for our crockpot chicken taco recipe, too. (Baked chicken thighs and grilled chicken thighs and Hawaiian BBQ Chicken Thighs aren’t too bad either 😉)

Ingredients Needed

ingredients for crockpot chicken tacos on a table

Crockpot shredded chicken tacos have just 4 ingredients:

3 pounds chicken thighs: Trim off any excess fat. No need to cut the thighs up though. Just trim them!
1 ¼ cups picante sauce: Or a thick, tomato based salsa. I recommend Pace picante sauce, though.
1 envelope taco seasoning: Or 3 tablespoons of our homemade taco seasoning.
Lime juice: Squeeze in the juice from two small or one large lime.

How to Make Crockpot Chicken Tacos

Place the trimmed chicken thighs in the crockpot. Add the picante sauce and taco seasoning. Mix well to coat.

overhead view of uncooked chicken in a crockpot

Cover and cook on high for 4 hours or on low for 5-6 hours.

Shred the chicken by stirring with a spoon or with two forks.

a spatula pulling out shredded chicken for tacos

Use the chicken taco meat in tacos, burritos, or on a taco salad.

overhead view of chicken tacos with shredded chicken

Recipe Variations

Love ranch flavor? Add a packet of ranch dip powder.
Want more spice? Dice a jalapeño pepper and add to the chicken before cooking.
Make the chicken taco filling go further by adding black beans or corn to the crockpot 1 hour before it is done cooking.
Make a bowl with our Mexican rice, or use the crock pot shredded chicken for baked nachos.

Chicken Taco Toppings

Top that taco shredded chicken with some of these:

pickled jalapenos
pico de gallo
cotija or shredded cheddar cheese
Mexican coleslaw
freshly snipped cilantro

Love your slow cooker? Try our crockpot chicken and stuffing, crockpot ranch pork chops, and crockpot hashbrown casserole.

Make it a meal.

Serve with a side of corn on the cob, taco pasta salad, frito salad, chips and guacamole.