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Anyone who has been reading this column knows that I love slow cookers.
They make every meal so easy, since you can just throw everything in the pot, turn it on for a few hours, and then presto, you have a meal for later that night. Plus, you can do all that without turning on your stove or your oven, if you’re sweltering in the summer heat.
But this week, I ran into my Crockpot’s one drawback: slow cookers are, in fact, slow. Maybe I should have seen that one coming.
See, when my husband asked if I could make tacos this week, I told him that wouldn’t be a problem. I found a chicken taco recipe on the website All the Healthy Things, went and bought all of the ingredients for this chicken taco recipe, and then, I just waited for the right day to make them.
On Sunday, I took the chicken, salsa, lime juice and seasonings and threw them in the slow cooker. But soon after I had deposited everything in the Crockpot, one of our friends invited my husband and I out to eat lunch after church.
We agreed, and then she suggested we go to eat at our favorite Mexican restaurant.
Now, could I have just suggested we go somewhere else for lunch? Yes. But at that point, my husband and I were both craving Mexican food.
And the chicken tacos were still hours away from being edible.
So, we went out. I got a burrito bowl, Hunter got tacos, and we ate more cheese dip than I previously thought humanly possible. We had a great time.
When we got home, we were both so stuffed full of Mexican food that I was nervous we wouldn’t be able to stomach more of it in just a few hours. And yet, when dinner time rolled around, I knew the recipe I used must be a winner.
Hunter, eating with great enthusiasm, told me that these tacos were “even better” than the ones we had had for lunch. He specifically commented on the fresh ingredients that topped the tacos, saying they made everything come together.
All that to say, I’m going to work on getting more strategic with my slow cooker in the future. It may take some kind of rating system for hunger levels and cravings, to make sure we don’t hit critical mass before the chicken can come out of the pot.
These chicken tacos are a definite win, and I highly recommend this recipe. The bright, fresh cilantro combined with the avocado, tomatoes, diced onion and sour cream made the whole dish, while the slow cooked chicken was tender and juicy.
Just, maybe don’t try to eat Mexican food twice in a day like I did. Even if these tacos are good enough to eat twice.
SLOW COOKER CHICKEN TACOS
(Adapted from All the Healthy Things)
Ingredients
For chicken:
2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast
16 ounces jarred red salsa
1/4 cup lime juice
1 teaspoon dried cumin
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon paprika
For serving:
Corn tortillas
Avocado
Cilantro
Diced tomato
Diced red onion
Shredded cheese
Sour cream
Directions
■ Add the chicken, spices, salsa and lime juice to the base of a slow cooker.
■ Cook the chicken on high for 2-3 hours or on low for 4-5 hours until the chicken is tender and shreds easily. Using two forks, shred the chicken.
■ Once the chicken is shredded, leave in slow cooker on warm setting for another hour, letting juices soak into meat. Keep covered and on warm until ready to serve.
■ Drain the liquid from the chicken before assembling tacos. Then, assemble tacos, using two corn tortillas for each one (they will fall apart otherwise!). Add recommended toppings and enjoy.
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