Slow Cooker Chicken Tacos

We love a good taco. Living in a neighborhood that has a huge immigrant population, we are lucky enough to try foods from all over Latin America. But we always come back to the humble taco. Not the Americanized, ground-beef, cheese-covered, crunchy shell kind of taco either. These babies are stuffed with tender chicken, homemade guacamole and pico de gallo, hot sauce and fresh cilantro all nestled inside a warm, soft corn tortilla. Oh my. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.



Okay, now comes the not fun part. As part of our new 2011 budget, we're slashing our restaurant spending even further. That means, our beloved tacos (which we treated ourselves way more frequently than we care to admit) are going to have to become a rare treat. So, we decided to try and re-create them ourselves. Here goes:

Slow Cooker Chicken Tacos

1-2 lbs. chicken on the bone (use whatever is on sale, we used thighs)

1 15-oz. can diced tomatoes with juice

1 c. low-sodium chicken broth

1 medium onion, sliced

2-3 cloves garlic, smashed

1-2 tsp. salt, to taste

1-2 tsp. chipotle or chili powder, to taste

2 tsp. cumin



Rinse and dry chicken. Remove the skin and discard. In the bottom of a slow cooker, combine tomatoes, broth, spices, onions and garlic. Layer chicken on top and cook on low 6-8 hours.



Remove chicken to a plate and pull the meat off of the bones. Drain out onions and tomatoes and mix into the chicken meat.



Use right away or refrigerate. This also freezes really well. To freeze, I'd add a little of the cooking liquid before freezing so it doesn't dry out when you reheat.



To make the tacos, we take two small, warmed corn tortillas and spoon a bit of the chicken on top. Throw on some pico de gallo, guacamole or whatever else makes you happy (check out our other taco post for ideas) and enjoy. Mmmm.