Slow Cooker Chipotle-Honey Chicken Tacos

- Total Time
- 3 to 5 hours
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- 1½pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs
- 3tablespoons honey
- 1teaspoon onion powder
- 1teaspoon garlic powder
- ½teaspoon ground cumin
- 1teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 to 4chipotles from a can of chipotles in adobo, finely chopped, plus 2 tablespoons adobo sauce
- 1(15-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
- Juice of 1 lime
- Warmed tortillas, for serving
- Pickled onion, for serving (see Tip)
- Sliced or cubed avocado, for serving
Preparation
- Step 1
Combine the chicken, honey, onion and garlic powders, cumin, salt and chipotle chiles and adobo sauce in a 5- to 8-quart slow cooker. Stir well. Cook for at least 3 hours and up to 5 hours on low. If it’s more convenient, you can let the slow cooker switch to warm after 5 hours. The dish will hold on warm for about another 3 hours before the chicken starts to become quite dry.
- Step 2
Using two forks, coarsely shred the chicken in the sauce. Stir in the black beans and lime juice. Cover and let the beans warm through, about 5 minutes. Taste and add more salt or lime juice if necessary. Serve in tortillas with pickled onion and avocado.
- To make quick-pickled onions, thinly slice a red onion and put the slices in a bowl or container. Bring about 1½ cups cider or white vinegar to a boil, and add about 3 heaping spoonfuls of sugar and a big pinch of salt to dissolve. You can also add a pinch of red-pepper flakes, a bay leaf or some dried oregano, if you like. Pour the hot vinegar over the onions and let them cool. They’re ready to use right away, and can be stored in the refrigerator for 2 weeks.
Private Notes
Comments
I made my own adobe sauce, and wanted to share this in case it helps anyone! I mixed 1 tablespoon tomato paste, 1 tablespoon cider vinegar, 1 teaspoon chipotle powder*, 1/2 teaspoon cumin, a pinch of oregano, a pinch of garlic powder, and a pinch of salt. **Since I did not have chipotle powder on hand, I did 1 tsp of paprika and 1 tsp of cayenne. If you want less heat, you could scale back to a 1/2 tsp of each spice.
For dutch oven equivalent I use 200 degree oven for low and 300 for high. So bake about 3 hours at 300, 4 hours at 250 or or 5 hours at 200. I usually stir every once in a while, add liquid if it gets too dry, and turn temp up or down depending on how fast it looks like it's getting done and my schedule.
I used 4 chicken breasts instead of the thighs and they turned out fantastic.
Such a super quick and delicious meal
This is a fabulous recipe. It tastes amazing but is stupid simple to make. We are never disappointed with this dinner. Slow cooker means it's great for nights when there are kid sport practices, but I've also made it for guests. I've often doubled the recipe and froze the leftovers to defrost for later.
I love recipes that can shape-shift throughout the week. After making a huge batch and enjoying this recipe as-is for a few days, I converted the leftovers into chicken tortilla soup as follows: - Dice 2 onions, garlic and jalapenos. Brown in a pot with olive oil for about 5-10 mins - Dump in chicken broth, 2 large handfuls of smashed-up tortilla chips. I gave it a quick wizz with my immersion blender but not mandatory - Add leftover chicken and frozen corn, feast after it's hot. Excellent, too!
