In the summer, I often get stuck making the same things over and over. We grill chicken, fish, veggies, and burgers, and while I love a good BBQ, we like to switch it up every now and then. Last week, I remembered a slow cooker chicken taco bowl recipe that I had made a few times over the winter, and brightened it up for warmer months. What’s great about this recipe is that it can be made year-round and if you end up using the slow cooker for it, it takes almost no time at all.
It is also insanely delicious and can be tweaked with different levels of spiciness and toppings depending on your preferences. I usually make a full batch so that we have leftovers for a few days.
I originally found this recipe, but have since tweaked it, adding onion, more garlic and spices, and toppings.
Makes about 6 servings.
Taco Bowl Ingredients
- 1.5 lbs chicken breasts, salted
- 1 15oz can, black beans, rinsed
- 1 16oz jar, salsa
- 1/2 bag, frozen corn (about 1/2 pound)
- 3 cloves, garlic, minced
- 1 yellow onion, chopped
- 1 tspn, cumin
- 1 tblspn, chili powder
- 1/4 tspn, cayenne pepper
- 5-6 cups, cooked brown rice
Toppings
The sky is the limit but these are our favorites…
- Chopped tomatoes
- Chopped romaine lettuce
- Scallions
- Fresh cilantro
- Mexican blend shredded cheese
- Avocado
- Tortilla chips
- Hot sauce
Directions
1. Place chicken breasts in the bottom of your slow cooker.
2. Add drained black beans, salsa, corn, and 1/4 cup water on top.
3. Add minced garlic, chili powder, cayenne, and chopped onion on top of that.
4. Stir everything gently to mix it all up.
5. Cook on high for four hours (or low for eight hours).
6. After it’s cooked, remove the chicken and shred with two forks. I like to then put the shredded chicken back in the slow cooker for a few more minutes to soak up the juices.
7. Build your taco bowl by scooping brown rice followed by the chicken mixture and adding whatever toppings you love.
8. Enjoy!
I love fun and easy meals like this! Definitely perfect for those hot summer days where you just don’t feel like cooking.
Taylor | http://www.livingtaylored.com
That looks so good! I’m adding this to my meal list for next week!
Question: When you are going dairy free, do you use dairy free shredded cheese for recipes like this? If so, are they any good? That is the only area where I haven’t figured out how to sub out dairy.
So before pregnancy when I couldn’t eat dairy, I would make things like this without cheese at all. I didn’t love any of the alternatives! I would usually double up on avocado with sea salt to get that satisfying feeling though. I hope that helps!
This looks great – thanks for posting this. I’m going to try it out soon.
Julia, my boyfriend and I can’t get enough of this dish. It’s just the two of us at home and it fed us for 3 nights! I made homemade “mock a mole” (made with peas and avocado) as a side dish to scoop on top. Thank you so much for sharing! Congratulations on your beautiful girl!
Emily
I’ve made this recipe several times – it’s so easy and delicious. Thank you for sharing, I always appreciate posts on easy weeknight meal ideas 🙂
That makes me so happy, Lauren! I’ll keep posting new easy recipes like this one 🙂
Looks beautiful and delicious! I do some prep ahead meals but not that many. I think this is very worthwhile and nice to know you always have a meal on hand!