First off this is a very clean and easy to make shredded taco recipe with your crockpot. Tinga de pollo is a common dish that can be found at many Mexican restaurants and establishments. One of the best parts of this recipe is its left over potential, think enchiladas, burritos, quesadillas, etc. I enjoy making this on weekends when you have other things to do around your home or apartment. This recipe takes around maybe 3 hrs, roughly 2 and half hours of that are in the crockpot. Your main ingredients for this recipe will actually be a crushed tomato base with a few chipotle peppers and an onion; that’s really it. This recipe has a great smokey flavor from the chipotles, topped with all the right toppings the perfect balance of flavor and heat comes through this recipe.
Ingredients
- 3 chicken breasts roughly 1.3 lbs, you can also use a mix of breast and thigh meat.
- 1 Medium white onion (cut or diced into larger chunks)
- 3 cloves of garlic minced
- Olive oil
- 2 cups crushed tomatoes
- 4 stems and leaves of fresh cilantro
- 4 chipotle peppers (can used canned in adobe sauce, used La Costena)
- 2 teaspoons light brown sugar
- 1 tsp. dried oregano
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1/2 tsp. black pepper
- 1/2 tsp. dried thyme leaves
- 1/2 tsp. ground cumin
- 2 bay leaves
- Tortillas – you can either use store bought or follow my guide for making homemade tortillas using Bob’s Red Mill Masa Harina
Taco Toppings
- Queso Fresco
- Chopped cilantro, stems and leaves
- Diced white onions
- Avocado slices
- Radishes, (garnish)
Directions
- Grab a pan, coat it with a small amount of oil, no need to season the chicken, we are just going to brown both sides we are not cooking it through, when finished place them in the crockpot.
- Next slice an onion we want them cut in half rings so split the onion vertically then slice each half into half rings.
- Place all of the onions (separate the half rings), mince 3 cloves of garlic. with the garlic and onions in the pan add some oil so that everything is lightly coated. Cook the onions until they are softened and somewhat translucent.
- Add the onions and garlic into the crockpot, now add the 2 cups of the crushed tomatoes along with all the other spices, and bay leaves. You can choose to seed your chipotle peppers which will effectively reduce the heat of the dish or add the peppers into the crockpot whole to get the full heat of the peppers. I prepared my dish with the peppers whole.
- Give the ingredients in the crockpot a quick stir and set the crockpot to high and set for 2 and a half hours.
- Once everything has fully cooked shred the chicken in the crockpot with two forks.
- Serve and enjoy!
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