Crock Pot Chicken Carnitas
Making these Mexican chicken carnitas in a slow cooker is super simple and they taste amazing. Serve this shredded chicken in a soft tortilla with diced jalapeño peppers, onions, cheese and more!
Carnitas are the Mexican equivalent to pulled pork. Traditional carnitas are made by using a well marbled piece of pork, like a boston butt or picnic roast. The ‘true’ way to cook the meat is to braise it in lard over a low heat, until the meat is tender.
Once the pork is well cooked, the heat is turned up to crisp the edges of the meat. It is then removed from the lard, allowed to cool and shredded, just like pulled pork. Served on a taco or burrito shell with various toppings, like pico de gallo, cilantro, cheese, guacamole and more, carnitas are moist, tender and incredibly delicious.
I have been giving my new slow cooker a spin over this past week and I wanted to try a chicken version of the classic carnita. It is far healthier than the pork variety as it is quite low in fat. Do not think that I say this because I do not eat the pork carnita version – oh yeah – I sure do. But, if you are looking for a healthy version of the carnitas, then this is it!
Typically, the pork roast is slow cooked in lard, but I decided to cook the chicken breasts in diced tomatoes, onions and peppers. The flavour was amazing and the chicken was tender and moist.
Other Mexican Dishes
Slow cooker chicken carnitas are perfect as part of a Mexican meal. Here are some other great recipes that are great alongside these carnitas.
- Fiesta Salad with black beans, corn and a lime vinaigrette.
- Mexican Pinto Beans
- Chicken Quesadillas
- Chicken Enchiladas
Chicken Carnitas
Ingredients
- 5 chicken breasts , boneless and skinless
- 1 can diced tomatoes , (28oz) can
- 1 onion , diced
- 1 red pepper , diced
- 2 jalapeno peppers , minced (seeds removed)
- 1/2 tbsp cumin
- 1/2 tbsp paprika
- 1 tsp coriander
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 tsp salt
Instructions
- Place all the ingredients in a crock pot and cook on low for 8 hours.
- Once the cooking time is done, take the chicken out of the crock pot dish and shred with two forks.
- Strain the juice out of the crock pot into a bowl to reserve. Leave the cooked tomatoes, onions and peppers in the crock pot. Mix in the shredded chicken. If the mixture seems too dry, add a bit of the reserved liquid.
- Serve the mixture on taco shells with desired toppings like: cheese, salsa, guacamole, sour cream, chopped jalapenos or fresh cilantro. Squeeze some fresh lime juice on as well!
- This mixture is also great on salad or even nacho chips.
Nutrition
Per serving:
