Here’s an easy one for a quick weekday meal. Everybody loves the sizzling grand entrance of fajitas while waiters and waitresses do the ‘fajita walk’. Because everyone loves sizzling anything. And while this doesn’t have the sizzle factor, it still tastes like it’s been marinated lovingly in all the flavors that make chicken fajitas taste so good.
And all this with just five ingredients. I was a little skeptical at first so I tried it a couple of times. And it worked out well. It’s fun, it’s colorful and really full of flavor.
Think of this as the meat base from which you can pile your fixings on. Prep this is the morning or overnight and you’ll be rewarded when you come back home from work or wake up with a delicious aroma of bell peppers and spiced meat.
From there, it’s just a matter of getting your tortillas, beans, rice, shredded lettuce, cheese, salsa, guacamole, sour cream or whatever fixings you like! So this one’s for the busy bees of the world that still want something good to eat at home.
I mentioned five ingredients. You have your chicken breasts, bell peppers, onions, taco seasoning and lime juice. Slicing the bell peppers and the onion is the bulk of the prep stage. Once that’s over and done with, spread them out on the bottom of your slow cooker. I used green, yellow and red bell peppers for color but it’s okay to just go for three of the same kind.
Then top it with the boneless, skinless chicken breasts. You’ll want them skinless because skin will render fat which will pool up into a watered down oily mess in the slow cooker. Make sure to pat the chicken breasts dry so there isn’t any excess liquid too.
You don’t need any liquid while cooking this as the bell peppers will sweat and produce their own juices which is more than enough to go around.
Then it’s sprinkling the taco seasoning and lime juice over everything. After that, we set and forget. You can cook it on high for 4 hours or low for 8 hours. I’ve tried both and they worked out the same. But try not to cook it longer than 8 hours on low because chicken is one of the meats that get tougher if it cooks too long. The complete opposite of beef.
If you don’t want to use pre-packaged taco seasoning, you can easily make your own at home. There’s many, many recipes all over the web but here’s a quick one for you. It basically consists of chili, garlic and onion powder, some cumin of course, a little oregano and some paprika and cayenne for heat.
Once everything is cooked, remove the chicken and shred with two forks. It should be so tender, it will melt at the slightest nudge. Then return the chicken to the slow cooker and mix it with the juices and bell peppers to soak up and share all that seasoning. If you want more lime juice, feel free to squeeze on some more.
After that it’s fixings time! Whatever you like. I took pics of the meat base from which you can build on so let your taste buds guide you!
Print
Slow Cooker Chicken Fajitas
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 4 hours
- Total Time: 4 hours 10 mins
- Yield: 4 1x
Ingredients
- 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 3 bell peppers, sliced
- 1 onion, sliced
- 1 packet taco seasoning
- 3 tablespoons lime juice
Fixings :
- Tortillas
- Cheese
- Sour cream
- Shredded lettuce
- Beans
- Rice
- Guacamole
- Salsa
Instructions
- Arrange the onions and peppers on the bottom of a slow cooker
- Place chicken on top of the veggies
- Sprinkle taco seasoning and lime juice over everything
- Cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours
- Using two forks, shred the chicken
- Return chicken to slow cooker and combine with vegetables and juices. Stir to mix well
- Dish and serve hot with fixings
Notes
Adapted from Eat at Home
Nutrition for meat. Does not include fixings:
28 Comments
Y2
April 18, 2015 at 9:20 AMPhotos are as pretty as yourself
I will try the recipe 🙂
Dana E
April 18, 2015 at 11:24 AMYou stole my thunder,I will try this today.Almost as pretty as her.
The Cooking Jar
April 22, 2015 at 12:12 PMYou two are making me blush!
The Cooking Jar
April 22, 2015 at 12:10 PMThat’s so sweet! Thank you and I hope you enjoy it!
Lydia
April 18, 2015 at 9:51 AMAlways looking for great chicken breast recipes for a slow cooker. This looks and sounds delicious. Cannot wait to try it!
The Cooking Jar
April 22, 2015 at 12:11 PMGood luck with it, Lydia! Thanks for stopping by 😉
Dorothy Dunton
April 18, 2015 at 12:46 PMHi Farah! YUM! I would so use this to make enchiladas with green chile sauce! It’s on the list for my next trip to the market.
The Cooking Jar
April 22, 2015 at 12:12 PMThat’s a great idea Dorothy. It’s versatile enough for other stuff, I think!
Cate
April 18, 2015 at 1:16 PMGIRL it was all I could do not to lick my screen while I was reading this!!
The Cooking Jar
April 22, 2015 at 12:13 PMI love ‘lick my screen’ or ‘lick my phone’ comments. Can never have too much of them 😉 I seriously dreaded this shoot though, so thanks for that!
Kelly
April 18, 2015 at 9:58 PMThey were great! Easy supper after a busy day. Very tasty! I put only a third of the peppers initially and added the rest in the last hour so they would be a little firmer and more colorful when dinner was ready. I did add a little cayenne pepper as well for a little extra zip. Thanks again! kel
★★★★★
The Cooking Jar
April 22, 2015 at 12:16 PMI can always count on you to give me more ideas, Kelly! Great call on adding some peppers later for more firmness. That’s always an option!
Dana E
April 20, 2015 at 9:28 PMExcellent!The hardest part was cutting up the peppers.Thanks!
★★★★★
The Cooking Jar
April 22, 2015 at 12:20 PMTell me about it! All that slicing and dicing when you could put your time towards eating and eating 😉
Claire @ TallGirlBigWorld
April 24, 2015 at 10:18 AMI love anything slow cooker, so this is right up my alley. Question: Do the peppers get soggy at all sitting on the bottom? I’m all about the super tender chicken, but when I put veggies in a slow cooker it’s usually ones that take a while to cook, like carrots, so I wasn’t sure how the peppers and such would turn out. I’ll definitely be trying this recipe out soon though 🙂
The Cooking Jar
April 24, 2015 at 2:56 PMGood question, Claire! Yes, they do get soggy so if you prefer your bell peppers cooked, firm but with a little crunch left to them, you can add them in the last 30 minutes or so. That should work!
Thalia @ butter and brioche
May 19, 2015 at 11:30 PMClearly this is the perfect excuse for me to pull out and use my slow cooker.. these fajitas look TOO good.
The Cooking Jar
May 28, 2015 at 1:49 PMThey were really good. Happy cooking, Thalia!
Ally
October 2, 2015 at 3:07 PMThis is the second time making this in two weeks. It’s amazingly easy! Truly. Moist, flavourful. This will be a weekly staple. I needed a perfect weekday recipe like this. Followed the recipe exactly and turns out perfect!
Thank you!
★★★★★
The Cooking Jar
October 2, 2015 at 11:38 PMWow, I really love hearing stuff like this 🙂 Especially that you made it twice before coming back to let me know how you liked it. Thanks, Ally!
Toni Clifford
October 22, 2015 at 6:47 AMI’m making this tonight! It’s only 11:47 am and I am already excited 🙂
The Cooking Jar
October 23, 2015 at 10:27 AMHaha! The build up is the best/worst part while your house smells like you want to eat it. And seriously, getting excited over food is one of the best things! Hope it worked out for you, Toni!
Ameena
December 27, 2015 at 6:27 PMI was wondering if this dish made its own juices?
★★★★★
The Cooking Jar
December 28, 2015 at 2:25 PMYes it does. The vegetables sweat a little so you get enough to go around. Mix it all up and it works out fine!
Rachelle
December 28, 2015 at 8:13 PMHello,
Getting ready to do this recipe and noticed, I forgot the lime, can I use something else. Thank you and will comeback for my feedback.
The Cooking Jar
December 29, 2015 at 1:12 PMHeya Rachelle! I would say the lime part is pretty significant to the flavor. When in a pinch, you could try lemon juice but it won’t be completely the same. Hope you enjoyed this recipe!
Lisa Lawrence
November 14, 2016 at 10:03 PMServe 4?? If I want more then means double ingredients? And same low for 8 hrs?
The Cooking Jar
November 15, 2016 at 3:05 PMYup! Doubling the ingredients will work and keep at low for 8 hours. Good luck, Lisa!