Chicken Taco Bowls are a family favorite in my house. They’re super easy to make, are full of amazing Mexican flavors, and your hands-on time is almost nothing!
I first came up with this recipe using my Instant Pot (you can see that recipe here). The great thing about this recipe is that it’s just as easy to make in a slow cooker!
So, if you don’t have an Instant Pot, or don’t want to wait for it to work its magic in the evening, you can get the same great dish by throwing everything in your Crock-Pot in the morning before starting your day and dinner will be ready when you are at the end of the day.
How to Make Slow Cooker Chicken Taco Bowls
Ready to make some crockpot chicken taco bowls? Let’s get started!
For this recipe, you’ll need the following ingredients:
- Two pounds of boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- Two packets of taco seasoning
- One 15-ounce can of black beans (drained and rinsed)
- One 12-ounce bag of frozen corn
- One 15.5-ounce jar of your favorite salsa
- Half a cup of water or chicken broth
- Three cups of cooked rice
- Optional toppings: shredded cheese, cilantro, sour cream, jalapenos, guacamole/avocado
Homemade Taco Seasoning
If you don’t have (or don’t want to use) packaged taco seasoning, you can easily make your own. Just combine:
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 1/2 tablespoon cumin
- 1/2 tablespoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon oregano
To make this dish, follow these steps:
First, add the corn, black beans and salsa to your slow cooker. Make sure you’ve rinsed the beans well before adding them.
Next, add the chicken in a nice, even layer over the other ingredients. Top with taco seasoning.
Pour the water or broth over the chicken.
Cook on high for 3 to 4 hours or on low for 6 to 8 hours. The chicken will be fully cooked and shred easily. Use a fork to shred the chicken (or a mixer).
Serve over cooked rice. Sprinkle with shredded cheese on top and add your favorite toppings. Enjoy!
Mix up a classic margarita to wash down your chicken taco bowls. Better yet, have your partner mix one up while you shred the chicken (or vice versa!).
Slow Cooker Chicken Taco Bowl Recipe
- 1 15 oz can black beans drained and rinsed
- 1 12 oz bag frozen corn
- 1 15.5 oz jar salsa
- 2 lbs uncooked boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 2 packets taco seasoning
- 3 cups cooked rice
- 1/2 cup water or chicken broth
- cheddar cheese
- cilantro optional
- sour cream optional
- jalapenos optional
- guacamole or sliced avocado optional
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Add beans, corn, and salsa to slow cooker. Top with chicken breasts and sprinkle taco seasoning over the chicken.
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Pour water (or broth) over the chicken.
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Cook on low for 6 to 8 hours or on high for 3 to 4 hours.
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Shred chicken. Serve over rice. Top with cheddar cheese, cilantro, sour cream, jalapenos, and/or avocado as desired
Looking for the Instant Pot version of this recipe? CLICK HERE
Corinne Schmitt
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Darian says
March 19, 2019 at 2:41 pmIf I am leaving out the rice, how much liquid would I leave out?
Corinne Schmitt says
March 20, 2019 at 7:50 amYou’ll still need 1/2 cup of water or broth. That, along with the salsa should be enough liquid for the pot to come to pressure without making the end result too soupy.
Vicky miller says
February 28, 2019 at 5:13 pmHow much time to put on recipe if you omit the chicken??
Corinne Schmitt says
March 1, 2019 at 8:07 amI’d reduce to 10 minutes. The dish will actually be done MUCH faster (more than 2 minutes faster) since it will also come to pressure faster without the chicken.
Cassie says
February 10, 2019 at 10:14 pmDo you need to use Jasmine rice or will standard white rice work?
Corinne Schmitt says
February 11, 2019 at 9:20 amAny long-grain white rice should work. I usually use jasmine or basmati.
Korey says
February 3, 2019 at 7:58 pmThis is the first recipe I’ve tried after recently getting an Instant Pot. Did an online search for some simple recipes and came across your list of “Instant Pot Dump Recipes.” Perfect. Making meals in one pot is exactly what I was looking to find.
And this one is a winner. Delicious, nutritious, and filling. Made it for myself and my girlfriend. After getting our fill there’s still plenty leftover for in the fridge and freezer.
Thai Chicken Rice Bowl is next.
Thanks for putting these together.
Sam says
January 13, 2019 at 12:00 amI tried this recipe tonight and my husband and I really liked it. I used only 2 chicken breast instead of 4 because they were big breast and I’m not huge on meat. After reading comments I decided to cut the chicken into smaller pieces before placing it in the instapot and it came out great!
Jenn says
January 11, 2019 at 7:30 amI made this last night and the flavour was great, the rice was way over done and way too soft.
I guess I will make the rice separately next time.
Lauren says
December 27, 2018 at 9:21 amDo you know how this would be adjusted if using frozen chicken breast?
Kelly says
November 27, 2018 at 10:42 pmWow, total winner. Even my 4 year old liked it. And this was my first instant pot meal, so I’m excited to try more. I took the advice of one reviewer and cut the rice by a cup and liquid to match.
Corinne Schmitt says
November 28, 2018 at 9:39 amI’m so glad you liked it!! Thanks for taking the time to share your feedback. And welcome to the Instant Pot family!
Megan says
November 13, 2018 at 9:35 pmQuick question, the first time I made this it was amazing, perfect! Tonight I’m making it again and I keep getting the burn message. Have you ever run into this issue? Thanks!
Corinne Schmitt says
November 14, 2018 at 10:29 amI haven’t but I know a few others have. Did you add one cup of liquid to the pot first? That should prevent the chicken from sticking and causing a burn error.
Megan says
November 14, 2018 at 10:33 amHi! Yes, I added the 1 cup of broth first, then the chicken, taco mix, beans, corn, salsa, and rice and topped it with 2 cups water. It worked fine the first time, so maybe it was just an unlucky batch.
Corinne Schmitt says
November 14, 2018 at 10:44 amThat’s a bummer. I can’t think of why else it would happen. This is usually a problem with browning meat in the pot ahead of time and some of the bits don’t get scraped up, but this recipe doesn’t have a saute step. Sorry I’m not more helpful in figuring out what went wrong. None of the ingredients should be causing this problem. I’m stumped!
Patrick Rhile says
November 10, 2018 at 9:53 amI made this last night. Cut the amount of chicken to 2 over sized chicken breasts and cut the them in half to line the bottom of the pot. It made the perfect amount when shredding.
You are correct using two packets of taco seasoning works.
Would love to share photo of dinner if I could.
Christine says
November 9, 2018 at 12:56 pmMade this last night as written. 5 star recipe. Easy and delicious. Big THUMBS UP from husband, son and or course the cook!
Thanks for sharing!
Nicole says
November 1, 2018 at 12:35 pmWould this recipe be the same in the 3 quart instant pot? Wondering if it’s too small!
Corinne Schmitt says
November 1, 2018 at 12:42 pmThis takes up quite a bit of room in my 6 quart and it’s a LOT of food. If you want to make it in your 3 quart, I suggest cutting the quantities of all ingredients in half.
Jean says
October 31, 2018 at 9:33 amDelish recipe, however when I made it I wasn’t a fan of how the rice turned out, even with cutting it back to just 2c., just wasn’t a fan of it all mixed together, though the flavor was AMAZING! I was therefore wondering how much liquid to use if I wanted to eliminate the rice altogether? I’d imagine about 1 1/2c would do the trick but was curious if you had made it minus the rice.
Corinne Schmitt says
October 31, 2018 at 9:41 amHi Jean, yes! You can easily cook the rice separately. I do this often when I want to make it with brown rice. You actually only need 1/2 cup of water or broth for the recipe if you aren’t cooking the rice in the Instant Pot.
Jean says
October 31, 2018 at 1:57 pmAwesome, thanks!
Judie Ploger says
January 5, 2019 at 2:57 pmThought we needed at least 1 cup of water or broth?
Corinne Schmitt says
January 5, 2019 at 3:37 pmThere’s other liquid from the salsa and a little residual moisture from the frozen corn. I personally violate the 1 cup minimum all the time without issue. If you’re worried that you’ll get a burn error, you can definitely increase to 1 cup of liquid and then use a slotted spoon to scoop out the contents onto your rice because the end result will be pretty liquidy.
Kim says
October 17, 2018 at 1:17 pmI’ve made this 3 times now and my husband and kids love it! We all agree that it is a little dry. I’m not sure if I’m going to cut back on the rice or up the liquid, but I will probably adjust a little in the future. But it’s really tasty and easy! Thanks for sharing!
Jess says
September 24, 2018 at 11:45 pmI made this tonight exactly per the instructions, but I did 2 cups of rice/broth instead of 3 – it was SO GOOD! Everything turned out perfectly in my 6-quart Instant Pot. This was my 2nd time using my new Instant Pot and so far I am thrilled with the results! Thanks!
Corinne Schmitt says
September 25, 2018 at 8:01 amI’m so glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for the feedback. 🙂
Lindsay says
August 29, 2018 at 12:07 amMade this tonight, thank you for the recipe! I only had 3 chicken breasts, and they are pretty small, so I reduced cook time to 10 minutes. I also only did 2 cups of rice/broth. I added a small onion and some garlic.
Next time I would use 5 breasts, add in a whole chopped green pepper, and maybe a jalapeño. I think my cook time (6 qt IP) could be reduced to 9 minutes since the breasts are small and my rice was a bit mushy.
Peggy says
August 27, 2018 at 10:53 amThis was really good! I love simple and tasty recipes. I only used one pack of taco seasoning because that was all that I had but it was still very good. Thank you!
Corinne Schmitt says
August 27, 2018 at 12:08 pmI’m so glad you liked it! Thanks for commenting!