Full Bloom Blog

Mexican Shredded Chicken

Ingredients

• 5-6 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breast
• 1 jar/tub of your favorite salsa
• 1 Tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 cubanelle peppers (shredded)
• 1 large red pepper (shredded)
• 1 small onion (shredded)
• 2 Tbsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp Chile powder
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 2 tsp salt (or to taste)
• Juice of one lime

Trim and place chicken in the crock pot. Add the salsa, completely covering the chicken. Add water a little bit at a time to make sure it’s thoroughly covered. Turn to low and cook about 6 hours or 3-4 hours on high.

Take the chicken out of the crock pot and shred using two forks. Reserve liquid seperately.

Rough chop your veggies and add them to the food processor. If you have a mini- consider doing it in two batches.

Preheat your skillet and add vegetable oil. Put the chicken (divide it into smaller batches if it’s too much to fit in your pan AND stir.) and onion pepper blend. Sauté about five minutes over medium heat. Add in cumin, Chile, garlic, salt, and lime juice. Stir well and allow to simmer an additional five minutes.

Either add to your favorite Taco Tuesday dishes or separate into smaller bags, label, and freeze! (see the bottom of the post for some suggestions!)

Here’s the scoop:

A friend of mine tipped me off to this SUPER easy way to prepare some Mexican inspired shredded chicken a couple years back. I have, of course, put my own spin on it and love how easy, versatile, and delicious it is! I know there are lots of versions of this out there, and of course mine is my favorite. Ha. Why wouldn’t it be! But why is it the best?! Well, maybe it’s not, but the reason I love it is because it does not turn into a soupy or dense slop mess. Forgive the harsh terms. To each their own style of Mexican inspired shredded kitchen. I prefer mine to have a little texture to it, for it to be moist (yeah, that word just grossed me out too), and super flavorful. Try it out for yourself and let me know what you think!

I recommend starting with about five or six pounds of boneless, skinless chicken breast. I like to do any additional trimming necessary PRIOR to dropping it into the crock pot.

Arrange chicken in a large crock pot and fully cover with an entire tub or jar of your favorite salsa. My go to is GARDEN FRESH: Jack’s Special in MEDIUM. It’s filled with great veggies and the heavy acidity makes for incredibly tender chicken. Add enough water to ensure that the chicken is fully covered.

Place the lid on the crockpot and set to low for 6-8 hours or high for 4.

After the chicken is cooked, lift the chicken out of the crock pot and shred. I like to use two forks, but if I’m being honest, two spoons would work too. Reserve the liquid in the crock pot.

I love to add veggies- any way I can sneak them into a meal, I do! I rough chop 2 cubanelle peppers, one large red pepper, and one small onion and place it into my food processor to finely mince them. If you “over process” it will turn into pepper mush! While pepper mush still probably has excellent flavor, it will add a lot of moisture so watch out for that. This is what it should look like…

Some may find these last (two) steps unnecessary. And perhaps if you happen to be in a time crunch, you could certainly omit them. These extra steps however, are what takes this chicken to the next level flavor wise. You will be adding tons of flavor without much in the fat department so no one can hate that! If you’ve got the time, it’s totally worth it.

Preheat your pan. I use about a tablespoon of vegetable oil (it’s great because it does not add heavy flavor to your dish). Sauté shredded chicken and veggies for about 5 minutes until veggies are tender and some additional moisture has evaporated. Add cumin, Chile, garlic, salt, and fresh lime juice. Mix thoroughly and simmer for another five minutes. Serve with your favorite fixings or divide the chicken into one pound packs and freeze!