Crockpot Chicken Tacos

Back in March I hosted a group of nearly 40 people at my house for dinner. We did Mexican food and I knew I needed something that had minimal effort from me but lots of food for the masses. I asked on Market to Meal's Facebook page for some recipe ideas for a crockpot taco or fajita filling. A childhood friend, Kat E., sent me an idea for some baked chicken fajitas (so I guess since she's married now I should call her Kat L. but she'll always be Kat E. I think). Well, I liked the basic premise of the recipe and I started playing around with it. What I'm sharing with you now doesn't actually resemble the recipe too closely anymore, but oh well! Its good! Because beef has gotten so expensive in our city recently, I'm all about finding ways to use chicken in things I might traditionally use beef. I also LOVE that this recipe can be done in the crockpot!! Give it a try if you're eating Mexican this weekend for Cinco de Mayo! Also, check out Kat's recipe blog--she just posted lots of yummy looking Mexican recipes!

Crockpot Chicken Tacos
4 chicken breasts
3/4 cup salsa (I used this one)
1/4 cup lemon juice (or lime)
2 Tbs oil
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp chili powder*
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp oregano
1/8 tsp black pepper
dash of soy sauce
A few slices of jalapeño or other pepper (opt)

Mix together all ingredients, except the chicken, in a crockpot. Add chicken breasts, whole or sliced. Cook on low for 4-6 hours (You could do high for 3-4). Keep an eye on the liquid to make sure it isn't cooking out too fast.  Serve in warm tortillas with choice of toppings.

Fajita-ish Variation:
Slice onions and bell peppers. Add on top of the chicken for the last hour of cooking. Stir together before serving.

Notes:
*My chili powder was bought in the US. Its not spicy really. Might want to cut back if using a spicy one.
This is SO versatile. You could add chopped or sliced onions into the crockpot to cook down with the chicken. I usually cook the whole breasts and then break them up with a fork as they cook and tenderize. When I cooked this for a crowd I used a LARGE crockpot, quadrupled the recipe (maybe even did x5) and sliced the 25-30 chicken breasts into strips ahead of time. I cooked it on low almost all day. If you want this to be less like pulled chicken and have the strips hold their shape, you should cut into strips before cooking and not cook it as long to keep it from breaking down as easily. Both ways work great. I think you could use a mix of tomatoes and tomato sauce or paste in place of the salsa but might need to adjust for some additional flavor. I'm always making salsa to go with our Mexican meals so I just make enough to use in the base of this recipe in addition to what we need for the meal!