You only need 3 ingredients to make Crock Pot green chile chicken: chicken breasts, salsa verde and diced green chiles. This simple slow cooker chicken recipe is an easy way to make shredded chicken for tacos, burritos, enchiladas and taco bowls.
Dinner doesn't get any easier than this! Combine 3 ingredients in your slow cooker, let the chicken cook for 3 hours and shred the chicken. That's it!
Serve this easy salsa chicken in taco bowls with rice and toppings. Or, wrap the chicken in tortillas with all your favorite taco toppings, like sour cream, avocado, cilantro, shredded cabbage.
Another favorite recipe that uses salsa verde is Instant Pot ground turkey and white bean chili.
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Looking for more easy chicken recipes with lots of flavor? Try oven-baked ground chicken tacos, Instant Pot shredded Jerk chicken or Instant Pot chicken adobo.
Why You'll Love This Recipe
- The chicken breast meat soaks up the flavor of salsa verde while it cooks, making it moist and flavorful.
- The chicken cooks in just 3 hours.
- This is an easy hands-off dinner.
- You'll learn an easy trick for shredding chicken breast, right in the slow cooker!
Ingredients & Variations
Chicken: This is a perfect recipe for chicken breasts because the meat stays moist and soaks up flavor. You can substitute boneless chicken thighs, just make sure to cook the meat for one hour longer.
Salsa verde: Tomatillo salsa, or salsa verde, is green salsa made from tomatillos and green chiles instead of tomatoes. The salsa has a bright, tangy flavor. Salsa verde is often made from roasted tomatillos, which gives the salsa a smoky flavor. Most stores sell both spicy and mild versions of the salsa. For this recipe, I use jarred salsa verde. You can also use fresh, which is found in the refrigerator case.
Diced green chiles: Cans of diced green chiles are easy to find at the grocery store. You can buy mild or spicy. They are made from green peppers (usually either Anaheim, Poblano, or Pasilla) that have been roasted and diced. The flavor of diced green chiles is similar to green bell peppers, with a slightly tangy and smoky flavor.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
Step-by-Step Recipe Instructions
For detailed instructions & ingredient amounts, see the recipe card at the end of the post.
Step 1: Pour salsa verde and diced green chiles into the slow cooker.
Step 2: Add chicken breasts. Flip the breasts to make sure there is salsa under the chicken. Spoon salsa over the top. Cook for 3 hours on low.
Step 3: Shred the chicken into the salsa verde sauce. The fastest method is using a hand-held mixer at the lowest speed to shred the chicken in the slow cooker.
Step 4: Serve the shredded green chile chicken with your favorite taco toppings, either in tortillas or in a rice bowl.
How to Serve Green Chile Chicken
You can serve Crock Pot green chile chicken in corn or flour tortillas. You can also serve the shredded chicken in a bowl over your favorite type of rice (try Instant Pot white rice or Instant Pot brown rice) or grain (try Instant Pot quinoa or Instant Pot brown rice and quinoa).
Whether you serve the chicken in a bowl or tortilla, you'll also want to serve green chile chicken with all of your favorite taco toppings: sour cream, avocado, cilantro, shredded cabbage and my favorite, tortilla chips crumbled on top!
Recipe Tip
The easiest way to shred chicken is by using a hand-held mixer. Keep the mixer on the lowest speed and use it to chop/shred the chicken breasts until the meat is completely pulled apart and mixed into the sauce. Just be careful if the sauce is still hot, because it can splatter a little bit.
Recipe FAQs
Yes, you can substitute red salsa for the salsa verde. In this case, you can leave out the green chiles if you want.
No, the salsa provides enough liquid and the chicken will release moisture as it cooks. Adding broth will make the sauce too watery.
Yes, just cook chicken thighs for 1 hour longer in the slow cooker than chicken breasts (4 hours on low instead of 3 hours).
I don't recommend it. Low is the best setting for chicken in the slow cooker, otherwise it tends to turn out dry or chewy.
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3-Ingredient Crock Pot Green Chile Chicken
Dinner doesn't get any easier than this! Combine 3 ingredients in your slow cooker, let the chicken cook for 3 hours and then shred the chicken This recipe is an easy way to make shredded chicken for tacos, burritos, enchiladas and taco bowls.
Serve the chicken with your favorite toppings, like shredded cabbage or lettuce, sour cream, cilantro, guacamole, etc.
- Prep Time: 5
- Cook Time: 3 hours
- Total Time: 3 hours 5 minutes
- Yield: 4 to 6 servings
- Category: Chicken
- Method: Slow Cooker
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- One 12 to 16-ounce container (1 ½ to 2 ½ cups) salsa verde (green tomatillo salsa)
- 4-ounce can diced green chiles (mild or spicy)
- 1 to 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Instructions
- Combine the salsa and green chiles in a slow cooker.
- Add the chicken and toss to coat in salsa. Use a spoon to cover the top of the chicken with salsa.
- Cook on LOW for 3 hours.
- Shred the chicken in the green chile sauce, using either two forks or a hand-held mixer.
How to shred chicken with a hand-held electric mixer: The easiest way to shred chicken is by using a hand-held mixer. Keep the mixer on the lowest speed and use it to chop/shred the chicken breasts until the meat is completely pulled apart and mixed into the sauce. Just be careful if the sauce is still hot, because it can splatter a little bit.
Notes
If substituting boneless chicken thighs for the breasts, cook on low for 4 hours.
Storage: The USDA recommends using cooked chicken leftovers within three to four days. You can also freeze the leftover cooked chicken in the sauce created by the salsa. Freeze it in a sealed freezer-safe bag with all of the air removed. Defrost within 3 months by putting the frozen chicken in the refrigerator overnight.
Jen says
I love how easy this recipe is, and the salsa verde gives chicken breasts instant flavor.