Let your slow cooker do the work to make these pulled chicken tacos! Smoky, spicy, a little sweet, malty – these chicken tacos are a crowd pleaser and couldn’t be easier. Add a little guacamole, reduce the sauce, and make some coleslaw for dinner perfection.
Last week I posted my recipe for Spicy Jalapeno and Lime Coleslaw, and I promised that I would post my pulled chicken taco recipe soon. And here it is!
I cannot say enough good things about this chicken dish. It’s seriously one of the best dinners I’ve ever made and that’s saying something. It’s easy to make. You can make it the day ahead. The house smells wonderful the whole day while it’s cooking.
And, once you reduce the sauce and add the adobe and lime, it’s amazingly complex with wonderful layered flavors. I can eat this with a spoon. And have! š
If that doesn’t convince you, my daughter will eat it. She is quite adamant that she does not like chicken and will not eat it. This dish, though, she loves.
If you could smell this you would be in heaven. The chipotle, the lime, the beer. It’s all good!
I had some leftover chicken for lunch today, and even so my mouth is watering now just looking at this. Slow cooked, tender chicken thighs shredded and mixed with a thickened, spicy sauce packed full of flavor. Yum.
And it really is simple! To make these pulled chicken tacos all you do to start is put everything (but some lime juice and chipotle) into the slow cooker. No sauteing, no fussing.
Then wait until the chicken is tender and shreddable, pour the sauce into a pan, and reduce it down so that it’s thick and rich. Shred the chicken and add it back to the sauce.
Add some coleslow, some guac, and whatever else you like on your tacos and you’re done.
While you can eat this chicken all by itself and be perfectly happy, I would highly recommend using it to make these yummy layered pulled chicken tacos. The bottom layer is a simple guacamole.Ā That is topped by a layer of chicken.
And then the whole thing is finished off by some spicy coleslaw. This time I made the coleslaw with a mix of red and green cabbages since I had some red cabbage on hand.
I like it all wrapped with a flour tortilla. You can either use a nice, soft tortilla or fry up some crispy ones. I went with crispy tortillas since I thought it would make a nice picture. And I wanted to try to make something new. This is only the second time I’ve made crispy, folded tortillas and they were really good!
Don’t be put off by the ingredients list. It’s mostly spices! If you don’t have smoked paprika, just use sweet paprika instead. I would recommend getting ancho chili power if you can though. It provides a complex chili flavor and moderate heat to the dish.
As with my butterscotch sauce, I use my All-Clad Saucier Pan
If you try my recipe for Pulled Chicken Tacos, I would love to hear from you in the comments with your experience and rating! And Iām happy to answer any questions you might have.
You can connect with me by subscribing to my emails (see the form in the sidebar or below the recipe card), liking my FACEBOOK page, or by following me on PINTEREST.
ā Happy Eating, Annemarie
Beer Braised Pulled Chicken Tacos
Ingredients
Beer Braised Chicken
- 1 1/2 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs
- 1/2 tsp cumin powder
- 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 1/2 tsp ancho powder
- 1 pinch chipotle powder, or cayenne powder
- 2 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
- 1 tsp oregano
- 2 tbsp lime juice, divided
- 2 tbsp orange juice
- 1 bottle beer
- 4 tbsp adobo sauce, from a can of chipotles in adobo
Guacamole
- 2 avocados
- 1 tbsp lime juice
- 1/2 tsp salt
1 recipe Spicy Jalapeno and Lime Coleslaw
10 taco size flour tortillas
Instructions
- Put chicken, all spices, garlic, oregano, 1 tbsp lime juice, orange juice and beer into a slow cooker. Set the slow cooker to 6 hours on low.
- When the chicken is done, scoop it out of the braising liquid with a slotted spoon and into a medium bowl. (The recipe can be made to this point up to 2 days ahead. Refrigerate both the chicken and the liquid until you are ready to use them. This is also an excellent way to reduce the fat since it will solidify and can be removed before you reduce the liquid.)
- Using two forks or your fingers, shred the chicken.
- Pour the liquid into a medium sauce pan or saucier and bring to a boil over medium high heat. Stirring occasionally, reduce the liquid until it is very thick and starting to stick a bit to the bottom of the pan, about 8-9 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat; add the adobo sauce and 1 tbsp of lime juice. Stir that into the reduced liquid and then toss the shredded chicken with sauce until it's well combined.
- While the sauce is reducing, make the Spicy Jalapeno and Lime Coleslaw.
- Then make the guacamole. Halve the avocados and scoop out the flesh into a medium bowl. Mash the avocado with a fork and then add the lime juice and salt and mix it all together.
- To serve, spread a layer of guacamole on the bottom of each tortilla. Top with braised chicken and then with spicy coleslaw.
Notes
- I used an Oktoberfest beer to make this dish, since it's my favorite and it's available this time of year. However, I know it won't be available soon so I have a few other suggestions. First of all, I wouldn't use an IPA or similar style since you want a beer with some sweetness and malty flavors if possible. I would use a red ale or a brown ale or a brown lager. I think each of these would compliment the flavors of the dish the best.
- If you don't like too much spice, reduce the adobo to 2-3 tbsp, tasting the dish to see if it's hot enough yet. On the other hand, if you like it really spicy, the adobo is mixed with chipotles so add a diced chipotle to the mix.
- Spicy Jalapeno and Lime Coleslaw
- Calories are for chicken and guacamole. Calories are an estimate.
Lauren says
I’m getting ready to make this, but we’re kind of spice wimps in our house….how spicy does this turn out?? It seems like it would be pretty spicy with the adobo, and ancho, chipotle powders.
justalittlebitofbacon says
It is pretty spicy at the end! And most of that is in the chipotle/adobo (ancho is a mild chili powder that I like for its fruity flavor, not its spice). You can control that easily skipping the chipotle powder and by adding the adobo a little at a time until its spicy enough for you. Or skip it entirely if you think even a small amount will be too much.
Brent says
What kind of beer would you reccomend? Lager? IPA?
justalittlebitofbacon says
I would (and do) use a lager for the recipe. I find that IPAs can be too bitter or citrusy for the sauce.
Mary says
Can boneless chicken breasts be substituted for the thighs?
justalittlebitofbacon says
Hmmm. Personally I find that chicken breasts get too dry and don’t have the right texture, so I do recommend the chicken thighs. If you are worried about the fat content, braise the chicken on one day and then finish it the next after you’ve had time to skim off the fat.
Dara says
I have this in the crock pot right now, ready to plug in for tomorrow night’s dinner. Love trying new recipes!
justalittlebitofbacon says
Great! We love this recipe and hope you do too! š
Cece says
This looks so good! How did you make the crispy folded tortillas though?
justalittlebitofbacon says
Thank you! Sorry it took me a couple days to see this comment. This is one of our favorite meals and I get begged to make it regularly. As for the tortillas, it’s hot oil + flour tortillas + luck basically. And a willingness to sacrifice a few tortillas to the weird shaped fried tortilla gods. I’ve only done it a couple of times so I’m no expert. The way I did it was to use tongs to fold over the tortilla and hold it in place as it fried in the oil. Also, I used the tongs to squeeze the tortillas since flour tortillas tend to puff up and need to be deflated.
Rosalva Arredondo says
Hello. I have one question I’m planning to triple the recipe in my crockpot what I need to use three beers or would two be enough? Thank you
justalittlebitofbacon says
Oooh, I’m not sure which way I would go. I’ve doubled but never tripled the recipe. The chicken should be about half submerged, so I guess look at it and see if two seems like enough. Also, you will get plenty of liquid from the chicken as it cooks, so I probably would go with two. Either way you’ll be cooking it down into a thick sauce at the end. Good luck!
Sam | Ahead of Thyme says
Yum! I love tacos and these look so good! Thanks for sharing!
justalittlebitofbacon says
Thank you! This recipe is one of our favorites.
Kathryn @ FoodieGirlChicago says
These look super tasty! I love chicken braised in beer. Pinned!!
justalittlebitofbacon says
Thanks! The beer gives the dish a lot of flavor.
Sophia @Veggies Don't Bite says
Tacos are pretty much my main food group. I love them!!!
justalittlebitofbacon says
We eat a lot of tacos here too. š
The Food Hunter says
Sounds tasty I bet the boys would love this one.
justalittlebitofbacon says
All I know is that my daughter, who hardly eats chicken, begs me to make this. So it is kids approved. š
Sarah says
Now these look like my kind of tacos! Pinning!
justalittlebitofbacon says
Thanks! And thank you for the pin. š