Slow Cooker Honey Chipotle Chicken Tacos

close up overhead shot of hand holding slow cooker chicken taco

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5 from 12 votes

Slow Cooker Honey Chipotle Chicken Tacos

These slow cooker chicken tacos are drenched in a delicious honey chipotle sauce and couldn't be easier to make!

Prep Time10

Cook Time3 40

Total Time3 50

Course: Finger Food, Main Course

Cuisine: Mexican

Servings: tacos

Author: Chris Collins

Cost: £1.50 / $2

Equipment

Slow Cooker
Medium Sized Pot or Pan & Whisk (for thickening sauce)
Small Pot (for combining cornstarch & water)
Baking Tray or Dish & 2 Forks (for shredding chicken)
Small Bowl (for pickling onions)
Sharp Knife & Chopping Board
Tongs

Ingredients

Honey Chipotle Chicken

2lb / 1kg boneless skinless Chicken Thighs, large bits of fat trimmed
3/4 cup / 180ml Chicken Stock
1/4 cup / 80g Honey
2 tbsp Chipotle Paste (see notes)
2 tbsp Tomato Puree (Tomato Paste in US)
1 Lime, juice only
2 tsp Smoked Paprika
1 tsp EACH: Cumin, Onion Powder, Garlic Powder, Oregano, Salt
1/2 tsp Black Pepper
1 tbsp Cornstarch/Cornflour

Lime Pickled Onions

1 medium Red Onion, finely diced
1 Lime, juice only
pinch of Salt
pinch of Sugar

Tacos

12 small/street market Tortillas, warmed (see notes)
2 Avocados, thinly sliced
1/2 cup / 80g crumbled Cotija Cheese, or to preference (can sub feta)
finely diced Coriander/Cilantro, to garnish (only add this if you know you love it)

Instructions

In the base of a slow cooker combine chicken stock, honey, chipotle paste, tomato puree and lime juice with smoked paprika, cumin, oregano, onion powder, garlic powder, salt & black pepper. Add chicken thighs and use your tongs to coat them.
Add the lid on and cook for 3-4 hours in HIGH or 6-7 hours on LOW. The chicken is cooked when it's piping hot through the centre and very easily falls apart.
Meanwhile, in a small bowl combine finely diced onion with lime juice and good pinch of salt & sugar. Leave to pickle for as long as the chicken takes to cook, tossing every now and then if you can.
Once the chicken has cooked, remove it from the slow cooker and place in a dish or curved baking tray. Pour the liquid into a pot or pan over medium heat and bring to a simmer. Combine 1 tbsp cornstarch/cornflour with 1 tbsp water then whisk into the sauce. Simmer until thickened (10mins or so).
Gently shred the chicken (don't over-shred in the first instance) then pour over your preferred amount of sauce. Toss to combine, shredding a little more if needed.
Serve in tortillas with cotija/feta, avocado, pickled onions and coriander/cilantro.(optional).

Video

Notes

a) Chipotle Paste - You'll find this near the spice section in most supermarkets. It's got a powerful, condensed chipotle flavour and works perfectly in recipes like these!

b) Can I sub Chipotle Chilis in Abodo Sauce? - If you can't find chipotle paste, you could sub chipotle chilis in adobo sauce. I don't often use these, because they're hard to find in the UK. I'd predict using a couple of de-seeded and diced chilis along with 1-2 tbsp of the sauce. You can then add more sauce in when you simmer the slow cooker juices if you want it spicier. Start off conservatively because you can always adjust.

c) How Spicy are these tacos? - I've tried various different chipotle paste brands and they do very in spice. However, I've never found 2 tbsp overwhelming. It gives a good kick of spice, but nothing too powerful. The spice will also mellow out as the chicken rests. On the contrary, if you want it spicier, again just add a dash to the slow cooker juices when you simmer them.

d) How Sweet are these tacos? - The honey is very mellow, as it should be. You don't want them too sweet because chicken is fairly off-putting if it's too sweet. The honey is mainly there to balance out the other powder/spicy flavours.

e) Tortillas/Serving - I love using Old El Paso White Corn Street Tortillas, but any sort of small tortillas will do the trick. I usually get around 12 fairly hefty tacos from the meat. If you're slightly more conservative you might get 14-16.

f) Calories - Per taco.

Nutrition