This shredded chicken crock-pot recipe has changed my life. Before I started making this on a weekly basis, I would stress about what I would bring to work for lunch. Now, I make a variety of chicken sandwiches for myself and my husband for our daily lunches.

The simplicity of the chicken allows me to create a wide range of wraps and salads ranging from my favorite homemade creations, the Mexican chipotle sandwich or the Cranberry chicken sandwich.  It also has drastically simplified my meal planning on Sunday’s. Instead of having to think of both dinner and lunch ideas for the week (which used to stress me out), I can focus on dinner. And most importantly, it saves us a lot of money by not having to buy lunch everyday!

So without further ado, here is my never fail and VERY simple shredded chicken crock-pot recipe:

Ingredients:

• Chicken Broth
• Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts (I typically use 1.6lbs to 2lbs)
• Trader Joes Taco Seasoning Mix (2 tablespoons)
• 1 small onion loosely chopped n (this is optional)

You really only need the above ingredients to make this recipe. You can add the following additions or use as replacements if you don’t have a taco seasoning mix:

• Kosher Salt
• Garlic Powder
• Smoked Paprika
• Trader Joe’s 21 Seasoning Salute
• Black Pepper

(I will tend to still use some of the above in addition to the taco seasoning mix to give the chicken a more well-rounded flavor. I also don’t measure it and tend to put a few dashes of each in. The more you play around with this recipe, the better you will become at gauging what extra seasonings to use in replace of or in addition to the taco seasoning mix)

Recipe Steps:

• Place chicken breast in the crock-pot
• Pour chicken broth over the chicken breast to cover the chicken about a half to quarter inch
• Add in 2 – 2 1/2  tablespoons of the taco seasoning mix
• If looking for more flavor, add the additional seasonings mentioned above at your discretion and chopped onion
• Cover and cook on high for 4 hours or low for 6 hours. Cooking times will vary depending on the power of your crock-pot (make sure to check the chicken towards the end of the cooking time to make sure it doesn’t dry out).
• Once you’ve checked that chicken is cooked (poke with a fork, it should easily fall apart), take chicken out the crock-pot and shred with a fork.
• Tip: Add a few tablespoons of the chicken liquid left over from the crock-pot to the shredded chicken to keep it moist throughout the week. I have found that when I don’t sprinkle the chicken with the chicken juice, the chicken dries out a bit towards the end of the week.

The end result is shredded chicken that you can use for sandwiches, salads, tacos, etc. It literally only takes a few minutes to prep and put it in the crock-pot.

Please let me know if you try this recipe and the specific measurements for the ingredients that work for you. Hopefully, you will find it to be a low stress staple recipe and great money-saver.

If you haven’t already, sign up to my email list to get my free 7 day Money Makeover Guide. *Hint* This recipe will help you easily annihilate one of the challenges I have in it.

EDIT: I have recently purchased the Instapot and it has literally changed my life. This recipe has become even easier and the time to cook the chicken has been drastically cut from 4-6 hours to 18 minutes! If you have an Instapot, simply follow all of the instructions above and place ingredients in the Instapot on Manual for 18 minutes.