Add some extra vegetables to your meals with this Veggie-Loaded Slow Cooker Mexican Shredded Chicken. This meal prep staple is seasoned with salsa verde and lime juice. It’s ultra flavorful, healthy, and SO easy!
This recipe is featured in my Winter Week 2 Meal Plan and the monthly winter vegetable meal plan. For more info, visit the meal plans page.
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It’s finally the weekend! And you know what that means, right? Time for a little meal prep and planning!
Even if you already made your dinner plans for next week, you should totally bookmark this Veggie-Loaded Slow Cooker Mexican Shredded Chicken. It’s an awesome recipe to “batch cook” and keep in your fridge all week long.
You can eat it on salads, sandwiches, tacos, over rice, and more! It also freezes well, and is a versatile lean protein to have on hand. Plus, you can dump all of the ingredients into the slow cooker before you run errands on Sunday and forget about it.
Sounds pretty nice, huh? I agree. Let’s get to it!
How to Make Slow Cooker Mexican Shredded Chicken
- Add 1.5 pounds of boneless, skinless chicken breasts to a slow cooker.
- Dump a jar of salsa verde (green salsa) on top. Add lime juice, salt, and cumin. Cook on low for 3 hours.
- Use two forks to shred the chicken.
- Add the veggies to the chicken in the crockpot. Cook for another 30 minutes.
I used cooked, frozen spinach and red bell peppers in this recipe, but you can feel free to add other veggies you have on hand! Zucchini, tomatoes, and other leafy greens would taste great. The vegetables add some extra fiber, nutrition, and color, and they soak up the salsa verde flavors really well.
How to Serve and Store Slow Cooker Shredded Mexican Chicken
As I mentioned earlier, this recipe is super versatile. Here are a few of my favorite ways to enjoy it:
- Tacos: stuffed into corn tortillas with a dollop of guacamole and sour cream
- Burrito bowls: on top of brown rice, corn, black beans, cheese, and guacamole
- Breakfast: mixed into scrambled eggs and served on tortillas
- Nachos: on top of veggie chips (like the kind I used for my Radish Chip Nachos) or tortilla chips with all of your favorite nacho toppings
- Sandwiches: in between two slices of multigrain bread with a slice of cheese
Store slow cooker shredded Mexican chicken in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. Reheat in the microwave or enjoy it cold. This recipe also freezes really well in airtight containers of freezer bags. It lasts for up to 3 months. Let it thaw in the fridge before eating.
More Healthy Slow Cooker Recipes
- Slow Cooker Black Beans with Scallions
- Slow Cooker Mushroom Barley Stew
- Rosemary Honey Slow Cooker Beets
- Slow Cooker Butternut Squash Brown Rice Risotto
If you make this recipe, I’d love to hear how you like it! Please rate/review using the stars on the recipe card or in the comments section.
Veggie-Loaded Slow Cooker Mexican Shredded Chicken
Ingredients
- 1.5 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast
- 1 12-16 oz jar salsa verde - such as Trader Joe's brand
- 1 lime - juiced
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- 1 10 oz package frozen spinach - cooked and drained
- 1 red bell pepper - chopped
Instructions
- Place the chicken breasts in the slow cooker. Pour the jar of salsa verde over them. Add the lime juice, cumin, and salt. Cover and cook on low for 3 hours, or until they are cooked through and have reached an internal temperature of 165 degrees F.
- Remove the chicken breasts from the crockpot and shred with two forks on a cutting board. Return the chicken to the crockpot. You can also shred the breasts in the crockpot with tongs or forks.
- Prepare the spinach according to package instructions, wrap in a paper towel, and squeeze out any excess moisture. Add the cooked spinach and diced bell pepper to the slow cooker. Mix well and cook on low for another 30 minutes.
- Serve in tacos, burrito bowls, salads, nachos, and more.
Notes
- There will be a lot of liquid/salsa still in the slow cooker when you shred the chicken. The shredded chicken and vegetables should absorb most of this (it has a ton of flavor!), but if it's too much, you can drain some of it.
- Be sure to use at least 1.5 pounds of chicken breast. With less chicken, there tends to be too much spinach.
- Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. Reheat in the microwave for 1-2 minutes on high or enjoy cold.
- To freeze, transfer to airtight containers or freezer bags, label, and freeze for up to 3 months. Let it thaw in the fridge before eating.
Nutrition
This recipe was originally published in January 2019. It was updated with more photos and expert tips in January 2020.
Happy (almost) weekend!
Lizzie
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