Adorable Mini Tacos – A Slowcooker Chicken Taco Meat Recipe

Last week I shared my recipe for the Creamy Lime Watermelon ‘Cake’ that we served at our Fiesta Baby Shower. The other recipe that I found myself sharing over and over was for these adorable mini tacos! Not only are they super cute, but I made the taco meat I make for over taco salads in the slowcooker, so they came together in a snap right before the party.

So let’s talk about everything but the meat before we move on to the goods. I followed the instructions from SMP Living to make the cute little shells. I found that I got 5 mini shells out of one large tortilla and could fit twenty on a baking sheet/cookie rack at a time. I used a glass instead of a cookie cutter- it was definitely bigger than the 2″ SMP suggests. We made 60 and even though there were only 17 of us at the party- they disappeared faster than everything else on the table. Talk about a hit! We made the shells early in the day and had them waiting to be assembled. Other than the chicken, we topped the tacos with diced avocado and tomato as well as finely shredded cheddar cheese. Since the chicken is saucy in itself we didn’t need to add extra sauce.

So what is this elusive taco meat recipe that we’re talking about? Like pretty much every one of my other recipes– it’s dead easy. Definitely a cheaters meal if I ever saw one. Again, I’ll apologize for the lack of process photos- I didn’t plan on posting this but after explaining how to make it so many times- I thought, ‘Why not?’.

Recipe:

• 3 Chicken Breasts
• 2 1/2 Tbsp Taco Sesoning
• 1 Tbsp Cumin
• 3/4 Cup of Salsa or Enchilada Sauce

This is a crazy forgiving recipe. Having made it three times in the past two weeks, I’ve never measured (this is my estimation of what I used) and used more or less sauce depending how much I had leftover. I’ve used frozen and thawed chicken breasts- both work fine. Just a note on taco seasoning- I used to make my own, but bought some right before the Fiesta and couldn’t believe how cheap it was! I bought mine at Costco and for a massive container it was less than $5. I can’t make it for that- taco seasoning calls for a lot of good stuff.

So toss your chicken breasts into your slowcooker and sprinkle your spices over before dumping your sauce on. Turn your slowcooker on high for 4 hours or low for 8 and go enjoy your day. Around that 4 or 8 hour mark, if your chicken is looking done- pull it out and shred it (I’ve started using my stand mixer and it’s the easiest thing in the world), then return it to the slowcooker on the ‘keep warm’ setting to soak up the sauces.

The meat is still pretty saucy after this, so dish it up with a slotted spoon. We serve this stuff over salad all the time with black beans, corn, cilantro, tomatoes, and avocado. I’m sure it would be delish on nachos too!

What do you think? Do you use your slowcooker for entertaining? I love my slowcooker (especially on a hot summers day) and I’d love if you left a link to your fave recipe in the comments!