Easy 3 Ingredient Crockpot Shredded Chicken Recipe
Who doesn’t love nights where dinner is so easy and delicious the entire family scarfs it down and you still have energy and time left to play games on your phone while you watch Netflix and drink wine? I do.
I also love crockpot recipes where you just throw in a few ingredients, and bam! A tasty, warm meal is ready for you. I like to throw this one in my slow cooker around 3pm when I get back from picking my daughter up from school, and then it’s ready just in time for dinner.
It may seem doubtful that these 3 simple ingredients can make for such delicious taco meat, but trust me, it’s all you need! The salsa you use will obviously make a big difference in the flavor of the chicken, so choose one of your favorites– mild, spicy, chipotle, or even a can of diced tomatoes and chilis will do.
Simply place all of the ingredient into your slow cooker, and cook on HIGH for about 3 hours or LOW for 4-5 hours. BTW, It’s best to cube the cream cheese. Mine was left whole for the dramatic effect in the photo. 🙂
Once the chicken is done, it should shred very easily with a fork. Let the chicken simmer in the juices for another 15 minutes before serving.
I prefer to serve this chicken in soft flour tortillas that I grill up with a little butter, and then top with shredded cheese and fresh tomatoes and avocado, but it’s also really good on a salad!
Looking for easy crockpot recipes for dinner? This creamy shredded chicken is made with just 3 simple ingredients: chicken, cream cheese and salsa! Dump all 3 in your slow cooker for the easiest, tastiest tacos, ever. Trying to stay low carb or keto? Put it on a salad instead!
- 3-4 chicken breasts
- 1 (16oz) jar of salsa
- (8oz) cream cheese (cubed)
- tortillas for serving (optional)
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Spray your slow cooker with non-stick cooking spray. Place the chicken, salsa and cream cheese in and cook on HIGH for 3 hours (or LOW for 4-5 hours), stirring the cream cheese once it melts.
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Shred with a fork and let the chicken absorb the salsa mixture for at least 15 more minutes.
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Serve in soft tortillas, taco shells or over a bed of lettuce. Top with shredded cheese, tomatoes, avocado or anything else you'd like!
- If you plan on cooking this on low and won't be home to baby sit, it might be best to cook the chicken in just the salsa, and add the cream cheese during the end, giving it at least 30 minutes to melt.Â
Should the chicken be thawed out? Or is it okay for it to be frozen?
Hi Chloe! I’ve never tried it with frozen chicken, but I know of quite a few crock pot recipes that do use frozen chicken. I’m assuming the cook time would be a little longer. However, I have read that it’s possibly not safe to put frozen meat in a slow cooker– not sure how true that is or if it’s worth worrying about.
This would make great burrito filling, too! Can’t wait to try it.
How many servings is this recipe and do you have an idea of the calories per serving?
Hi Tawana! The last time I made this, I used 3 large chicken breasts and it made about 6 servings. The calories will depend on the brand of salsa you use as well as the amount of chicken. There are about 230 calories in one medium chk breast, and 775 calories in a block of cream cheese. Add everything together (including the calories on your salsa label), and divide by the number of servings. I don’t usually post calories or nutrition on recipes like this because it varies so much.
Hi Monica! I wouldn’t think you’d need to alter the cook time by much, HOWEVER, every slow cooker seems to vary so much, so keep an eye on it. I have a crockpot that seems to cook everything in half the time of what some recipes call for. I have another that seems to take longer…
I was just wondering if I should alter anything (such as cook time) if I would going to half the recipe…