Slow-Cooker Chicken and Bean Tacos

Prep 10 min
Total 7 hr 10 min
Servings 24

Feed your crowd without any extra fuss, that’s the beauty of this recipe. With its easy dump-and-go method and all-day cook time, it’s one of our favorite ways to get ahead when hosting. Letting the chicken cook all day ensures it turns out tender and makes it easy to shred. Even better, it gives you time to focus on other things, like making a delicious dessert! Because this meal is so hearty—thanks to the addition of beans—you really don’t need sides. Instead, pick up your favorite taco fixings from the grocery store. You can never go wrong with guacamole, fresh limes and cheese.

By Betty Crocker Kitchens

Updated January 14, 2020

Ingredients

1 1/4

pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs (about 6 thighs)
3

tablespoons taco seasoning mix (from 1 1/4-ounce envelope)
1

can (4 1/2 ounces) chopped green chiles, undrained
1

can (8 ounces) tomato sauce
1

teaspoon ground cumin
1

teaspoon coriander seed, crushed
1

can (19 ounces) cannellini beans, drained
2

packages (4.6 ounces each) taco shells (12 shells each)
1 1/2

cups shredded Cheddar cheese (6 ounces)
1 1/2

cups shredded lettuce
1

container (8 ounces) sour cream (1 cup)
1

cup thick-and-chunky salsa

Steps

1

Place chicken in 3 1/2- to 4-quart slow cooker. Sprinkle with taco seasoning mix; top with chiles. Mix tomato sauce, cumin and coriander seed in medium bowl; pour over chicken. Top with beans.
2

Cover and cook on low heat setting 7 to 8 hours or until juice of chicken is no longer pink when centers of thickest pieces are cut and chicken is tender.
3

Remove chicken from cooker; place on cutting board. Mash beans in cooker. Shred chicken with 2 forks; return to cooker and mix well.
4

Serve chicken mixture with taco shells, cheese, lettuce, sour cream and salsa. Chicken mixture will hold on low heat setting up to 3 hours.

Cannellini beans are an Italian variety of kidney beans. While they’re delicious in this recipe, you can certainly swap them out for whatever type of beans you have on hand: pinto, red or black beans would also be excellent here.
Instead of serving this dish taco-style, make this the centerpiece of a nacho buffet. With a bag of corn chips and all your taco fixings, everyone will have fun building their own.
With 24 servings, this recipe makes for a party-perfect main dish. If you’ve got questions about quantities needed for sides, drinks or desserts, check out our guide to hosting. There you’ll find handy charts to help you figure out the amount of food you need to feed a crowd.