Happy Thursday to you Friends!
Do you love your slow cooker as much as I love mine?
It is definitely a go-to tool in my kitchen. I just love the convenience of prepping a little, then throwing a bunch of ingredients in there, set it and then letting it cook all day. It perfumes the house, inserts lots of flavor into whatever dish I'm making, and at the end there's a wonderful soup, stew or other dish all ready in time for dinner.
I had shared previously about slow cooker pork fajitas that I have saved under my recipe tab. This is a similar concept only with chicken breasts. I never really have a set ingredient list...more a method for making fajitas this way.
I take the protein of choice (if it's chicken breasts they cook on low for about 4 hours. If it's bigger, like a pork roast, it might take more like 7-8 hours on low. (or obviously you could cook on high for less time). I let the meat slow cook in the seasonings salsa, citrus etc. Then when it's getting close to being done I like to sort of stir fry up the veggies in a skillet with the same fajita seasonings. And then add them into the slow cooker for the last few minutes of cooking. That way the veggies still have a little bite to them instead of getting mushy.
So here are the ingredients and what I do:
*chicken breasts (size depending on your family - I only did 3 for Matt & I)
*jar of salsa (I used about 3/4 of a jar for the 3 chicken breasts)
*fajita seasoning (I like the McCormicks seasoning packets and did 1 packet for that amount of breasts but might want 2 packets for more or a pork roast)
*1-2 Tbsp of taco seasoning
*juice of 1/2 an orange
*juice of a lime
*drizzle of honey (maybe a tbsp or so)
*1/2 an onion, sliced
*red, yellow, green peppers, sliced (chose as many peppers or whatever color you like - for this dish I did 3 full sized peppers)
I add salsa to the bottom of the slow cooker to cover the bottom of the slow cooker. I sprinkled 1/4 of a packet of the fajita seasoning onto the salsa. Then I place the chicken breasts on top and salt and peppered them. I then poured a bit more salsa on top of each breast and sprinkled more of the fajita seasoning on top leaving about 1/4 of the packet left for the veggies later. I added the taco seasoning and the citrus juices and the honey. I stirred it up a little and then set the slow cooker on low for about 4 hours (or whenever the meat looks done).
When the meat is cooked through shred it up and switch cooker to warm. Then put a skillet over medium high heat. Slice up the onion and peppers. Add a little oil to the skillet and add all the veggies. Saute them and add a little salt and pepper as you go. After about 5 minutes add a little more oil if needed and the rest of the fajita seasoning packet. Add a few sprinkles of taco seasoning as well. Saute until the veggies are getting soft but still have a bite to them.Turn off the stove and add the veggies to the slow cooker. Stir all together and keep warm until ready to eat. Serve with soft torillas. I like to wrap mine in damp paper towels and microwave for a minute to get them nice and soft. Add toppings of choice like sour cream, taco sauce, cheese, avocado etc. We had tomatoes to use up so I threw them on top of our tortillas too.
It's such an easy and flavorful dinner. And versatile. If you want to add more salsa or more citrus or even a splash of chicken broth to the slow cooker then go for it. You really can't mess it up. I think it's just the profile of the zest of the fajita and taco seasoning, with the sweet citrus & honey, and the tang of the salsa that works together so well. It's one of my Hubby's faves and the leftovers always get eaten up too.
If you try it I hope you enjoy!
xoxo
