Slow Cooker Chipotle-Honey Chicken Tacos

Slow Cooker Chipotle-Honey Chicken Tacos
Julia Gartland for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Barrett Washburne.
Total Time
3 to 5 hours
Rating
5(8,666)
Notes
Read community notes

These may be the easiest tacos you ever make, but youd never know it. The recipe hinges on just two ingredients: canned chipotles and honey, which slowly caramelize together for a glossy and incredibly tasty sauce. You may hesitate because there's so little liquid in the slow cooker with the chicken, but don't worry. That's how it's supposed to be. It allows the sauce to get a little sticky, which is exactly what you want. (Get the pressure cooker version of this recipe here.)

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Ingredients

Yield:4 servings
  • pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs
  • 3tablespoons honey
  • 1teaspoon onion powder
  • 1teaspoon garlic powder
  • ½teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 to 4chipotles from a can of chipotles in adobo, finely chopped, plus 2 tablespoons adobo sauce
  • 1(15-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
  • Juice of 1 lime
  • Warmed tortillas, for serving
  • Pickled onion, for serving (see Tip)
  • Sliced or cubed avocado, for serving
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)

407 calories; 9 grams fat; 2 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 4 grams monounsaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 40 grams carbohydrates; 10 grams dietary fiber; 16 grams sugars; 41 grams protein; 890 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Combine the chicken, honey, onion and garlic powders, cumin, salt and chipotle chiles and adobo sauce in a 5- to 8-quart slow cooker. Stir well. Cook for at least 3 hours and up to 5 hours on low. If it’s more convenient, you can let the slow cooker switch to warm after 5 hours. The dish will hold on warm for about another 3 hours before the chicken starts to become quite dry.

  2. Step 2

    Using two forks, coarsely shred the chicken in the sauce. Stir in the black beans and lime juice. Cover and let the beans warm through, about 5 minutes. Taste and add more salt or lime juice if necessary. Serve in tortillas with pickled onion and avocado.

Tip
  • To make quick-pickled onions, thinly slice a red onion and put the slices in a bowl or container. Bring about 1½ cups cider or white vinegar to a boil, and add about 3 heaping spoonfuls of sugar and a big pinch of salt to dissolve. You can also add a pinch of red-pepper flakes, a bay leaf or some dried oregano, if you like. Pour the hot vinegar over the onions and let them cool. They’re ready to use right away, and can be stored in the refrigerator for 2 weeks.

Ratings

5 out of 5
8,666 user ratings
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Cooking Notes

For dutch oven equivalent I use 200 degree oven for low and 300 for high. So bake about 3 hours at 300, 4 hours at 250 or or 5 hours at 200. I usually stir every once in a while, add liquid if it gets too dry, and turn temp up or down depending on how fast it looks like it's getting done and my schedule.

I made my own adobe sauce, and wanted to share this in case it helps anyone! I mixed 1 tablespoon tomato paste, 1 tablespoon cider vinegar, 1 teaspoon chipotle powder*, 1/2 teaspoon cumin, a pinch of oregano, a pinch of garlic powder, and a pinch of salt. **Since I did not have chipotle powder on hand, I did 1 tsp of paprika and 1 tsp of cayenne. If you want less heat, you could scale back to a 1/2 tsp of each spice.

I used 4 chicken breasts instead of the thighs and they turned out fantastic.

We added some grated cheese to a batch and used it to stuff poblanos for chile rellenos. Yeah buddy.

Was cutting the peppers in half enough to make it mild? I have young kids as well who don’t like things very spicy.

Hi! Just wanted to pop in to let you all know that you can get our tested pressure cooker/Instant Pot version of Sarah's recipe over here: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1020043-pressure-cooker-chipotle-honey-chicken-tacos

We dumped in the whole can of peppers. We have no regrets.

I made this tonight and it was FANTASTIC. Thank goodness I saw the note about halving the number of peppers - I put in three and tried to withhold as many seeds as I could and it was walking the edge of too spicy for our family. We served with the avocado and onions and sour cream which helped w the spice. Will definitely make again, & will put on rotation for guests because it was that great and would make a pretty meal with slaw and corn salad. Was thinking of trying it with pork next time.

I can’t tell if this is telling me to cook it 3 hours on high and 5 for low, or if it means to cook 3-5 hours on low. You should be more clear for people who are just staring out.

Easy and delicious. I cut the peppers by half as I have a young one. Make the onions! Also, we’ll top our tacos with a bit of crema next time. Definitely entering the rotation.

Made this with three boneless skinless chicken breasts and it worked perfectly. The sauce seemed watery when it was done, but once I shredded the chicken it all got absorbed. In addition to the pickled onion and avocado, I served it with cilantro, crumbled queso and radish. Excellent.

I would scale it up in a roasting pan in the oven. Cover with foil. Roast low and slow (250 or so) for 3-4 hours. Keep an eye on the liquid after the first two hours, and add water, stock or beer as necessary.

Fabulous! But I wanted it right now—-no slow cooker or even hours in oven. I just put it in a baking dish and cooked it, covered, at 3:50 for half an hour. I was alarmed at the amount of liquid that came out of the chicken, so I just took the cover off and reduced the sauce that way. Other than that I followed the directions (except no onion or garlic powder).

Used 2 chipotle chilis and it was still too spicy. Used leftovers along with leeks, carrots and celery and chicken stock for chicken soup.

Following the directions of another poster, I made this in the Instant Pot, adding about a half cup of water for extra liquid (didn't have an orange or clementine around), cooking under high pressure for 15 minutes. I also neglected to chop the chipotles, and instead just hit the sauce with an immersion blender after removing the chicken and reduced using the saute function. Very nice end result, and has made a nice office lunch with whole wheat tortillas, black beans, and guacamole!

I thought this was just ok. It was fast and easy but really needs something more. I’ll definitely do some tweaking to the leftovers.

No sure what I did wrong. Only adjustment was I used one pepper and 1 TBS of sauce. Everything else the same. The chicken seems cook about right, but the sauce is very watery. Nothing close to being as tricky sauce unfortuantely. Thoughts?

Made this yesterday, so easy and absolutely delicious! Doubled the ingredients for everything, except used just 3 peppers since we can’t do too much heat. Served with the pickled onions, avocado, tortillas and yellow rice. Low effort and great results, my kind of recipe!

Loved this and will make again. Made with 1.9# chicken and 3 chipotles. It was about as hot as I’d want. Added 1/4 c water in the crock pot to make sure it didn’t get too dry, then when it was done I shredded the chicken and reduced the sauce in a pan till it was almost a syrup and then mixed back in with the chicken. No beans and a squeeze of orange at the end. Served with onions, sliced avocado, cotija, and a homemade crema of mayo/sour cream and lime juice.

This was delicious. Everyone loved it and super easy to make. I followed the recipe and made no modifications. I will definately make this again.

Double this!

Cook for under 3 hours

- Double sauce, but don’t double salt - Add two cans of black beans rather than just one

Doubled the spice quantity and added 1.5 fresh diced jalapeño. They were super yummy!!

I used chicken breast and it was kind of dry. I cooked on low for about 4 hours and it just wants that exciting/tasty.

Sweet

This was simple, inexpensive to make, and delicious. I increased the chicken to 2# and cooked the meat in the oven at 300* till done (about 3 hours covered). I used 2 Chipotle Peppers and that was the right amount of heat for everyone and made my extra sauce to serve for those who wanted extra heat. This comfortably served 6 people with some leftover. I served w/extra beans & rice as well. As for the onions- next time I will slice them thin using a mandoline. A recipe.

Use the entire can of chilis if you enjoy heat!

Yum! Sautéed a little bacon before adding and warming the beans. Added a nice smokiness to the sweet/spicy chicken. Will definitely make again!!

I ended up just cooking the beans with everything else. The flavors melded together nicely and the beans didn't come out too soft or anything. Adding some diced bell pepper doesn't hurt either : )

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