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When I’ve had a long day or week, I want something simple, hearty and comforting for dinner. These Slow Cooker Chicken Burrito bowls have been on rotation for weeks in our house because they’re super easy to make thanks to the slow cooker and you get tender, juicy flavorful chicken every time!
Why I Love This Recipe
- Convenience: Slow cooker recipes make weeknight dinners effortless. Just toss everything in, set it, and come back to tender, pull-apart chicken. These burrito bowls are a lifesaver for busy parents!
- Versatile: This shredded chicken works beyond burrito bowls—use it for a taco bar, baked taquitos, Mexican Lasagna or Mexican enchiladas. It’s a great staple for multiple meals!
- Nutritious: Burrito bowls are packed with protein from chicken and beans. Add sautéed veggies or serve on lettuce for extra fiber and nutrition!
- Family-Friendly: Burrito bowls let everyone customize their own meal—more cheese for some, extra toppings for others. A perfect DIY dinner everyone will love!
The Ingredients
For the Slow Cooker Chicken:
- Boneless skinless chicken breasts: You could also use boneless skinless chicken thighs if you prefer dark meat!
- Seasonings: Cumin, paprika, chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, kosher salt
- Diced onion: This ingredient adds even more flavor to the chicken.
For the Burrito Bowls:
- Cooked quinoa: Or any time of grain you prefer like brown rice or white rice.
- Cooked black beans: Again, any type of beans you love will work! We like black beans, but pinto beans would be great too!
- Guacamole: You can make you own guacamole with this recipe, or skip a step and buy store bought if you prefer.
- Salsa: Pico de gallo or a medium spice chunky salsa are our favorites, but again, whatever you love!
- Chopped cilantro: This ingredient (like other toppings) is optional, but we can’t get enough cilantro in our family!
- Cheese: Shredded cheese makes any burrito bowl more delicious! You could do a Mexican blend, Monterrey Jack or any type you want.
*See full list of ingredients with measurements in the recipe card below.*
How to Make Slow Cooker Chicken Burrito Bowls
Step 1: Place chicken breasts in a slow cooker and sprinkle with all of the seasonings and diced onion. Toss and coat the chicken breasts with the spices.
Step 2: Set the slow cooker to low and cook chicken for 2 hours. Using two forks, shred the chicken into small pieces.
Step 3: In each bowl place a scoop of quinoa (or brown rice) and top with chicken, beans and remaining toppings as desired.
How to Store and Freeze Leftover Slow Cooker Shredded Chicken
- To store: Let the shredded chicken cool to room temperature before storing to prevent moisture buildup. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days.
- To freeze: For longer storage, freeze leftover chicken for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight when ready to eat. Gently reheat in microwave, stovetop, or oven, adding liquid such as chicken broth if needed.
Meal Prep Shredded Crock Pot Chicken
The best part about making this Slow Cooker Chicken is that this can (and should be) doubled so you have tons of leftovers for days to come. Use leftovers in chicken burritos, tostada salad, homemade nachos, Mexican enchiladas and more.
DIY Meals For the Win!
DIY meals like DIY: Taco Buffet, DIY Hot Dog Bar, DIY: Oatmeal Buffet are great when you’re feeding a crowd so everyone can build their own favorite flavor combinations!
More Simple Slow Cooker Recipes
Burrito bowls makes getting dinner on the table super easy! And, everyone will be happy getting to build their own bowl just the way they like it! Let me know what you think of this slow cooker chicken burrito bowl recipe by leaving a comment and rating below!
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Slow Cooker Chicken Burrito Bowls
Equipment
Ingredients
For the Slow Cooker Chicken:
- 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 1 1/2 teaspoons cumin
- 1 1/2 teaspoons paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 yellow onion, diced
For the Burrito Bowls
- 2 cups cooked quinoa or brown rice
- 2 cups cooked black beans
- 1 cup guacamole (recipe linked below)
- 1 cup salsa
- 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
- shredded cheese
- sour cream
Instructions
- Place chicken breasts in a slow cooker and sprinkle with all of the seasonings and diced onion.
- Toss and coat the chicken breasts with the spices.
- Set the slow cooker to low and cook for 2 hours.
- Shred the chicken with 2 forks.
- To build your bowl, place a scoop of quinoa or brown rice and top with chicken, beans and remaining toppings as desired.
do you use about 1lb of chicken breast?
Making these tonight, thanks!!
Next time you are up in Santa Rosa, check out Oliver’s Market, it’s a great Whole Foods alternative with awesome prepared foods and all the same organic and local options.
Fantastic! We’re totally obsessed with these. Whoever created the slow cooker gave a great gift to moms!
Yum! We love enchilada bowls! And I especially love it when the slow cooker does all the work for me!
The reason for the low and short cooking time is the boneless skinless chicken breasts. I tested this 5 times before posting. When I cooked the chicken breasts for 3 hours they became a bit too dry (although the added liquid helped making the shredded pieces a bit more juicy). Let me know if you try it!
I am planning on making these tomorrow but it seems like something is missing from the recipe instructions. Really just put chicken, spices and onions in and only cook for 2 hours on low???
Great idea Wendy!
Just a note about slow cooker safety. I have a 2 year old and have been looking into more slow cooker recipes and how to use them best. I have read that you have to cook frozen foods longer in a slow cooker so it reaches a minimum of 165 degrees to kill bacteria. It says it’s always preferable to use thawed food.
I would search weelicious for another one of Catherine’s “crockpot chicken” recipes and use that as your baseline for cooking time. Just sub out the spices for this recipe. I’ve done a “busy working mama” version of this- take 3 lbs of frozen chicken breasts & fit them in crockpot as best you can. (This can be harder than you think since frozen breasts don’t bend!) Take 1 jar of your favorite salsa and mix with 1/2 envelope reduced sodium taco seasoning. Pour salsa spice mixture over frozen chicken breasts, cover, cook on “low” for 8-9 hours. When you get home from work, shred the breasts and serve in tacos, burrito bowls, quesadillas, or whatever. My 3 yr old, 18m old & hubby all love this & it’s so easy for the work week.
OMG! These bowls look fantastic!!!
You can follow this recipe and use the same spices in the Chicken Burrito Bowls 🙂 https://weelicious.com/2015/03/27/herbed-chicken-in-the-crock-pot-recipe/
Would like to know how to adapt this with a whole chicken instead, as I find they are much more economical.
No liquid necessary! I know it seems crazy, but the chicken naturally releases plenty of liquid for the recipe.
I’m just curious because I’ve just started using a slow cooker, but I thought there needed to be some liquid in the bottom so the meats (or veggies or whatever) do not burn. I don’t see this in this recipe, or many others for that matter. Thanks!
Fantastic!!
I am currently obsessed with these and have been making them for weeks. They’re delicious!