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These Slow Cooker Chicken Burritos start with five minutes of dump and go prep, and by dinner you have juicy, smoky shredded chicken ready to roll into the biggest, best burritos on the block. I set the crock *before school drop off* and by evening Maddie was building her own with extra cheese. If your family fights over our copycat Chipotle chicken burrito bowl, this is the wrap it up version.
Seasoned chicken slow cooks in stock and salsa until it shreds with a look, then meets cilantro lime rice and all your favorite toppings in a warm tortilla.
Slow Cooker Chicken Burritos Quick Look
- 🕒 Prep Time: 5 minutes
- 🌡️ Cook Time: 6 hours
- ⏳ Total Time: 6 hours 5 minutes
- 🍽️ Serving: 6 servings
- ⚡ Calories: 279kcal
- 🌶️ Flavor Profile: Smoky cumin spiced shredded chicken with tangy salsa
- ✋ Difficulty: Easy, on par with our slow cooker chicken tinga
Quick Answer
To make slow cooker chicken burritos, place boneless skinless chicken breasts in the crock, sprinkle them with cumin, paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, and pepper, then pour chicken stock around the chicken and top with salsa. Cook on high 3 to 4 hours or low 4 to 6 hours until fork tender, shred the chicken right in the juices, and serve it in burrito sized tortillas with cilantro lime rice and your favorite toppings.
Jump to:
- Slow Cooker Chicken Burritos Quick Look
- Quick Answer
- Why This Recipe Works
- Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Key Ingredients
- Variations and Substitutions
- How to Make Slow Cooker Chicken Burritos
- Recipe Tips & Tricks
- Serving Ideas and Suggestions
- Slow Cooker Chicken Burritos FAQs
- Other Recommended Mexican Inspired Dinner Recipes
- Easy Slow Cooker Chicken Burritos
Why This Recipe Works
Click to see the technique science
- Stock plus salsa is a built in braise. The chicken simmers in seasoned liquid instead of drying out, and the salsa adds acidity, tomatoes, and peppers without chopping a single vegetable.
- Shredding in the juices is the secret. Pulling the chicken apart right in the cooking liquid lets every strand drink up the smoky, salsa spiked broth, no dry shredded chicken, ever.
- The spice blend blooms as it cooks. Cumin, paprika, and the two powders dissolve into the braising liquid over hours, seasoning the chicken from every direction.
- Breasts stay lean but never tough. The low gentle heat takes lean chicken breasts to fork tender without the rubbery texture a boil or rushed saute creates.
- Cilantro lime rice balances the filling. The bright, citrusy rice cuts through the rich, savory chicken so a big burrito never tastes heavy.
- One filling, endless dinners. The same shredded chicken works in burritos tonight, bowls tomorrow, nachos Friday, the recipe builds your whole week.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Five minutes of morning prep equals a dinner that feeds six, with zero standing at the stove.
- The filling is meal prep gold, it keeps all week and reheats beautifully, just like the saucy filling in our wet burrito recipe.
- Everyone builds their own, picky eaters, spice lovers, and low carb bowls all eat from the same crock.
Key Ingredients
Simple ingredients doing big flavor work, here is what goes into these slow cooker chicken burritos.
- Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts: Two pounds shred into perfect burrito filling. Thighs work too and bring even more richness for the same five minutes of effort.
- Salsa: A half cup of your favorite jarred salsa is the shortcut flavor bomb, tomatoes, onions, peppers, and acid in one scoop. Use what you would happily eat with chips.
- The Spice Quartet: Cumin, paprika, onion powder, and garlic powder give the chicken that smoky taco truck depth, the same crew that seasons our slow cooker shredded beef tacos.
- Chicken Stock: A half cup keeps the crock moist through the long cook and becomes the flavorful juice you shred the chicken into.
- Cilantro Lime Rice: The bright, herby rice layer that makes these taste like restaurant burritos. Make a batch while the chicken cooks.
See recipe card for exact quantities.
Variations and Substitutions
These slow cooker chicken burritos are a framework, here is how we mix them up.
- Make it creamy. Stir 4 ounces of cream cheese or a half cup of queso into the shredded chicken before serving.
- Smothered style. Roll the burritos, top with enchilada sauce and cheese, and broil, the same move as our smothered beef burritos.
- Spicy crock. Use hot salsa and add a diced chipotle in adobo before cooking.
- Add beans and corn. Stir a drained can of black beans and a cup of corn into the shredded chicken to stretch the filling to eight burritos.
- Low carb bowls. Skip the tortilla and pile the chicken over cauliflower rice with avocado and cheese.
- Freezer burritos. Roll cooled filling in tortillas, wrap individually in foil, and freeze for up to 3 months, microwave 2 to 3 minutes for instant lunch.
How to Make Slow Cooker Chicken Burritos
- Place the chicken in the slow cooker.
- Sprinkle the cumin, paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, and pepper on top of the chicken.
- Pour the chicken stock around the chicken and top with the salsa. Place the lid on the slow cooker.
- Slow cook for 3 to 4 hours on high or 4 to 6 hours on low, until the chicken is fork tender.
- Shred the chicken right in the juices with two forks. Taste and adjust the seasoning if needed.
- Serve in burrito sized tortillas with cilantro lime rice and your favorite burrito toppings.
Recipe Tips & Tricks
- Do not add extra liquid. A half cup of stock looks skimpy but the chicken releases plenty of its own juices, more liquid means watery filling.
- Shred at fork tender, not before. If the forks meet resistance, give it another 30 minutes, the chicken goes from tough to shreddable fast.
- Let the filling rest in the juices. Ten minutes of soaking after shredding makes noticeably juicier burritos.
- Warm the tortillas. Twenty seconds in a dry skillet makes them flexible so they roll without cracking.
- Drain before rolling. Lift the chicken out with tongs, soggy tortillas are the number one burrito crime.
- Sauce it like barbecue. Leftover filling tossed with a splash of the juices reheats perfectly, the same trick we use for slow cooker BBQ chicken.
Serving Ideas and Suggestions
Load these slow cooker chicken burritos with cilantro lime rice, black beans, shredded cheese, sour cream, and pico, then go big on the sides. A warm bowl of queso dip with tortilla chips is mandatory in our house.
For a full taco night spread, set them next to nacho fries or our build your own carne asada taco bar and let everyone graze.
Leftover filling has range, spoon it over nachos, fold it into quesadillas, or top a batch of chicken enchiladas energy bowls with rice and a fried egg.
Slow Cooker Chicken Burritos FAQs
For food safety, thaw chicken before it goes in the crock. Frozen chicken spends too long in the temperature danger zone in a slow cooker. Thaw breasts overnight in the fridge, then build the recipe as written. If mornings are tight, assemble everything except the stock in the crock insert the night before and refrigerate, then start it in the morning.
Two pounds of chicken breasts for slow cooker chicken burritos take 3 to 4 hours on high or 4 to 6 hours on low. The chicken is ready when it shreds easily with a fork. Low and slow gives the juiciest result, but the high setting works great for an afternoon start. Avoid going far past the window, even in liquid, chicken breasts can eventually dry out.
Absolutely, boneless skinless thighs are fantastic in slow cooker chicken burritos. They are nearly impossible to overcook, shred beautifully, and bring a richer flavor. Use the same two pounds and the same cook times. The filling will taste slightly deeper and stay even juicier in leftovers.
Start with cilantro lime rice and shredded cheese, then build from there: black or refried beans, sour cream, guacamole or sliced avocado, pico de gallo, corn salsa, shredded lettuce, pickled jalapenos, and a squeeze of lime. For smothered slow cooker chicken burritos, top the rolled burrito with enchilada sauce and melted cheese.
Drain the shredded chicken with tongs or a slotted spoon before it hits the tortilla, the flavorful juices are for moistening the filling, not the wrap. Layer rice first as a moisture barrier, keep wet toppings like salsa toward the middle, and roll tightly. If packing for later, wrap each burrito in foil and keep salsa on the side.
The shredded chicken for slow cooker chicken burritos keeps 4 days in an airtight container in the fridge, stored in some of its juices so it stays moist. Reheat in the microwave or a skillet with a splash of the liquid. It also freezes for up to 3 months, thaw overnight and you are 10 minutes from burrito night again.
Taco Tuesday needs a sequel, our chipotle crack chicken tacos are the next slow cooked filling to try.
Our baked chicken foil packets are another hands-off chicken dinner that cleans up in seconds.
Easy Slow Cooker Chicken Burritos
Ingredients
- 2 pounds chicken breasts boneless skinless
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 cup chicken stock
- 1/2 cup salsa
- 1 recipe cilantro lime rice
- Your favorite burrito toppings
Instructions
- Place the chicken in the slow cooker.2 pounds chicken breasts boneless
- Sprinkle the cumin, paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, and pepper on top of the chicken.1 teaspoon ground cumin, 1 teaspoon paprika, 1 teaspoon onion powder, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- Pour the chicken stock around the chicken and top with the salsa. Place the lid on the slow cooker and slow cook for 3-4 hours on high or 4-6 hours on low, until fork tender.1/2 cup chicken stock, 1/2 cup salsa
- Shred the chicken. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.
- Serve in burrito-sized tortillas with cilantro lime rice and your favorite burrito toppings.1 recipe cilantro lime rice, Your favorite burrito toppings
Notes
- Nutritional value does not include rice or toppings.
- Make sure you use burrito sized tortillas for this.
- You can use any tortillas you like, low carb, flour, wheat etc.
- Cilantro Lime Rice is not essential, you can use regular rice if you’d like.
- This can be frozen, see my tips above.
- Top with all your favorite burrito toppings, see some of my ideas above.
- This can be cooked on low for 4-6 hours or high for 3-4 hours.
Nutrition
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Thanks for sharing a great recipe and for linking up with Be.You.tiful me link party. This post was featured this week here http://www.thehappygal.com/tiful-link-party-55/
yum! anything that I can make in the crock pot is good in my book! I make something similar, but it is tomato based.
Yum! The burritos look so tasty! I love using the slow cooker!
Too yummy. I just won a slow cooker on the weekend. I am so going to do this little number 🙂
wow stomach is growling now 😉 love the slow cooker chicken burritos recipe! and that Monterrey chicken looks darn tasty too!
Wow….this yummy burrito is making my mouth water! I love slow cooker meals and can’t wait to try this one. Thanks for sharing! PINNED!
Yum! These look good! I love my slow cooker! My mom never used it when I was a kid and I’m like seriously this is the best!