Crock Pot Beer Chicken Taco Salad With Cilantro Vinaigrette
This creative taco salad has slow cooked beer chicken and a tangy cilantro vinaigrette. It's an easy, fresh and delicious dinner! Perfect for those days when you don't want to turn on your oven.
Prep Time20 minutes mins
Cook Time4 hours hrs
Total Time4 hours hrs 20 minutes mins
Course: Dinner
Cuisine: Mexican
Servings: 4
Calories: 317kcal
Beer Chicken (see *notes)
- 1 lb chicken breasts (roughly 2 chicken breasts; boneless thighs work as well)
- 6 oz beer (I recommend a light beer)
- 0.5 teaspoon chili powder
- 4.3 oz can of green chiles
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
Cilantro Vinaigrette
- ½ cup cilantro leaves (loosely packed)
- ¼ cup white wine vinegar
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 1 clove garlic (minced)
- 2 teaspoons lime juice
- 3 tablespoons honey (maple syrup or brown sugar may be swapped)
- ½ teaspoon dijon mustard
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Taco Salad
- 4 cups romaine lettuce
- 2 cups tortilla chips (or strips)
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes (halved)
- 1 cup cheese (shredded)
- 1 cup black beans
- 1 cup corn
- 1-2 avocados (cubed)
- jalapeno slices (optional)
- salsa (optional)
- red onion (minced; optional)
Beer Chicken
Place the chicken breasts, beer, chili powder, green chiles, salt and pepper into a small (2.5 quart) slow cooker. Stir to combine.
Cook on low 3-4 hours.
Transfer the chicken to a bowl and shred with two forks or a hand mixer.
Toss with cooking liquid and enjoy!
Taco Salad
Toss the vegetables and chicken with the cilantro vinaigrette.
Serve with nachos, sour cream, guacamole and/or salsa.
*You will need a small (2.5 quart) slow cooker to cook a single pound of chicken; otherwise I'd advise doubling the recipe and cooking in a 6 quart slow cooker
- leftover chicken may be stored in the fridge for up to 4 days or frozen for up to 3 months.
Meal Prep Tips
- Ingredient prep- You can prep the vinaigrette, chicken, lettuce, cheese, corn and black beans up to 4 days ahead, to make putting it all together super easy.
- For jar salads- layer in a 1 quart jar in the following order: vinaigrette, chicken, corn, black beans, cheese, cherry tomatoes, romaine. Keep tortilla chips separate. Shake out into a bowl, toss it all up in the dressing and enjoy. Keeps for up to 4 days before serving.
Serving: 1/4 batch | Calories: 317kcal | Carbohydrates: 16g | Protein: 24g | Fat: 16g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 72mg | Sodium: 588mg | Potassium: 523mg | Sugar: 14g | Vitamin A: 800IU | Vitamin C: 26.6mg | Calcium: 6mg | Iron: 0.8mg