Slow Cooker--Mexican Style

I remember going to a Mexican restaurant once a long time before I had much experience in the kitchen and as I took a bite of my enchilada, I thought "How in the world do they get their meat to be so tender and juicy? I will never be able to make something like this at home."

Well, that was in the days before I got my own slow cooker. Now, I'm not sure how Mexican restaurants attain such tender meat (they probably have some authentic slow roasting techniques), but I can tell you that you can do it at home with a slow cooker.

First, I am sharing a recipe for slow cooker fajitas. After that, I will share with you the most basic Mexican shredded chicken in the world. You can use that to make taco salads, tostadas, enchiladas, quesadillas, tacos, burritos, etc. You name it, this chicken can do it. Besides, isn't that one of the fun things about Tex-Mex? Almost every dish has the same basic ingredients...they're just packaged differently. So, the cool thing about this dinner is that you can make it one night and reinvent it into something completely different another night during the week. It makes great leftovers, so make you can make a big batch. You could even freeze some of the chicken for a rainy day...

Oh, and if you don't know how to make your own taco shell bowls or tostadas, I'll tell you how to do that too!


Slow Cooker Fajitas

Ingredients:

1 1/2 pounds flank steak, cut into 6 pieces (see notes)
1 cup frozen chopped onion (see notes)
1 green bell pepper, sliced
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and sliced
1 tablespoon bottled minced garlic
2 teaspoons salt-free Mexican seasoning (see notes)
1 (10 ounce) can diced tomatoes and green chiles, drained
6 (8-inch) flour tortillas
6 tablespoons low-fat sour cream
Salsa (optional)

Directions:

Place flank steak in bottom of a 5-quart electric slow cooker; top with chopped onion and next 5 ingredients.

Cover with lid; cook on high-heat setting for 1 hour. Reduce heat setting to low; cook 6-7 hours or until meat is tender. Or cook on high-heat setting 4-5 hours. Remove meat, and shred with a fork. Return meat to slow cooker, and stir.

Serve shredded meat mixture with flour tortillas, low-fat sour cream, and, if desired, salsa. Yield: 6 servings (serving size: 1 tortilla, 2/3 cup meat mixture, and 1 tablespoon sour cream.)

Nutrition information: 379 calories, 13.9 g fat, 29.7 g protein, 32.6 g carbs, 1.2 g fiber, 66 mg cholesterol, 3.7 mg iron, 534 mg sodium, 145 mg calcium.

Source: Cooking Light Superfast Suppers: Speedy Solutions for Dinner Dilemmas cookbook.

Notes: The first time I made this, I made it with flank steak. I doubled it because I was making it for people who would have fought over the meager 1 1/2 pounds of flank steak. Even with two flank steaks, they gobbled up the meat quickly (too quickly!). The second time I made this, I used a beef roast. It worked just as well (and it will save you some money since roasts are often less expensive than flank steak).

Also, the first time I made this, I used up the very last of my Mexican seasoning. So, when I went to the store in search of more Mexican seasoning, I couldn't find any. I'm not sure if my grocery store stopped carrying it or if it is no longer sold, period. I ended up using Mrs. Dash salt-free Fiesta Lime. I also supplemented that with a dash of cumin, and a dash of ground red pepper. It worked just fine.

Finally, I don't feel like it takes that much longer to slice or dice an onion so I rarely buy frozen diced onions. I also sliced my onions to be more in line with authentic fajitas which have sliced onions and bell peppers.

Slow Cooker Mexican Chicken

Ingredients:

2.5 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 packet taco seasoning
1/2 cup water
Tortillas
Favorite toppings (sour cream, shredded cheese, guacamole, salsa, pico de gallo, pickled jalapenos, black olives, diced tomatoes, chopped lettuce, ranch/cilantro ranch/jalapeno ranch salad dressing, black beans, pinto beans, refried beans, rice, etc.)

Directions:

Place chicken and water in a slow cooker. Sprinkle taco seasoning over chicken. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. Shred chicken with a fork.

Use chicken as a base for your favorite Mexican or Tex-Mex dinner favorites such as tacos, taco salads, tostadas, quesadillas, enchiladas, burritos, etc.

Source: My mom has been using this basic recipe for years. I'm not sure where she got the idea from.

Notes: You really can do basically anything with this chicken. This is a dinner that is easy to recycle throughout the week without actually having the same thing over and over again. Start with chicken taco salads, then have quesadillas another day, and finish the chicken off with some fancy chicken nachos.

 
8/2/2014 Update: I found a slightly different version of this slow cooker Mexican chicken and wanted to share it here. It was so good!

Slow Cooker Cilantro Lime Chicken

Ingreidents:

1 (16 ounce) jar salsa (or 2 cups)
1 (1.25 ounce) package dry taco seasoning mix
1 lime, juiced
3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
3 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

Directions:

Place the salsa, taco seasoning, lime juice, and cilantro into a slow cooker, and stir to combine. Add the chicken breasts, and stir to coat with the salsa mixture. Cover the cooker, set to High, and cook until the chicken is very tender, about 4 hours. If desired, set cooker to Low and cook 6 to 8 hours. Shred chicken with 2 forks and serve with additional chopped cilantro.

Source: Allrecipes.com, submitted by ltlmsmfft. You can find it here.

Notes: Just a few more additions than the very basic Mexican chicken recipe above, but it packed in a lot of flavor.
Tortilla Tips

(Note: notice that most of these can bake anywhere from 5-20 minutes. This is because the oven gets hotter as you go and the first batch usually takes longer than the subsequent batches. Just keep an eye on your baking tortillas so they don't burn and you'll be fine!)

Tostadas: Use corn tortillas. Spray each side with cooking spray. Place on a foil-lined jelly roll pan or cookie sheet (it is alright if they overlap slightly). Bake in a 400 degree oven until crispy. About 5-20 minutes. Watch carefully to avoid burning. Place desired toppings onto your tortilla and enjoy!

Taco Bowl Shells: White or wheat tortillas work best for this. Create a loose ball of foil for each taco shell you plan to make. Place balls of foil on a jelly roll pan or cookie sheet. Spray each tortilla with cooking spray. Drape one tortilla over each ball of foil (so that it will be in the form of a bowl when you turn the tortilla right side up again). Bake in a 400 degree oven until lightly browned and crispy. About 5-20 minutes. Again, watch carefully to avoid burning. Fill with favorite taco salad ingredients.

 
Quesadillas: These are the easiest thing to make in the whole world. You can make it in a microwave, on the stove-top in a pan, or in a sandwich press. If you are microwaving them, place one tortilla on a plate and place your fillings on top of it (cheese, chicken, beans, rice, etc.). Place the second tortilla on top of the fillings and the first tortilla. Microwave at 30 second intervals until the cheese is melted and the other fillings are heated through. If you are making them on the stove-top, spray a pan with cooking spray (or you can use butter if you can afford the extra calories). Over medium to medium-high heat, place the first tortilla in the pan and top it with cheese and any other desired fillings. Place the second tortilla on top of that. Spray the second tortilla with cooking spray. Once the bottom tortilla is nicely browned, flip the quesadilla over to cook the other side. Remove from heat once the second tortilla is nicely browned, the cheese is melted and the fillings are heated through. If you have a sandwich press or sandwich maker, use one tortilla. Place fillings on one half of the tortilla and fold the other half over. Place in sandwich maker and cook according to manufacturer's instructions.

Tortilla Chips: This works best with corn tortillas (smaller size). Use a pizza cutter or kitchen shears and cut the tortillas into wedges (whatever size of wedges you prefer...it's your chip! Make it the way you like it!). Spray the tortillas with cooking spray. Place in a single layer on a foil-lined jelly roll pan or cookie sheet. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 5-20 minutes or until lightly browned and crispy. This is a great way to save calories on your tortilla chips (most store-bought tortilla chips are fried and therefore have more fat). You can then use these chips to make some lovely chicken nachos by topping the chips with chicken, cheese, etc. and microwaving until cheese is melted.

Burritos: Place desired fillings in the middle of a tortilla (flour tortillas roll best). Fold bottom ends in and then fold sides in to enclose the fillings.

Enchiladas: Use chicken as a filling to follow your favorite enchilada recipe. Or, you can mix the chicken with a little salsa and sour cream to make a very basic enchilada filling. Roll up and place in baking dish. Repeat with additional tortillas until the baking dish is full. Top enchiladas with sour cream and cheese or your favorite enchilada sauce. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 30-45 minutes (or until fillings are heated and cheese is melted and bubbly).

Bonus Dessert:

Cinnamon Sugar Tortilla Chips

Ingredients:

Flour tortillas
Olive oil, vegetable oil, or cooking spray
Cinnamon/sugar combination

Directions:

Use kitchen shears or a pizza cutter to cut flour tortillas into wedges (the number of tortillas is up to you). Place in a zip-top bag. Drizzle with a small amount of oil (enough to lightly coat tortillas) or spray tortillas with cooking spray. Work the contents of the bag by lightly kneading it to coat all of the tortillas with oil/cooking spray. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar and knead the bag again so that each tortilla gets coated with cinnamon sugar.

Spread tortillas onto a foil-lined jelly roll pan or cookie sheet. Sprinkle with more cinnamon sugar, if desired and bake in a 400 degree oven for 5-20 minutes or until crispy.

Source: This is something I came up with to mimic the cinnamon sugar tortilla chips you can find at fast food Mexican restaurants.

Notes: You can serve this with a sweet (not savory) fruit salsa for an even more substantial dessert, if you wish. You can find a similar recipe on Allrecipes.com submitted by CRISSYF here. Her tortilla chips are not a low-fat version (they are fried in oil). She includes a fruit salsa recipe that would complete the dessert nicely.

I have included some suggestions/combinations below that you can use to create your own fruit salsa. Just mix and match your favorite fruits and flavorings and create your own fruit salsa masterpiece!

Fruit Salsa

Diced Fruit Suggestions:

Strawberries
Mango
Pineapple
Kiwi fruit
Bananas
Oranges
Star fruit
Papaya
Raspberries
Blackberries
Blueberries
Peaches/Nectarines/Apricots
Pears
Plums

Seasoning/Flavor Suggestions (use one or more favorite ingredients below to flavor your salsa):

Lime juice
Sugar
Cinnamon
Honey
Fruit juice
Jelly or jam (for instance, apple jelly would be a good way to bind the flavors together)
Vanilla extract (or other favorite extract such as almond or coconut)

Directions:

Mix desired ingredients together and refrigerate until ready to serve. Serve with cinnamon sugar tortilla chips.