These may be the easiest tacos you ever make, but you’d 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.)
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs
- 3 tablespoons honey
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 4 chipotles 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 Note)
- Sliced or cubed avocado, for serving
Directions
- 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.
- 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.
Notes
Pressure Cooker Version: Combine the chicken, chipotles and adobo sauce, honey, onion powder, garlic powder, salt and cumin in an electric pressure cooker. Stir well. Cover and set steam valve to sealed position. Cook on high pressure for 13 minutes. Let the pressure release naturally for 5 minutes; then release the remaining pressure manually. Open the lid.
To make quick-pickled onions, thinly slice a red onion and put the slices in a bowl or container. Bring about 1 1/2 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.
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.
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.
