Saucy Slow Cooker Chicken Tinga

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It takes just 5 minutes to start cooking our saucy chicken tinga in the slow cooker for easy weeknight dinners or meal prep. This super tender chicken cooks in a savory, smoky, and slightly spicy chipotle-tomato sauce that’s packed with flavor. We use it for everything from chicken tinga tacos, to tostadas, to easy nachos.

Things can get busy around here, so we’re no strangers to the low-effort, big batch slow cooker meal (like our Korean gochujang chicken, which was actually based off of this recipe). Slow cooker recipes are a lifesaver when we need an easy weeknight dinner or lunches for the week!

Chicken tinga, or tinga de pollo, is a Mexican dish of shredded chicken in a smoky tomato, chipotle, and onion sauce. It’s traditionally served on tostadas with refried beans and other toppings (check out our recipe for chicken tinga tostadas!), but we use it for all kinds of Mexican dishes like tacos, burritos, quesadillas, and chicken tinga nachos.

If you love spice and the flavor of chipotles in adobo, you’ll love chicken tinga. And you’ll want to use it in all your favorite Mexican recipes, too!

Key Ingredients

• Chicken breast – The chicken needs to be raw for this recipe as it will cook in the sauce and become super tender. We call for 2 pounds of chicken breast (about 4 large chicken breasts) and they can be left whole. Although we like to trim any fat off before cooking.
• Canned tomatoes – Our secret ingredient for this recipe is using fire-roasted tomatoes. They add extra flavor and smokiness that help round out the flavor profile of the sauce. 
• Chipotles in adobo – We use a 3.5 ounce can of chipotles in adobo, which gives our chicken tinga its bold, authentic flavor. If you can’t find a small can, we recommend pureeing the extra chipotles and sauce in a food processor and storing it in the fridge to make delicious recipes like chipotle mayo and chipotle chicken pasta!
• Onion – White onion provides the best flavor for chicken tinga as it’s milder than yellow onion, serving as a great background flavor to the bolder tomatoes and chipotles in this recipe.

See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.

How To Make Crockpot Chicken Tinga

Step 1: Add the tomatoes, chipotles in adobo, onion, and seasonings to a slow cooker.

Step 2: Use an immersion blender to blend the sauce to a smooth-ish consistency (it’s okay to have a few chunks, but definitely make sure to break up the chipotle peppers!). If you don’t have an immersion blender, add the ingredients to a blender first, then blend and pour the sauce into your slow cooker.

Step 3: Add chicken breast to the sauce, making sure to fully submerge it. Cover and cook on low until the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 160F, about 4 hours.

Step 4: Remove the chicken from the crockpot using a spider strainer or slotted spoon and transfer it to a cutting board. Shred the chicken using two forks.

Step 5: Return the shredded chicken to the slow cooker and stir to combine with the sauce. Turn your slow cooker to the warm setting and let the chicken sit in the sauce for an extra 15 to 30 minutes to really soak up the sauce before serving.

Dinners To Make With Our Spicy Chicken Tinga

• Tostadas – The classic use of chicken tinga, we love making these easy chicken tinga tostadas as a fun shake-up on Taco Tuesday (or Tostada Tuesday)!
• Tacos – Simple chicken tinga tacos made with mashed avocado and queso fresco let the flavors of this recipe shine. It’ll be the easiest (and maybe the most flavorful) taco night you’ve ever had.
• Burritos – Traditionally, our chicken burritos rancheros aren’t made with chicken tinga. But that shouldn’t stop you from doing it. Super easy and extra flavorful, what’s not to love?
• Nachos – First off, yes nachos are a dinner, we’ll die on that hill. Second, they’re an easy dinner. Check out our chicken tinga nachos for one of our favorites. 
• And more – This is the perfect easy recipe to add to any other of your favorite Mexican dinners like enchiladas, quesadillas, tortas, sopes, and more!

Chicken Tinga FAQs