Slow-cooker chicken fajitas are quick and easy to prepare. With just 10 minutes of prep and five ingredients—chicken, salsa, fajita seasoning, onions, and bell peppers, you can enjoy a healthy serving of crock pot fajitas in 3 hours.
🐓Ingredients
Chicken—skinless boneless breasts, thighs, or chicken tenders
Salsa
Bell peppers and onion
Seasoning—Packaged fajita seasoning or homemade fajita seasoning (preferred) with chili powder, cumin, salt, garlic powder, and onion powder.
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Featured Comment by Laurie:
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ "I made this a few days ago and we loved it. It was tasty, not too spicy and simple to prepare. The only problem with it is the favorable smell went thru the house!"
I love Mexican food, and this slow-cooker fajita recipe is affordable and easy to prepare at home. It fits various healthy diets, including low-calorie, low-fat, keto, and low-carb.
The whole family will love these delicious and tender chicken fajitas. You can use chicken breasts, thighs, tenders, or rotisserie chicken and season them with homemade or packaged fajita seasoning. You can adjust the recipe to fit a mini 2-quart crock pot or a full-size cooker.
👨🍳How to Make Crock Pot Chicken Fajitas—Step-by-Step Photo Instructions
1. Use the raw chicken you want—skinless boneless chicken breasts, thighs, or chicken tenders.
2. Trim chicken breasts and cut the chicken cross-grain,
3. Chop bell peppers and the onion into thin rings.
4. Add salsa to a 3-quart or larger crock pot—mix in the fajita seasoning.
5. Add chicken to the salsa mixture and stir to coat the chicken. Top with all the veggies.
6. Cook on high for 2 ½ - 3 hours or low heat for 4 - 6 hours until the chicken is 165° and the vegetables are tender.
7. Pull out the chunks of chicken and shred, then mix it back into the crock pot and cook for 15-20 minutes.
8. Remove from the crock pot with a slotted spoon and discard excess fluid.
9. Serve with tortillas and toppings of choice.
For more details, keep reading. See the Recipe Card below for complete instructions and to print.
✔️Options and variations
Cut the chicken into thin strips or chunks across the grain. Remove and shred near the end of cooking. Whole breasts are likely to lead to overcooked vegetables. If using thighs, cook to 185° to be tender.
Salsa adds a great taste, but you can also use diced tomatoes with green chilies (RoTel) or diced tomatoes for a blander taste.
Premade fajita or taco seasoning may replace the spices, but most have fillers and will add less flavor than my recommended homemade version.
To adjust the "heat" of the fajitas, you can change up the salsa or add a little cayenne pepper.
If making a small recipe in a larger crock pot, mix the salsa, spices, and chicken before adding to the cooker. Small recipes in larger crock pots will cook faster, so watch the temperature.
🐓Chicken Fajita Recipes
Other chicken fajita recipes you may like include Easy Chicken Fajitas, a stovetop recipe with wonderful marinade. Or by different methods with Sheet Pan Chicken Fajitas or Grilled Chicken Fajitas. Or, for a change of pace, try these Chicken Fajita Quesadillas.
↕️How to make this more "for two" or "family size."
The full recipe makes about eight servings of single fajitas (for four people or 2 with leftovers). This is a straightforward recipe to cut in half or double.
- Use the recipe card and adjust the number of servings to half or double.
- Use the amount of ingredients in the ingredient list, not the instructions—those do not adjust.
- The half recipe will fit in a 2-quart mini crock pot.
- A double recipe fits in a 6-quart or larger crock pot.
- Cook for the same amount of time.
🍴Serving
Finishing ingredients include corn or flour tortillas, cheese, lime juice, cilantro, and sour cream. Common side dishes are guacamole, sliced avocado, pico de Gallo, salsa, refried beans, Mexican rice, or black beans.
❄️Storage and reheating leftovers
To store leftovers, refrigerate in an airtight container for 2-3 days. Good in the freezer for 2-3 months, but thaw overnight in a refrigerator before reheating
Reheat in the microwave, on a stovetop, or in the oven. Leftovers are excellent cold served on a green salad.
❓FAQs
To use precooked or rotisserie chicken, use 3 to 4 cups. Add it to the cooker when the vegetables are tender, and cooking time will decrease.
No. Frozen chicken can be a safety and health hazard in a slow cooker. You will have difficulty reaching a safe temperature due to the cooking temperature, according to the USDA. Also, there is a risk of breaking ceramic inserts.
It will take longer to cook than thawed chicken, so the other ingredients may be overcooked. So always thaw chicken before placing it in a crock pot.
Discard it. It is the moisture released from cooking the chicken and the bell peppers.
📖 Recipe
Crock Pot Chicken Fajitas
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Ingredients
- 1 ½ to 2 pounds Chicken - breasts, tenders, or thighs
- ¾ cup salsa
- 2-3 bell peppers - color of your choice
- 1 onion - large sliced thin
- 1 envelop Fajita seasoning
- tortillas and toppings for serving
Homemade Fajita Seasoning to replace the envelop (recommended)
- 4 teaspoons chili powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cumin
Instructions
- Trim 1 ½ to 2 pounds of skinless, boneless chicken breasts, tenders, or tenders.
- Chop 2-3 bell peppers color of your choice—slice 1 large onion into thin rings.
- Add ¾ cup salsa to a smaller crock pot (3-quart or larger). Mix in 4 teaspoons of chili powder. Add 1 teaspoon each of onion powder, garlic powder, salt, and cumin. Mix well and spread over the bottom evenly.
- Add chicken to the salsa, coat the chicken, and then top with all the veggies.
- Cook on high for 2 ½ - 3 hours or low heat for 4 - 5 hours. It is done when the chicken is 165° and the vegetables are tender. Cook to 180° if using thighs.
- Pull out the chunks of chicken and shred them. Mix back into the crock pot and cook for 15-20 minutes.
- Remove from crock pot with a slotted spoon and discard excess fluid. Serve with tortillas and toppings of choice.
Recipe Notes
Pro Tips
- You can use the chicken you like. Skinless boneless chicken breast or chicken tenders are mainly used. You can use thighs, but they will need to cook a bit longer to about 180°.
- You can use precooked chicken, cut up or shredded. Use 3 to 4 cups, put it in the crock pot, and mix well when the vegetables are tender.
- This recipe fits nicely in a 3-quart crockpot but can be cooked in a larger one—it will cook faster.
- If you're making a double batch, use a 6-quart or larger crock pot. A half recipe will work in a 2-quart crock pot.
- Cooking time varies due to crock pot variations. Cook on high for 2 ½ - 3 hours or low heat for 4 - 5 hours. The chicken is done when it reaches 165°, and the vegetables are tender.
- Good refrigerated for 4 days. Good frozen sealed well for 3 months.
Your Own Private Notes
To adjust the recipe size:
You may adjust the number of servings in this recipe card under servings. This does the math for the ingredients for you. BUT it does NOT adjust the text of the instructions. So you need to do that yourself.
Nutrition Estimate
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Editor's Note: Originally Published July 30, 2016. Updated with expanded options, refreshed photos, and a table of contents to help navigation.
Nancy says
very good
Laurie says
I made this a few days ago and we loved it. It was tasty, not too spicy and simple to prepare. The only problem with it is the favorable smell went thru the house! We had some leftover to freeze which made us very happy!
Thank you!
marcy youker says
love your recipes, I usually cut them down for 2, thanks, keep up the good work!
Johnny says
How wide do you slice your chicken strips? Yours look pretty wide in the photo. Also, yours look a lot longer than 1" in the photo. Is the idea to cut them into eatable strips before cooking like you would if you were making fajitas in a skillet, or do you cut the chicken up a bit after it has cooked? By the way, I love your Easy Chicken Fajitas, but I just wanted to try them in the crockpot. Thanks.
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
Hi Johnny,
Welcome to the blog. I break up the chicken some after cooking with a spoon. My wife likes what she calls "chunky shred". But cut them up a bit before cooking if you want.
Dan