This Baked Chicken Taco recipe is a half slow cooker recipe, half oven recipe, but is 100% delicious, easy and family friendly!
This post is sponsored by General Mills, but all opinions are my own.
These baked chicken tacos will have you declaring it “Taco Tuesday” any night of the week. Tacos are one of my family’s favorite foods and I am always happy to make a meal that everyone will enjoy. Baked chicken tacos are part crunchy and part soft taco and great to make for a crowd or casual party! Thanks to Old El Paso we are able to rock Taco Tuesday!
If you are like me and find cooking in the summer to be a bit challenging, then you’ll love this partial slow cooker meal that will get you ahead of the game before dinnertime. I was able to find all these at our local Walmart, and thanks to Online Grocery Pickup, I saved a ton of time!
These baked chicken tacos will likely become a regular in your rotation, especially if you have frequent Mexican food cravings! Your family will love this fun and easy weeknight dinner using chicken and a few pantry staples.
And what I love about the slow cooker part of this meal is that you only need a couple of hours. Nothing is worse than pulling up a recipe too late in the day only to realize you needed 8 hours of slow cooking time.
For these tacos, throw the chicken in the slow cooker, go to the pool for a couple hours and come back with a simple dinner plan! Once you have that chicken ready, you can quickly assemble and bake these yummy chicken tacos.
I used Old El Paso crunchy taco shells and traditional refried beans which are both staples in our house. My kids can be picky with canned beans, but they approve of this one.
There is also a skillet method if you meal prep and make your chicken in advance!
I love that the filling only takes a few minutes to throw together and the rest is assemble, bake and wait.
The Old El Paso stand n’ stuff taco shells are great for kids as they can set their taco down without the contents spilling over. You can stock up on these at Walmart (I keep extra boxes on hand for quick fix dinners), in addition to the regular taco shells that will also work great in this recipe.
Both are gluten free and great for crunchy tacos, baked tacos or even as dippers (especially when you run out of tortilla chips). They work great for traditional and non-traditional purposes!
Tips for making baked chicken tacos:
- Use the Stand ‘N Stuff shells if you can. It makes filling easier, but if you can’t find them don’t worry.
- Don’t skimp on the cheese! The melty cheese with the filling makes these tacos extra delicious. I prefer a Mexican blend of cheese including cheddar and Monterrey jack.
- Look for the Mexican style tomato sauce. It can be found either near the regular canned tomato products or near the Mexican food (taco shells, hot sauce). If you can’t find, you could sub regular tomato sauce or some drained diced tomatoes.
- Pre-bake the shells for 5 minutes if you want them extra crunchy. I like them the way I have written the recipe, but the bottom stays a little soft which I think is yummy. If you want extra crunch, include this step.
- Make a toppings bar. Let your guests finish off the tacos the way the like them!
There is just something delicious about these chicken tacos once the filling bakes with the shells- they are not entirely crunchy and not entirely soft but a perfect in between. Once they are baked you can eat them as is or customize them with your favorite taco toppings. Some of our favorites are:
- Shredded lettuce
- Tomatoes
- Chopped cilantro
- Guacamole
- Sour cream
- Pickled jalapeños
- Salsa
I hope you can add this recipe to your simple solutions for family dinner nights, in addition to other easy recipes such as ground beef crunchy tacos. We can’t get enough tacos in our house!
#Walmart #PartyWithElPaso# PassMetheOldElPaso #OleForOldElPaso #Walmart
