No more stovetop hassles. These easy crock pot chicken fajitas have maximum flavor with minimal effort. Combine trimmed chicken, bell peppers, and onion with your favorite salsa and fajita spices. Free up your time and let your slow cooker do the work. Come home to classic fajitas ready for tortillas.
🐓Ingredients
Chicken: skinless boneless breasts, thighs, or chicken tenders
Bell peppers and onions
Salsa
Seasoning: Use packaged fajita seasoning or homemade fajita seasoning (preferred)—chili powder, cumin, salt, garlic powder, and onion powder.
Serving: Tortillas, sour cream, shredded cheese, other toppings
Jump To (scroll for more)
- 🐓Ingredients
- 👨🍳How to Make Crock Pot Chicken Fajitas
- 🐓Chicken tips and variations
- 🧂Seasoning tips and variations
- 🤔Tips for the best results
- 🐓Chicken Fajita Recipes
- ↕️Adjusting th size of the recipe and crock pot size
- 🍽️Serving
- ❄️Storage and reheating leftovers
- ❓FAQs
- 📖The Recipe Card with Step-by-Step Instructions
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!"
This recipe is effortless cooking—set it and forget it, making it easy for your busy schedule. Slow cooking in the crock pot creates incredibly tender chicken every time and infuses it and the veggies with deep Mexican flavors.
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
For more details, keep reading. See the Recipe Card below for complete instructions and to print.
1. Trim chicken and cut into chunks. Slice the bell peppers ½ inch strips and the onion into thin rings.
2. In the crock pot, combine the salsa with fajita seasoning. Add the chicken and coat. Top with the veggies.
3. Cooking: Cook on high heat for 2½ to 3 hours or on low heat for 4 to 6 hours, shredding the chicken near the end of cooking.
4. Remove from the crock pot with a slotted spoon and discard excess fluid.
🐓Chicken tips and variations
I use skinless boneless chicken breasts, but thighs or chicken tenders also work. Cut the breasts into chunks across the grain for shredded chicken and shred near the end of cooking.
The breasts may also be cut into thinner strips that will not require shredding. Cooking whole breasts is likely to lead to overcooked vegetables.
Try cooking thighs which, due to the higher fat content will be more tender and less likely to dry. Cook them to 180° for best results.
🧂Seasoning tips and variations
The homemade fajita seasoning combined with the salsa gives a great, bold flavor—the key feature of this recipe.
Premade taco or fajita seasoning may be used to replace the spices, but most have fillers and will add less flavor than my recommended homemade version.
Salsa adds a great taste, but you can also use diced tomatoes with green chilies (RoTel) or drained diced tomatoes for a blander taste. Your choice of salsa will affect the heat and flavor of the fajitas.
Add the juice of one lime over the ingredients just before cooking for additional flavor.
To adjust the "heat" of the fajitas, you can change up the salsa or add a little cayenne pepper or a diced jalapeno pepper.
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🤔Tips for the best results
Use an instant-read meat thermometer to ensure the chicken reaches 165°F before shredding.
Cut the peppers and onions into ½ inch strips that will hold their shape better withe the long cooking time.
For crispier veggies, add peppers in the last hour of cooking.
For more sizzle and to add some flavor, preheat a large skillet with a few teaspoons of oil over medium-high heat. As you drain the fluid, carefully move the chicken and vegetables to the hot oil to sear for a few minutes. Or spread on a sheet pan and broil for a few minutes.
🐓Chicken Fajita Recipes
Other chicken fajita recipes you may like include Easy Chicken Fajitas, a stovetop recipe with an excellent marinade. You can also make them using different methods, such as Sheet Pan Chicken Fajitas or Grilled Chicken Fajitas. For a change of pace, try these Chicken Fajita Quesadillas.
↕️Adjusting th size of the recipe and crock pot 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.
To adjust the size:
- 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.
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 internal temperature of the chicken.
🍽️Serving
Warm flour or corn tortillas with shredded cheese, pico de gallo, lime juice, cilantro, and sour cream. Typical side dishes are chunky guacamole, sliced avocado, salsa, refried beans, Mexican rice, or black beans.
In addition to tortillas, try serving your fajitas on a salad or rice bowl for a change of pace.
❄️Storage and reheating leftovers
To store leftovers, refrigerate in an airtight container for 4 days. They are also good in the freezer for 3 months, but thaw overnight in the refrigerator before reheating.
Reheat in the microwave, on a stovetop, or in the oven. Leftovers are excellent chopped up for nachos or 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.
Yes, generally. They fit well with various healthy diets, including low-calorie and low-fat diets. For keto and low-carb diets, use lettuce leaves for serving.
For gluten-free diets, most corn tortillas are gluten-free. Or serve on a salad or rice bowl. As always with a gluten-free diet, check all ingredients carefully for unexpected ingredients..
No. Frozen chicken can be a safety and health hazard in a slow cooker. According to the USDA, the cooking temperature can make it difficult to reach a safe temperature, and there is a risk of breaking ceramic inserts.
It will take longer to cook than thawed chicken, so that 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.
📖The Recipe Card with Step-by-Step Instructions
Easy and Flavorful Crock Pot Chicken Fajitas
Video Slideshow
Ingredients
- 1½ 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
- 4 teaspoons chili powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cumin
Step-by-Step Instructions
- Trim 1½ to 2 pounds of skinless, boneless chicken breasts, thighs, or tenders.
- Slice 2-3 bell peppers, color of your choice, and 1 large onion into ½ inch slices.
- 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 2½ to 3 hours or on low heat for 4 to 5 hours. It is done when the chicken is 165° and the vegetables are tender. If using thighs, cook to 180°.
- Pull out the chunks of chicken and shred them. Mix back into the crock pot and cook for 15 to 20 minutes to infuse more flavor into the shredded chicken with more flavor.
- Remove the fajitas from the crock pot with a slotted spoon and discard excess fluid. Serve with tortillas, on salads, or rice bowls.
Recipe Notes
Pro Tips
- You can use the chicken you like. Skinless, boneless chicken breasts or tenders are mainly used. You can use thighs, but they will need to be cooked 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. The chicken is done when it reaches 165°, and the vegetables are tender.
Your Own Private Notes
To adjust the recipe size:
You can adjust the number of servings above; however, only the amount in the ingredient list is adjusted, not the instructions.
Nutrition Estimate (may vary)
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