Slow Cooker Chicken Birria

Slow Cooker Chicken Birria

Slow Cooker Chicken Birria is a super flavorful recipe, has a gorgeous deep color, and is perfect by itself in a bowl or as tacos, nachos, or quesadillas.

Traditional birria is made with lamb, goat, or beef.

It’s a stew that originated in Mexico and typically has chiles, spices, and cooked low and slow.

It starts with dried ancho and guajillo chiles, which my store does not carry.

Buuuut, there’s always Amazon or specialty stores where you can find these.

dried chilis for the birria

Click below to order the chiles from Amazon

How to Make Slow Cooker Chicken Birria

Since the chiles are dried, we first need to bring them back to life by rehydrating them.

Remove the stems and shake out most of the seeds.

Then, bring a can of chicken broth to a boil in a saucepan, remove from heat, and add the chiles.

Let them soak for about 20 minutes.

Add the chiles and broth to a food processor or blender.

chiles in food processor

Then add apple cider vinegar, salt, pepper, honey, oregano, cumin, garlic, ginger, bay leaves, and cinnamon.

blended chile pasta

Place 4 pounds chicken breasts in a slow cooker with a diced onion and two cans of Rotel tomatoes.

adding tomatoes and onions to slow cooker

Then add the flavor packed chile paste.

Give it a little stir and turn the slow cooker on low for 6 to 8 hours.

adding chile paste to crock pot

And use two forks to shred the chicken right in the slow cooker.

shredding chicken in the crock pot

And now you have a huge pot of birria to enjoy!

You can serve this as is in a bowl with toppings of choice such as cheese, cilantro, lime, hot sauce, and Sweet Pickled Red Onions.

Or use it as tacos filling, nachos, or in quesadillas.

This makes a TON, so if you have leftovers just place in a container and freeze for up to 3 months.

Slow Cooker Chicken Birria

We enjoyed our Slow Cooker Chicken Birria as chili one day and as tacos the next day đŸ™‚

Slow Cooker Chicken Birria

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Slow Cooker Chicken Birria

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Slow Cooker Chicken Birria

I highly recommend making these Sweet Pickled Red Onions, so good on tacos, burgers, and nachos too!

If you like Slow Cooker Chicken Birria, you might also like these recipes…

Slow Cooker Chicken Poblano Soup

Slow Cooker Chicken Poblano Soup

Slow Cooker Salsa Verde Chicken

Slow Cooker Salsa Verde Chicken

And Slow Cooker Chicken Chorizo Pasta

Slow Cooker Chicken Chorizo Pasta

Mexican Birria Tacos

Mexican Birria Tacos

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Slow Cooker Chicken Birria

Slow Cooker Chicken Birria is perfect in a bowl or as tacos, this is a mixed up version using chicken rather than beef but just as flavorful

Course Main Course
Cuisine Mexican
Keyword Ancho Chili, Birria, Chicken, Chili, Crock Pot, Dinner Recipes, Easy, Mexican Birria, Recipe, Slow Cooker, TikTok
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 6 hours
Servings 8
Calories 387 kcal
Author Cheri Renee

Ingredients

  • 5 dried ancho chiles
  • 5 dried guajillo chiles
  • 1 14 oz can chicken broth
  • 2 Tbsps apple cider vinegar
  • 2 Tbsps kosher salt
  • 2 Tbsps honey
  • 3/4 Tbsp pepper
  • 3/4 Tbsp cumin
  • 3/4 Tbsp dried oregano
  • 1/2 Tbsp ground ginger
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 6 cloves garlic
  • 3 bay leaves
  • 4 pounds chicken breast
  • 1 onion diced
  • 2 10 oz cans Rotel tomatoes
  • Optional toppings: cilantro, avocado, sweet pickled red onions, lime, diced onions, soft tortillas

Instructions

  1. Remove the chile stems and shake out most of the seeds.

  2. Put the chicken broth in a small saucepan, bring to a boil, and remove from heat. Add the chiles to the hot broth. Let soak for 20 minutes.

  3. Add the chicken broth and chiles to a blender or food processor and add the apple cider vinegar, salt, honey, pepper, cumin, oregano, ginger, cinnamon, garlic, and bay leaves. Blend on low for at least 1 minute.

  4. Put the chicken into a slow cooker. Add the diced onion and cans of Rotel tomatoes. Pour the chile mixture from the blender over top and stir it a little. Turn the slow cooker on low for 6 to 8 hours.

  5. Shred the chicken with two forks right in the slow cooker. Serve in bowls with desired toppings or use as a filling for tacos, quesadillas, burritos, or on top of nachos.

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