Slow Cooker Chicken Fajitas

Published October 14, 2019. Updated May 17, 2023

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Easy Chicken Fajitas made in the slow cooker! Still all the delicious flavors of traditional fajitas without all the extra hassle! Just dump everything into the crockpot and let it simmer to tender well seasoned perfection.

Great for busy days where you can come home to dinner ready to eat!

Crockpot Chicken Fajitas

Slow Cooker Chicken Fajitas

For almost 5 years these Slow Cooker Chicken Fajitas have been one of the most popular recipes on my blog. Because we all love an easy delicious recipe don’t we? This is real life and we are busy people.

With this simplified recipe you get to skip marinating, and you also get to skip sauteing veggies and chicken in batches (and therefor tending to it). Instead here, the crockpot does most of the work.

And not only that, cooking it in the slow cooker allows plenty of time to for the flavors to meld together and really soak into the chicken and veggies, plus it will leave you with perfectly tender chicken every time.

It’s a delicious family friendly recipe and it makes plenty so you may be lucky enough to have left overs for lunch the next day!

Then for the days you didn’t plan ahead for a slow cooker dinner try my Sheet Pan Chicken Fajitas, everything cooks together on one sheet pan. So easy and so good!

Watch the Video!

Crockpot Chicken Fajita Ingredients

Crockpot Chicken Fajita Ingredients:

  • Boneless skinless chicken breasts – I like to stick with chicken breasts here because thighs will just shred apart.
  • Canned diced tomatoes with green chilies – if you can’t find them with green chilies you can use plain diced tomatoes and add a 4 oz. can of green chilies or just skip the green chilies.
  • Bell peppers – I like to use a trio of red, yellow and green but really any color will work.
  • Yellow onion and garlic – you can also use a red onion if that’s what you have on hand.
  • Chili powder, cumin, paprika, coriander, salt and pepper – these spices give the fajitas that classic Tex Mex flavor, if you don’t have coriander you can substitute Oregano (a much different flavor but also common in fajitas).
  • Lime – use fresh lime juice for best flavor.
  • Honey – this just balances the acidity of the lime and tomatoes but you can omit it if preferred.
  • Tortillas and toppings – toppings are optional but don’t forget the tortillas!

Steps to making chicken fajitas in the slow cooker

How To Make Slow Cooker Chicken Fajitas

  • Add half of the tomatoes, peppers, onions and garlic to a 6 or 7 quart slow cooker.
  • Top with chicken breasts.
  • Mix together seasonings and sprinkle over both sides of chicken.
  • Top with remaining tomatoes.
  • And remaining bell peppers, onions and garlic.
  • Set the slow cooker and let cook through, then cut or shred the chicken.
  • Toss in honey and lime mixture. Serve warm over tortillas with toppings.

Two chicken fajitas on a wooden plate.

Tips And Variations:

  • If you like the bell peppers tender crisp and not soft, wait until about the last 30 minutes to add them.
  • Cook near lesser times if you’d like to slice chicken vs. shredding.
  • For an extra boost of flavor serve topped with sour cream, salsa, sliced avocados or guacamole, or Mexican hot sauce.
  • Use corn or flour tortillas for serving. Warm them first.
  • Or try serving fajita mixture over rice or quinoa and make a burrito bowl instead.
  • Add more or less chili powder according to preference. Be sure to use mild chili powder.
  • Store leftovers in the fridge for up to 3 days.

More Delicious Tex Mex Recipes to Try:

16 Quick & Easy 30 Minute Recipes! (plus weekly recipe updates)

4.89 from 77 votes

Slow Cooker Chicken Fajitas

All the delicious flavors of traditional fajitas without all the extra hassle! Just dump everything in the slow cooker and let it simmer to tender well seasoned perfection.
Servings: 6 servings
Prep15 minutes
Cook6 hours 10 minutes
Ready in: 6 hours 25 minutes

Ingredients

For serving:

  • 12 6-inch flour tortillas
  • Cilantro, sour cream, salsa, guacamole or sliced avocados, shredded Mexican cheese (optional)

Instructions

  • Pour half of the canned tomatoes into the bottom of a slow cooker and spread into an even layer. Top with half of the peppers** and half of the onions. Sprinkle garlic in. Top with chicken breasts.
  • In a bowl whisk together chili powder, cumin, paprika, coriander, salt and pepper. Evenly sprinkle half of the seasoning over chicken breasts then flip chicken and sprinkle in remainder. Top with remaining half of the tomatoes, then layer in remaining peppers and onions.
  • Cover and cook on HIGH heat about 2 - 3 hours or low heat 4 - 6 hours, until chicken has cooked through and veggies are tender.
  • Remove chicken, and cut into strips, or shred. Ladle out 1 cup of the broth in slow cooker (mostly tomato liquid) and discard. 
  • In a small bowl whisk together lime juice and honey and add to slow cooker along with chicken and season with additional salt to taste if desired (I sometimes like to add 1/4 cup chopped cilantro too here but this is optional). Gently toss. Serve warm in warmed tortillas optional toppings.

Notes

  • *Oregano can be substituted for coriander. Much different flavor but another delicious option for fajitas.
  • **If you like the bell peppers tender crisp and not soft, wait until about the last 30 minutes to add them.
  • Extra toppings not included in nutritional estimate.
Nutrition Facts
Slow Cooker Chicken Fajitas
Amount Per Serving
Calories 432 Calories from Fat 72
% Daily Value*
Fat 8g12%
Saturated Fat 1g6%
Cholesterol 96mg32%
Sodium 1007mg44%
Potassium 1082mg31%
Carbohydrates 48g16%
Fiber 5g21%
Sugar 13g14%
Protein 34g68%
Vitamin A 3380IU68%
Vitamin C 125.2mg152%
Calcium 123mg12%
Iron 4.5mg25%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Nutrition values are estimates only. See full disclaimer here.
Recipe originally published January 2015, photos have been updated.

 

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490 Comments

  • Shirley

    This was really good! My husband does not care for honey, so I admitted that. And I don’t care for lime juice, so I omitted the lime juice as well and it was still delicious! I did add a can of fire roasted tomatoes, in addition to the tomatoes with peppers. Really good 👍

  • Holly Wheelis

    This is so good! There is a lot of juice at the end. So I pull everything out of the crock pot, leaving most of the juice behind.

  • Lori

    Super yummy! Followed the recipe but I did add some spicy Dan-O’s seasoning because I like more kick. Served with small flour tortillas, sour cream, freshly grated cheddar and salsa. My husband plans on taking it to work with nacho chips. I will definitely be making this again! Thank you for the easy recipe!

  • Shirl

    Yummy! And makes enough to have leftover Mexican shredded chicken to top salads, nachos, on in quesadillas. Love a good crockpot recipe that yields lots of meat.

  • Ty

    Honestly I have variations of very similar recipe. The fajita packet itself is only for 1 pound and requires only 1/4 cup of water. So 16 ozs of salsa to make up the other pound is very overkill and why you have so much juice. You should use 2 packets at least so the spices are even tasting like a fajita and not a salsa chicken. However I sometimes do 1 packet fajita mix and use enchilada red sauce as my base and do a little extra and its fine as long as you add some cumin, chili powder(or green diced chilis), onion powder, and garlic. A little oregano goes a long way to if you prefer a taco taste. But this is my go to so easy and i use 2 peppers and 2 onions def at least. Try that and follow her directions and i promise you will have made the best fajitas ever!!!

    • TCHinson

      In this recipe, she doesn’t use packets of fajita seasoning. The recipe calls for chili powder, cumin, coriander (or oregano) paprika, salt and pepper. Not sure where you got the idea that she used fajita packets in this recipe.

    • Mike

      Stay in your lane Ty. No need to put your worth in because it isn’t worth anything.

      • BeLikeMike

        Worth using a fajita packet. Pretty bland flavour. Hope Mike finds his lane in one of these recipe boards, for what it’s worth lol.