Chile chicken tacos in the slow cooker

In case you missed it on last week’s Kenmore Genius Blog post…

I’ve been working late into the evening recently so I decided to break out my slow cooker and put it to work for me! On top of the late nights, the brutal heat wave we’ve been having over the last few weeks has made me less than happy about spending time in the kitchen after a long day, especially if it involves heating up the oven or even the stove top for more than a few minutes because I don’t want to be any hotter.

This recipe for chicken tacos is great for a few reasons: it’s super easy to make, it takes very little effort to prepare and it can be used as a filling for three different dishes so if you make a little extra you can turn it into more than one meal.

It can be used just as a regular old taco filling, rolled and fried in a tortilla to make taquitos or even rolled and bathed in salsa and topped with cheese as enchiladas. The biggest bonus of all: it won’t heat up the kitchen.

The chile flavor comes from an easy ancho-cascabel chile paste that covers the chicken while it cooks, and it’s relatively mild on the heat-meter. The onions both serve as a base to protect the bottom of the chicken from burning and also absorb the chile flavor and color to make a slow-cooked savory addition to the chicken.

When I make these as just regular old tacos or roll them up and fry to make taquitos, I usually like to dress them up with a little crema Mexicana and sliced aguacate or a little side of guacamole.

• Check out my recipe for these awesome and effortless chile-spiced chicken tacos in the slow cooker on the Kenmore Genius Blog.

Disclosure: I am compensated for my posts on the Genius Blog and provided with Kenmore small appliances to test but all my recipes and opinions, about the appliances and otherwise, are my own.