• Home
    • Recipes
      • Recipe Index
      • How-To & Cooking Tutorials
      • Popular Recipes
    • Meal Plans
      • Weekly Meal Plans
      • Freezer Meal Plans
      • The ORIGINAL 20 Meals for $150 Plans
    • Classes
      • Grocery Savings 101 Workshop
      • Freezer Cooking 101 Workshop
      • Meal Planning 101 Workshop
      • Whis-Kid Cooking Lessons
      • Instant Pot Cooking 101 Course
      • My Efficient Kitchen Course
    • Store
    • Blog
    • Contact
      • About
      • Press
    • Login

    $5 Dinners | Budget Recipes, Meal Plans, Freezer Meals

    Budget Recipes, Meal Plans, Freezer Meals and Cooking Tutorials for the Busy Home Chef

    Join Erin's 5-Ingredient Challenge in 2023

    Slow Cooker Ranchero Chicken Recipe

    August 26, 2013 by Erin, The $5 Dinner Mom 18 Comments

    46 shares
    • Share
    • Tweet
    Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

    Sign up to receive FREE weekly emails with recipes, coupons and other money saving tips right into your inbox. Become a friend on Facebook too AND/OR join the $5 Meal Plan Family and get meal plans delivered to you each week!

     

    slow cooker ranchero chicken

    Hey, hey back to school-ers!!! It is that time of year when the frenzy gets frenzier (more frenzied?) and the impossible task of getting dinner on the table is, well, impossible.

    In an attempt to stay out of the drive through lane in the early evening, and to keep my children fed for lunch (my brain has a tendency of staying off before 8 am!), I had a little baking day on Saturday. This took me a little over an hour to pull together, if you don’t count the “load the slow cooker in the morning” part, which would only add a few minutes.

    It’s all in the timing. Start the muffins baking…make up the meatballs and burgers while muffins are baking. Pull together the tacos and taquitos after that. Bada-bing, bada-boom. Now, I know I’ll survive at least the first week of school frenzy!

    Here’s what I made…

    • Double batch blueberry muffins
    • Double batch Ranchero Chicken (recipe below)
    • 2 batches BBQ Meatballs
    • 2 meals worth of burgers
    • Lawnmower tacos
    • Oven Baked Beef Taquitos from Not Your Mother’s Make Ahead & Freeze Cookbook.

    baking day

    (Please pardon the iphone photo with terrible kitchen lighting!)

    Anyone else “getting ahead of themself” by baking and freezing for the back to school busy season?!?

    (Note: This is a doubled version…this chicken is perfect for enchiladas, Seven Layer Tostadas, soft tacos and hard tacos!)

    And a video showing you just how easy this recipe is to put together!

     

    Print Recipe Pin Recipe Save Recipe Recipe Saved!

    Slow Cooker Ranchero Chicken Recipe

    This chicken is the best because you can serve it many different ways! Tacos, nachos, enchiladas, with rice, salad, etc.
    Prep Time10 minutes
    Cook Time8 hours
    Servings - 4 servings

    Ingredients 

    • 1 15 oz. can diced tomatoes
    • 1 6 oz. can tomato paste
    • 3 Tbsp homemade taco seasoning
    • 1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breast
    • 1 lb. boneless skinless chicken thighs
    • Salt and pepper to taste

    Instructions

    • Whisk together the diced tomatoes with their juices and the tomato paste in the base of the slow cooker. Stir in the taco seasoning.
    • Add the chicken breast and thighs to sauce and spoon the sauce over the top. Set the slow cooker on low and cook for 8 hours.
    • Once cooked, pull apart the chicken with 2 forks and serve in tacos, on tostadas, or in enchiladas. Enjoy!
    Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate, I earn commissions on qualifying purchases. Reviews, opinions are my own.
    46 shares
    • Share
    • Tweet

    Filed Under: Budget Friendly Recipes, Chicken Recipes, Dairy Free Meal Ideas, Freezer Recipes and Freezer Meal Plans, Gluten Free Casein Free Soy Free Recipes, Gluten Free Recipes, Slow Cooker Recipes

    These meals are a LIFESAVER!

    Want a set of our best selling freezer meal bag holders?! You can now order them right here!

    Comments

    1. Jeanne says

      August 26, 2013 at 8:55 pm

      I am going to ask a silly question…
      In this Recipe you specify
      1 lb. BS chicken breast
      1 lb. BS chicken thighs

      Does the BS mean the Brand of chicken you bought or is this meaning some thing else?
      Thanks for you help on this… I’d like to add how much I really enjoy all your time and sharing you do for us … your Recipe’s are Great!!!
      Jeanne

      Reply
      • Erin, The $5 Dinner Mom says

        August 26, 2013 at 9:06 pm

        Thanks for asking Jeanne! I’ve updated the post…it means boneless, skinless. 🙂

        Erin

        Reply
    2. Ashley says

      August 26, 2013 at 9:09 pm

      Jeanne
      I think she means Boneless Skinless. I had to look at it a couple of times :).

      Reply
    3. Michele says

      August 26, 2013 at 9:23 pm

      Jeanne,
      BS will be boneless, skinless chicken.
      Happy cooking!

      Reply
    4. Jessica Fisher says

      August 27, 2013 at 12:17 am

      You’re a rockstar to pull that off in an hour. I bow.

      Reply
    5. Asta says

      August 27, 2013 at 7:04 am

      hey ya
      i just joined your site yesterday so im new, and this chicken sound YUMMIE so i have to try it but “homemade taco seasoning” have you got the recipe for that for me 🙂
      look forward to see more from you

      Reply
    6. anndei says

      August 27, 2013 at 7:49 am

      I found the homemade taco sesoning link for you: https://www.5dollardinners.com/homemade-taco-seasoning/
      HTH

      Reply
    7. Jennifer says

      August 27, 2013 at 10:10 pm

      Today I made (with the kiddos’ help!) dry muffin mix for quick breakfasts and then we baked up some monster cookies and stuck them in the freezer for school lunch treats over the next few weeks. Tomorrow I plan on stirring up some no bake cookies and some carrot & zucchini cake batter. I find that if I do a couple things a day, we have a nice stock pile for the crazy that is the beginning of the school year. 🙂

      Reply
    8. Heather Black says

      September 17, 2013 at 8:54 pm

      This recipe mentions your homemade taco seasoning but I cannot find the recipe. Could you please post the recipe or a link to it? I love your recipes and your site and have been sharing it with my friends.

      Reply
    9. Lore says

      September 22, 2013 at 11:42 am

      I am going to add this to my cooking for a week file……I know we are going to use it

      Reply
    10. Emmaline says

      September 29, 2013 at 7:27 am

      Hi – great looking recipe! Do you find it freezes ok? And have you tried it with just thighs? (Sale at Costco this week, so that’s what I have!)

      Reply
    11. Rachel says

      October 16, 2013 at 3:50 pm

      I want! I want! I cannot wait to try this! Thanks for the recipe! By the way love your blog, so creative.

      Reply
    12. Megan Curtis says

      January 5, 2014 at 11:49 pm

      Do you freeze BEFORE you cook or after? Looks great! Thanks!

      Reply
    13. Whitney says

      January 12, 2014 at 11:50 pm

      Does the chicken need to be thawed before going into the crockpot? This and the cilantro chicken recipe look so delicious, I can’t wait to try them! My chicken is usually frozen, so being able to throw it in the crockpot without thawing would be lovely.

      Reply
    14. Sarah says

      July 12, 2014 at 10:36 pm

      Hats off to you getting this done in an hour! It would take me the whole hour just to do the meatballs!

      Reply
    15. Terri says

      February 10, 2015 at 7:44 pm

      I really like this recipe, i changed it up a little and added chili beans. Very yummy
      Can eat it like a soup or use for a texas style nachos, tacos, burritos. Very versatile and delicious!

      Reply

    Trackbacks

    1. $5 Crockpot Dinners | Elizabeth's Finds says:
      September 22, 2014 at 10:00 am

      […] Slow Cooker Ranchero Chicken […]

      Reply
    2. Menu Plan Monday: 3/9/2015-3/15/2015 | Musings of a Mom… says:
      March 8, 2015 at 1:01 pm

      […] $5 Dinners Slow Cooker Ranchero Chicken, tortillas, corn […]

      Reply

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




    I’m Erin Chase…

    Also known as the
    $5 Dinner Mom.

    I have a little problem. I cannot make a meal that costs more than $5.
    It’s a fun challenge,
    and my pocketbook
    thanks me.
    Want to join me?

    Learn more here!

    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
    • YouTube

    Search $5 Dinners

    Favorite Meal Planning & Cooking Resources

    Whis-Kid Cooking Lessons Grocery Budget Makeover My Freezeasy Erin Chase Store 5DD Freebie Library 20 Meals for $150 Plans

    © 2023 5 Dollar Dinners | Disclosure Policy | Copyright Information | Terms of Service/Privacy Policy | Accessibility | Design & Tech Support by Klong Designs



    Copyright © 2023 · 5 Dollar Dinners Genesis Child Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in