This pulled rooster recipe makes the juiciest shredded rooster within the sluggish cooker. It’s cooked with a zesty mix of salsa and Mexican-inspired seasonings, excellent for serving in buns or tacos. And the most effective half is, it cooks itself!
Use this saucy salsa rooster to make pulled rooster sandwiches, or load it into tortillas for tacos, enchiladas, and extra. I even have a simple sluggish cooker pulled pork recipe that you would be able to strive subsequent!

The crock pot needs to be the easiest way to make pulled rooster. Cooking over low and sluggish warmth for hours makes the rooster exceptionally juicy, whereas the crock locks in all that moisture and taste. This pulled rooster recipe turned out so scrumptious, stuffed with Mexican-inspired taste because of salsa and some straightforward spices. I couldn’t wait to serve it between buns for pulled rooster sandwiches the opposite night time, however because the prospects are limitless, I’m pondering tacos are subsequent!
What Makes This Pulled Rooster Recipe So Nice
- Arms-free. Since this recipe makes use of the sluggish cooker, there’s little or no hands-on prep. Assemble every thing contained in the crock pot or cooker, hit begin, and are available again hours later to fall-apart tender, juicy rooster that’s able to shred.
- Versatile. Use this zesty salsa rooster in sandwiches, tacos, nachos, fajita bowls, and extra. You can also make a giant batch and freeze it, too, so you may have it available for last-minute meals.
- Adaptable. This recipe is straightforward to customise relying on what you want. Amp up the taco taste, make it spicy, or strive a unique taste profile altogether. I embody some straightforward variation concepts additional within the put up.


Substances You’ll Want
Beneath are the substances I exploit to make this zesty sluggish cooker pulled rooster. All of them are straightforward to seek out and would possibly already be within the pantry. Scroll to the recipe card on the backside of the put up for the printable substances record, quantities, and a photograph step-by-step afterward.
- Rooster – I like to recommend boneless, skinless rooster breasts or rooster thighs for this recipe as they’re best to shred.
- Salsa – Select your favourite model from the shop, or you should utilize do-it-yourself salsa.
- Brown Sugar – You may as well use granulated sugar or one other sweetener, like honey, agave syrup, or maple syrup.
- Spices – I exploit a mix of paprika (candy or smoked), onion powder, garlic powder, cumin, and chili powder, plus salt and pepper to style. You possibly can substitute the person spices or amp up the flavour with taco seasoning or fajita seasoning.
Suggestions and Variations
- Test that the rooster is cooked. Rooster is completed when the inner temperature reaches 165ºF on the thickest a part of the breast or thigh. An instant-read meat thermometer makes it tremendous straightforward to examine rooster for doneness.
- Make it spicy. Use scorching salsa or sprinkle in cayenne pepper or crushed chili flakes for additional kick. You would additionally add a bit enchilada sauce to provide the recipe extra warmth.
- Inexperienced salsa. Make this pulled rooster extra much like my salsa verde rooster through the use of inexperienced tomatillo salsa as an alternative of pink salsa.
- Make BBQ rooster. Substitute the salsa with barbecue sauce, and the Tex-Mex seasoning with rooster seasoning for a variation of BBQ pulled rooster as an alternative.


Methods to Serve Gradual Cooker Pulled Rooster
I prefer to serve the rooster between fluffy buns for simple pulled rooster sandwiches. It’s nice every time we entertain, since everybody can serve themselves straight from the crock pot. There are a variety of the way to get pleasure from this pulled rooster recipe. These are just a few extra of my favourite concepts:
- Tacos. Serve pulled rooster tacos topped with bitter cream, avocado, shredded cheese (or cotija cheese), guacamole, slaw, and any of your favourite taco toppings.
- Bowls. I like including this rooster to fajita bowls, rice bowls, and different meal bowls for a protein enhance.
- Wraps. Roll this rooster up in flatbread or tortillas for a simple rooster wrap. It makes a scrumptious gentle lunch.
- Tex-Mex. Use pulled rooster to make rooster nachos, or strive it as a filling in enchiladas, rooster flautas, and extra.


Storing and Reheating Leftovers
- Refrigerate. Retailer pulled rooster in an hermetic container within the fridge for as much as 4 days. I’ll typically serve leftover pulled rooster chilly in rooster salad sandwiches or stir leftovers into rooster taco soup.
- Freeze. The rooster freezes splendidly for as much as 3 months. Retailer it in an hermetic container or freezer bag and thaw it within the fridge earlier than reheating or serving.
- Reheat. Heat the rooster within the microwave or on the stovetop earlier than serving.
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Assemble. In a sluggish cooker, add salsa, brown sugar, smoked paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, cumin powder, chili powder, and salt and pepper to style. Add the rooster.
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Cook dinner. Cowl and cook dinner the rooster on a HIGH setting for 3 hours or on LOW for 4-5 hours.
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Shred the rooster. Take away the rooster from the sluggish cooker. Shred the rooster utilizing two forks, and add ¼ cup of the cooking/salsa sauce to the shredded rooster. Serve in buns or tacos.
- You possibly can substitute rooster breast with boneless and skinless rooster thighs.
- For extra taste, you should utilize some additional Taco seasoning.
Energy: 234kcal | Carbohydrates: 17g | Protein: 32g | Fats: 4g | Saturated Fats: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fats: 1g | Monounsaturated Fats: 1g | Trans Fats: 0.02g | Ldl cholesterol: 91mg | Sodium: 925mg | Potassium: 914mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 10g | Vitamin A: 1611IU | Vitamin C: 4mg | Calcium: 63mg | Iron: 2mg
Dietary information is an estimate and offered as courtesy. Values could fluctuate in response to the substances and instruments used. Please use your most popular dietary calculator for extra detailed information.
Methods to Make Gradual Cooker Pulled Rooster
This recipe follows an identical methodology to my sluggish cooker rooster breast. The distinction right here is that when all’s stated and performed, we’ll shred the rooster and blend it again into the juices.




- Mix the substances. Add your salsa, brown sugar, seasonings to the crock pot or sluggish cooker. Then, nestle the rooster breasts inside and stir to coat.
- Cook dinner. Set the rooster to cook dinner on Excessive for 3 hours, or Low for 4-6 hours.




- Shred the rooster. When the rooster is cooked via, take away it from the sluggish cooker and use two forks to shred it. Afterward, stir about ¼ cup of the leftover cooking sauce into the shredded rooster. It’s able to serve! See under for recommendations.