Want a quick and healthy meal?  Try tacos. We love them in our house as you can throw all sorts of veggies, beans, cheese, salsa, chicken, fish and even tofu into a tortilla and enjoy.

I was thrilled for this month’s Recipe Redux:

“So show us your healthy, creative take on the taco.”

For today’s tacos, I am taking to my Fast Slow Pro Cooker.  It’s a super amazing invention as it’s a slow and pressure cooker in one.  I am not being paid to say this, I just love how this gives your meal planing flexibility.   Whether you want to cook a soup all day or pop chicken in the pressure cooker for 20 minutes for a quick meal that night - it’s that simple.

So for these tacos — it’s super simple.  Sear skinless, boneless chicken breasts with diced yellow onion and garlic with a bit of vegetable oil in the cooking bowl or in a skillet.  Allow each side to turn golden brown on each side before moving on the the next step.

To make it “adobo-style” pour in a bottle of dark beer.  (No fear non-beer drinkers — the flavor is very subtle.)  The beer gives it a rich, flavor punch.  Allow it to simmer and reduce a bit before adding the other ingredients.

Want a quick and healthy meal? Try these Slow Cooker Adobo Chicken Tacos.… Click To Tweet

The flavor pop comes from the chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, which I have to admit add some heat.  One small can is plenty with three large chicken breasts.

Zest in a bit of orange to give it a citrus hint.  If you don’t have a microplane, I highly recommend getting one as it make simple additions so easy.  You can simply grate cheese, zest or potatoes or dried bread with it.

Toss in oregano, chili powder and dried oregano and close the cooker up to slow cook for a few hours or pressure cook for 20 minutes.  It’s that simple. . .

The chicken emerges from the cooking cycle — tender and full of flavor.  It’s super simple to pull apart and shred with two forks.  The sauce can be saved to pour over the chicken or tacos as desired.

Makes 10 tacos 

Ingredients

2 Tablespoons vegetable oil

3-3 ounce skinless, boneless chicken breasts

1/4 large yellow onion, diced

2 garlic cloves, minced

1-12 ounce bottle dark beer

1/2 cup water

Zest of 1 mandarin orange

1 can chipotle chilies in adobo sauce

1 heaping tablespoon chili powder

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 tablespoon dried oregano

2 teaspoons kosher salt

10 warm corn tortillas

Toppings (optional):

Shredded Romaine lettuce

2 limes, quartered

Chopped fresh cilantro

Chunky salsa

Shredded Mexican cheese

4 ounces plain, Greek-Style yogurt

1 15-ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained

Directions

In slow cooker or in deep skillet, add oil and heat (on SEAR cycle for slow cooker) over medium heat.  Add chicken, onions and garlic.  Saute both sides of chicken until browned.  Watch the onion and garlic if they start to brown remove and put to the side.

Add beer and simmer about 10 minutes to reduce liquid in half.  Add water, chilies and spices and stir a few times.  Place the cover over the slow cooker and cook for designated time.  (If you have a Slow Fast Pro, it’s 4 hours to slow cook; 20 minutes to pressure cook).  If making on stovetop, cover the skillet and cook for 1 - 1 1/2 hours over medium-low heat.

Warm tortillas in the microwave for 30 seconds or in the oven at 350 degrees for 2 minutes. Remove chicken from cooking bowl or skillet and place onto a cutting board.  With two forks, shred the chicken.

Top each tortilla with about 1 1/2 ounces of chicken plus desired toppings.  Enjoy with a frothy, ice-cold beverage.