Chicken

Southwest Chicken Fajitas

Smoky fajita chicken with peppers and onions. Made without MSG.

Prep 8 min LOW 5–6 hours HIGH 2½–3 hours Serves 6

Southwest Chicken Fajitas, finished and plated — Serving suggestion

Fajitas are usually a fast, hot, high-heat dish — which is exactly the opposite of what a slow cooker does. So this version doesn't pretend to be seared. It's tender, saucy fajita chicken that you pile into a tortilla, and it's genuinely better for a crowd than the skillet version.

The peppers and onions go in at the start here, not the end. You want them soft and sweet, the way they are after twenty minutes on a flat top, not crunchy.

This is also one of only three chicken recipes we make without MSG, which is worth knowing if that matters to your table.

Why you'll love it

Made without MSG.

One of three in the chicken line.

Feeds a crowd without a hot pan.

No standing over a skillet while everyone waits.

Everyone builds their own.

Set out tortillas and toppings and step back.

Works as tacos, bowls or salad.

Same chicken, three completely different dinners.

What's already in the packet

Chili powderGround cuminOnionGarlicSmoked paprikaWhole milk powderChicken bouillonMexican oreganoBlack pepper

Chili and cumin forward with smoked paprika, and just enough milk powder to soften the edges. No MSG.

Choose your setting

Recommended

LOW · 5–6 hours

Low and slow gives collagen time to melt and flavors time to build. It is the setting this recipe was written for.

HIGH · 2½–3 hours

For when you started late. It gets dinner done, but the texture is better on LOW.

Done at 165°F

Strips heat fast. Check early so they don't overcook.

You'll Need

2 lbs Chicken strips (pick one below)
1 cup Water or chicken broth
1 packet Cook SLO Southwest Chicken Fajitas
3 cups Bell peppers and onion, sliced

Pick your chicken

2 lbs

Chicken breasts, in strips

2 lbs

Chicken thighs, in strips

2 lbs

Chicken tenderloins

Cook chicken to 165°F

Add vegetables

Mixed bell peppers (fresh or frozen)Sliced onion (fresh or frozen)Sliced mushrooms (fresh or frozen)Diced tomatoesCanned cornCanned black beans

Sliced onion (fresh or frozen) at the start, on the bottom; Mixed bell peppers (fresh or frozen) and diced tomatoes at the start; mushrooms at the start to melt into the sauce, or the last two hours to keep their shape; canned black beans at the start, or the last hour if you want them whole; canned corn in the last thirty minutes.

When to add what

When	Add	Why
At the start, on the bottom	Sliced onion (fresh or frozen)	Root vegetables cook slower than meat. They belong closest to the heat, and they hold the meat up out of the liquid. Cut everything an inch and a half or larger — smaller pieces disintegrate.
At the start, to soften into the sauce	Mixed bell peppers (fresh or frozen)Diced tomatoes	These break down and give their flavour to the pot. Right for a gravy or a fajita, wrong if you want them to hold their shape.
At the start, or the last two hours	Sliced mushrooms (fresh or frozen)	Mushrooms are a choice. At the start they melt into the sauce and deepen it. In the last two hours they hold their shape and keep some bite.
Canned beans, drained and rinsed	Canned black beans	At the start for chili and stews, where they take on the seasoning and a few break down to thicken the pot. In the last hour if you want them whole.
Canned corn and hominy, drained	Canned corn	Last 30 minutes. Fully cooked already, so anything longer turns it to mush.

Two ways to do this

If you're home

Follow the timing table above and add things when they're due.

About an hour is all you need

If you're out all day

Put in at the start as normal: sliced onion (fresh or frozen), Mixed bell peppers (fresh or frozen), diced tomatoes, sliced mushrooms (fresh or frozen) and canned black beans. These need the full cook anyway.

Add canned corn when you walk in the door. Forty-five minutes to an hour on LOW is enough for all of it, and it will taste better than if it had cooked all day.

If you would rather not touch it at all, put everything in at the start and use frozen where you can. It will be softer than the timing above intends and the greens will lose their colour, but it will taste good and dinner is ready when you walk in.

Frozen is the better choice for a long day. Already cut, holds its shape better than fresh over eight or nine hours, and goes in straight from the bag with no thawing. Frozen diced onion and pepper strips remove the only real prep this recipe has.

Beans — use canned

Every recipe in this book that uses beans uses canned beans. Drain and rinse them, and they are ready to go. Do not substitute dry beans.

Canned beans are fully cooked during canning, so they are safe and they only need warming through. Dry red kidney beans are a different matter: raw, they contain a lectin called phytohaemagglutinin, and the FDA is explicit that a slow cooker does not get hot enough to destroy it. The toxin needs boiling at 212°F for at least ten minutes, and a crock pot on LOW often reaches only about 167°F — hot enough to soften the bean, not hot enough to make it safe. As few as four or five undercooked kidney beans can cause severe vomiting within a few hours. Canned beans have none of this problem.

Canned beans	Drain and rinse	Rinsing removes the starchy canning liquid, which otherwise clouds a soup and dulls the flavour.
When to add them	Start, or the last hour	At the start for chili and stews — they take on the seasoning and a few break down, which thickens the pot. In the last hour if you want them to hold their shape.
Canned baked or refried beans	Last 30 minutes	Already sweetened or seasoned. Added early they scorch against the crock wall.
Dry beans of any kind	Not in this book	If you want the savings, cook them fully on the stove first — soak five hours, drain, boil thirty minutes in fresh water — then use them in place of canned. Two cups cooked equals roughly one 15-ounce can.

One 15-ounce can drained gives about one and a half cups of beans. Most recipes here want one or two cans.

A can of black beans, drained and rinsed, at the start. They soak up the chili and cumin and add substance without changing what the dish is. Lift them out with the peppers using a slotted spoon so the tortillas stay dry.

Corn

Canned corn	Last 30 minutes	Drain first. It is fully cooked already, so it only needs heating — added early it goes to mush.
Canned fire-roasted corn	Last 30 minutes	Same timing. Worth seeking out for the smoky note, especially in chili and anything southwest.
Canned hominy	Last 30 minutes	Drain and rinse. Bigger and chewier than corn, and what turns a pork stew into posole.

Before anything goes in the pot

1
Brown the meat first
Pat it dry, get a heavy pan properly hot, and work in two batches so nothing steams. Two to three minutes a side. You want colour, not doneness — the crock pot finishes it.
2
Deglaze the pan and pour it in
This is the step almost everyone skips, and it wastes half the benefit of browning. Most of the flavour you just made is stuck to the pan. Pour a cup of the recipe's water into the hot empty pan, scrape everything loose with a wooden spoon while it bubbles, and pour that into the crock pot. Count it toward the total liquid.
3
Whisk the packet into the water before it goes in
Do not sprinkle dry powder onto liquid in the pot. Put the 1 cup in a jug, add the packet, whisk until there are no lumps, then pour it over. Cheese and cream powders dissolve properly this way and the sauce comes out smooth instead of grainy.

These happen outside the crock pot, before it's switched on.

Tonight's Plan

1
Put the chicken strips in the crock pot.
Strips, not whole breasts. This dish isn't shredded.
2
Add the sliced peppers and onion on top.
Three cups sounds like a lot. They cook down to about half.
3
Pour in the 1 cup of whisked liquid and stir once.
You dissolved the packet in the water already, so there is no powder to work in and no risk of lumps. One stir to settle everything.
4
Stir once and put the lid on.
One stir is enough to distribute the spice.

Vegetables

Stir well, then lift the meat and peppers out with a slotted spoon.

This is the important part. Draining prevents soggy tortillas.

Pile into warm tortillas.

Warm them for 15 seconds so they fold instead of cracking.

Stirring

Stir once at the halfway point and turn the pieces over

There is very little liquid here and a lot of sugar, so the bottom catches. Turning the meat also brings glaze back up onto the top, where it belongs.

Swaps and add-ins

Make it a burrito bowl.

Over cilantro-lime rice with beans, corn and avocado.

Add a can of green chiles.

At the start. More depth, still no real heat.

Use it for quesadillas.

Between tortillas with jack cheese in a hot dry pan.

Add black beans and corn.

At the start. Turns it into a fuller one-pot meal.

Tips for success

Use a slotted spoon. The single tip that matters here. Liquid in a tortilla means a tortilla on the floor.
Warm the tortillas. Fifteen seconds in a dry pan or wrapped in a damp towel in the microwave. Cold tortillas crack.
Cut the chicken before cooking, not after. Strips hold their shape. Trying to slice cooked slow-cooker chicken just shreds it.
Drop in a liner before anything else. Smooth it against the sides and fold the edges over the rim. When you're done, lift it out and throw it away — the crock never needs scrubbing.

Finish it right

Fresh lime, squeezed hard.

Fajitas without lime aren't fajitas. This is the most important finish in the book.

Chopped cilantro and raw white onion.

Street-taco style. Sharp and fresh against the soft cooked peppers.

Sliced avocado or a spoon of guacamole.

Cool and creamy against the smoke.

Serve it over

Warm flour tortillasCorn tortillasOver cilantro-lime riceOver a saladIn a burrito bowl

Tomorrow night

Fajita quesadillas.

With jack cheese in a hot dry pan until crisp.

Southwest salad.

Cold over greens with corn, black beans and lime vinaigrette.

Fajita breakfast hash.

Fried with potatoes and topped with an egg.

Stuffed peppers.

Fill halved peppers with the chicken and rice, top with cheese, bake.

Keeping it

Fridge

Airtight, up to 4 days

Freezer

3 months. Peppers soften further but flavor holds.

Reheating

Hot skillet is much better than microwave — it drives off liquid and concentrates flavor.

Questions people ask

Recipe card