I had a very large package of chicken breasts that I needed to use up.  I was also leaving town for a few days and leaving my P.S. to fend for himself at mealtime.  I decided a big crockpot of shredded chicken with Mexican seasonings and sauces would be versatile for meals.  He could put it on buns or serve it over rice.  It would last a few days in the fridge for quick fixes.

I started by opening the wrong can.  I opened a tomato sauce can instead of one of the enchilada sauce cans I’d meant to use.  Oops!  I placed it on the bottom of my crockpot that I’d lined with a cooking liner for easy cleanup.  I’d add extra seasoning and the unseasoned sauce would fit right in.

Next I layered the chicken breasts.  There were a lot so I had to cram them in and wiggle and stuff to get them all in a single layer.  Chicken loaded, I sprinkled cumin, garlic powder, oregano, chili powder and salt over the breasts.  I didn’t measure, I’d guess it was a teaspoon per spice.  Do it the easy way and just eyeball it.

[/caption]Next I poured two cans of enchilada sauce over the top.  The first was a green sauce.  The second can was a red enchilada sauce.  I only had the two cans so I mixed the colors and threw caution to the wind.  Sauce is sauce in my world.  They were both mild sauces, since I’m not into burn my tongue food.

eladycooks.com/?attachment_id=19934#main” target=”_blank” rel=”attachment noopener wp-att-19934″> Layer strips of sweet bell pepper[/caption]I cut

I cut up a couple of sweet bell peppers into small strips and added them to the crockpot.

[/caption]Likewise I sliced an onion into strips and added them to the top.  I put the lid on the crockpot and set the heat for high.

[/caption]I let the chicken cook on high for 3 hours, stirred the pot well then turned it to low for two more hours.  The chicken was tender and ready to be pulled apart into shreds after 5 hours of simmering in the crockpot.

[/caption]I love to shred chicken and pork.  Call me weird but it satisfies me to end up with a pile of shredded meat that is seasoned and ready to eat.  It amazes me that it is so easy to pull apart with two forks, or with my fingers.  Usually I use my fingers if I’ve cooled the meat first.  If it’s hot and going back into the sauce to simmer until dinner of course I use the forks.

attachment_id=19938#main” target=”_blank” rel=”attachment noopener wp-att-19938″> Use 2 forks to shred the chicken breasts[/caption]This time I was putti

This time I was putting some of it back into the crockpot until my P.S. arrived home for dinner.  I put some of the shredded pork into a storage container with ladles of the enchilada sauce.  The chicken would absorb more of the sauce and be perfect heated on buns for meals.

[/caption]I put the other half of the shredded chicken back into the crockpot.  I’ll post the shredded chicken enchilada casserole that I made another time.  Just know that this chicken was tender and moist and super flavorful, no matter how we served it!