Crock Pot Chicken Taco Bites |Cooking With Amanda

October is quite possibly my favorite month. It starts out with my Dad's birthday (yesterday) and finishes with my daughter's birthday (on the 21st) and of course, Halloween. I am totally one of those adults who has not let the love of Halloween die.

We still get dressed up every year for our family's Halloween party and I don't regret one single minute of it. In addition to all of these celebrations and get-togethers, we're in full blown pumpkin and apple season which is pretty much my idea of heaven.

This October also brings the amazing Taco Week! *sound the trumpets* I get to spend the week with my favorite fellow Food Fanatics celebrating all things tacos - even dessert tacos (OMG - banana split tacos and cinnamon roll tacos)!!

When I was contemplating what I would create for my Taco Week contribution, I knew it needed to be something versatile and simple, which in my kitchen means one thing: crock pot. Starting in mid-September, my crock pot has a permanent place on the counter and stays there until about April. At least once a week, I'm making a large batch of meat or soup that will feed my family for several days, with variations each night to keep things interesting.

My crock pot chicken taco bites were born out of one such recipe. I made a large batch of salsa chicken thighs that cooked into a tender mixture of chicken, tomatoes and spices. I piled the chicken onto salads, into tortillas and of course, used it to make these darling little mini taco bites.

The chicken itself is a breeze to make, as only the best crock pot recipes can be. Put everything into the crock pot, turn it on, and seven hours later you have some seriously delicious taco pulled chicken.

For the taco bites, I used my favorite frozen phyllo dough shells, but you could also use the little tortilla chip scoops if you'd rather. The chicken was made ahead of time and I loaded the cold chicken into the shells and popped them in the oven for a few minutes to heat it up.

The rest of the ingredients go on the top after the shells come out of the oven and voila! Totally simple and delicious taco bites that are simple enough for game day, but elegant enough for a cocktail party.

Speaking of party, we're celebrating my Dad's 60th birthday tonight with a menu of, you guessed it, tacos! This is pretty much the best week ever.

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Crock Pot Chicken Taco Bites Recipe

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Ingredients

For the Chicken:

1 15 ounce can salsa style fire roasted tomatoes
1/3 cup chunky salsa
2 tablespoons taco sauce
8 boneless skinless chicken thighs
1 tablespoon chili powder
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 teaspoons cumin
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
black pepper, to taste

For the Taco Bites:

15 frozen mini phyllo dough shells
1 ear of corn, kernels removed
3/4 cup romaine lettuce, finely shredded
1/2 cup grape tomatoes, quartered
1/4 cup mexican style shredded cheese
1/4 cup light sour cream

Directions

For the Chicken:

Pour tomatoes, salsa and taco sauce into a slow cooker.
Lay chicken thighs in a single layer onto of the tomato mixture.
Sprinkle chicken with chili powder, garlic, cumin, salt and pepper.
Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours.
Using two forks, shred chicken and stir into sauce.

For the Taco Bites:

Preheat oven to 350°F.
Place phyllo shells on a rimmed baking sheet.
Fill each shell with about 1 tablespoon of chicken mixture.
Bake for 10 minutes or until shells are warm.
Divide the remaining ingredients between the baked taco bites and serve.

Notes

This recipe makes a large batch of chicken. Use extra chicken to fill burritos, top salads or make entree style tacos throughout the week.
When assembling the taco bites, chicken can be cold and pulled straight from the fridge. It will reheat in the oven while the shells are baking. Top as directed.

via Food Fanatic http://www.foodfanatic.com/2014/10/crock-pot-chicken-taco-bites/