Dairy Free Gluten & Grain Free Nut Free Paleo Specific Carbohydrate Diet Whole30

Cilantro Lime Shredded Chicken

Name: Cilantro Lime Shredded Chicken
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 180 min
Total time: 195 min
Ingredients: 1/4 cup diced jalapeno; 1/4 cup lime juice; 2 tsp lime zest; 1 finely diced onion; 4 cloves garlic; 1 tbsp cumin; 2 tsp coriander; 1 cup chicken stock; 1/2 tsp salt; 1/2 tsp pepper; 1/2 cup cilantro; 1 1/2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs or breasts

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This Cilantro Lime Shredded Chicken is packed with bold flavours and can be added to salads, rice bowls or tacos. It’s a fuss free recipe that takes just 15 minutes of hands on prep, so easy! This chicken is Whole30, Paleo, Grain Free, Gluten Free, Keto, Dairy Free and Specific Carbohydrate Diet Legal.

This Cilantro Lime Shredded Chicken is packed with bold fresh flavour. The chicken is cooked in the slow cooker until fall apart tender and then smothered in a cilantro, lime and jalapeno sauce. This is a great fuss free recipe to meal prep for the week ahead, make a batch on Sunday and then add it into salads, tacos etc… for quick meals throughout the week.

Why you are going to love this shredded chicken

Just 15 minutes of hands on prep: I love how low maintenance slow cookers are, you just throw everything into the pot and leave it to cook, so easy!
So much flavour: the sauce has the perfect mix of zest lime, spicy jalapeno and Mexican spices. It’s a really bold combination of flavours that work so well together.
Perfect for meal prepping for the week ahead: this chicken is a great protein to have ready made in your fridge that you can add to meals throughout the week.
It’s so versatile: There are so many different ways that you can serve this cilantro lime chicken, I have included a list of ways below.
It freezes well: Freeze leftovers in small portions that you can enjoy for quick meals. This chicken will last for 3 months in the freezer and you can thaw it by leaving it in the fridge overnight, in the microwave, or in a pot on the stove with a splash of water.

Tips for making this Cilantro Lime Shredded Chicken:

Crisp it up: I like to lay the shredded chicken out on a baking tray and quickly broil it in the oven to brown the edges of the chicken and give it a slight crunchy texture.
Make it spicier: Feel free to kick up the spice by adding more jalapenos to the sauce
Thighs or Breasts: I personally prefer to use boneless skinless chicken thighs because I find that they have the best flavour. Chicken breasts also work well for this recipe, or alternatively you could use a combination of the two.

Don’t have a slow cooker?

Instant Pot: Cook the chicken on high pressure for 20 minutes followed by a quick release before removing the chicken and shredding it
Stove top: place the chicken and all of the sauce ingredients in a pot on the stove. Cover with a lid and leave to cook on medium heat for 25 minutes. Once the chicken is tender and cooked through, remove it from the pot, turn the heat up and leave the sauce to reduce on high heat for 15 minutes. Shred the chicken and return it back to the thickened sauce.
Have a rotisserie chicken? If you have leftover roast chicken you can use it instead. Place all of the sauce ingredients in the pot on medium high heat and leave to simmer for 20 minutes until the liquid has reduced by half. Once the sauce has thickened, shred the roast chicken and place it in the pot with the sauce to heat through for a few minutes before serving.

What to serve this Slow Cooker Cilantro Lime Shredded Chicken with:

Tacos: serve the shredded chicken in tortillas (or celery root tortillas if you are doing Whole30) with some shredded cabbage, salsa and guacamole
A Salad: My personal favourite way to eat this shredded chicken. I add it to a bowl filled high with lettuce, sliced avocado, chopped tomatoes and cilantro and use some of the excess sauce from the chicken as a dressing.
Enchiladas: You could use it in this chicken enchilada recipe. Simply roll the chicken in strips of zucchini and spoon some of the excess sauce leftover from the chicken over the rolls before baking.
Mexican bowl: Serve it with Mexican cauliflower rice, avocado and salsa for a filling meal.

Here are a few more Mexican inspired recipes that you might enjoy…

If you make this recipe let me know in the comment section below, I would love to hear what you think or take a photo and tag me (@everylastbite_) on Instagram, I love seeing your photos!