Since I began as a CaresTeam, we have scheduled at least one large free food gathering per month for our apartment complex. From summer pool-side BBQs to Thanksgiving dinners, I’ve learned in the past four years to cook for a crowd on a small budget in a tiny kitchen. One of my favorite monthly events we host is Taco Tuesday/Thursday. Growing up in ‘North Mexico’, my standard of good Mexican food is pretty high, so I must warn you this is not the most authentic taco recipe ever. However, to their benefit, they take very little effort and taste amazing. Plus, if you’re into cooking once or twice a week for the rest of the week, you can make as little or much as you need of this recipe and reuse the leftover meat for countless dishes.

Spicy Chicken Taco Meat:
The morning before you plan on serving the tacos, place the chicken cut of your choice in a crockpot. I prefer to use boneless, skinless chicken breasts when I can find them on-sale, but have used skinless, split-breasts (removing the bones before I served the meat) and boneless chicken thighs, too. Over the chicken,
I pour the miraculous El Pato sauce in a ratio of one small can to 2-3 lbs of chicken. (El Pato is a hot tomato sauce made with fresh chiles, tomatoes, onions, cilantro and garlic. I use it for everything!) Just remember, the more
El Pato… the spicier the chicken. Whether to cook the chicken on high or low depends on the size of your crockpot, amount of chicken you’re cooking, and time you have to cook it. Usually, I place the chicken in on low for 6-8 hours or high for 4-5 hours. Make sure to keep the lid on and add water if needed to keep the mixture from drying out. The chicken should literally shred itself as it cooks.

Another Hint: Thirty minutes before I serve the chicken, I take it out (keeping it warm) and add another can of El Pato, two small cans of Salsa Casera, and boiling water to the spicy chicken broth mixture left in the crockpot. Then, I add instant rice to this mixture and cover keeping the ratio 1.5 parts liquid to 1 part rice for instant spicy Spanish rice!

Green Chili Beef Taco Meat:
I make green chili beef the same way with just a few modifications. First of all, when I can find it on-sale ($2/lb) I prefer to use London broil but have also used pork loin and various roasts when needed. Instead of El Pato, I use Herdez’s Salsa Verde, a Mexican salsa with tomatillos, chiles, onions, garlic and cilantro, for beef and pork in a ratio of a 16 oz. jar of salsa to every 3-4 lbs of meat using half at the start and the rest about an hour before serving. Keep in mind, London broil tends to take longer to cook than chicken so make sure to cook it on high for at least 8 hours before serving. This mixture will need to be shredded with a fork before serving. If it doesn’t shred easily, it’s not cooked completely.

The best part of these meats is you can use them in so many ways. Usually, I serve them on corn tortillas that I’ve quickly dipped in hot oil, hard taco shells, or soft-taco sized flour tortillas with a wide range of condiments including cheese, sour cream, guacamole, lettuce, tomatoes, rice, beans, and salsa. However, you can make taco salads, enchiladas, nachos, taquitos, or anything else you can come up with. So the next time you need to feed a hundred for less than $0.60 a person or are looking to make dinner easily while you’re at work for the day… these tacos are the way to go, I promise.