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Cafe Rio Chicken

Home » Recipes » Mexican Food » Cafe Rio Chicken

Published September 2, 2020 Last Updated October 16, 2022 / By Sarah 23 Comments

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This Cafe Rio Chicken recipe is our favorite crockpot shredded chicken for tacos, or any Mexican-inspired meal! It’s delicious and SO easy to make! 

Three shredded chicken tacos topped with lettuce, onion, and jalapeño ranch taco sauce

There is a restaurant called Cafe Rio that we love. It is wildly popular – everything they make is amazing! We could eat it every day – which is why I have worked so hard to perfect their copycat recipes. It saves us a lot of money to be able to make our favorite restaurant dishes at home! 

Cafe Rio Chicken is super easy to make. You just dump all of the ingredients in the crockpot and then shred it when it’s done! 

If you make this, consider making our Chuy’s Jalapeño Ranch, Copycat Cafe Rio Pork and Cilantro Lime Rice to go along with it! Or make our delicious and easy Tres Leches Cake for dessert! Check all of our Mexican food recipes here.
*This post contains affiliate links.

Shredded chicken in a white bowl with cilantro garnish

These Crockpot Shredded Chicken tacos are so good, it’s one of the dishes I make when I have company over! It’s great for feeding a crowd and people always ask for the recipe. The shredded chicken is delicious in tacos, salads, enchiladas, nachos, burritos or even just over rice. You honestly can’t go wrong. 

What you need to make this:

  • Slow Cooker
  • Slow Cooker Liners (optional)
  • Chicken Breasts
  • Zesty Italian Dressing Packet
  • Ranch Dressing Packet
  • Cumin
  • Chili Powder
  • Garlic
  • Water

How to Make Cafe Rio Chicken 

Crockpot shredded chicken step by step collage

  1. Place chicken breasts in the bottom of the slow cooker. They can be frozen or thawed.
  2. Pour contents of Italian dressing and Ranch dressing packets over the chicken breasts.
  3. Add minced garlic, cumin, chili powder and water to slow cooker. 
  4. Turn on slow cooker on low for 6 hours or high for 3 hours. (I prefer to cook it on high for 3 hours.)

Remove chicken from slow cooker and put it into a medium bowl. Shred with forks.

Pro Tips:

Pour some of the liquid from the pot into the bowl to keep the chicken moist. 

Shredded Mexican chicken in a white bowl with cilantro on top

If you make this recipe, please leave us a comment and positive review. They mean a lot to us!

Crockpot shredded chicken for tacos in a white bowl with cilantro on top

Cafe Rio Chicken

This Copycat Cafe Rio Chicken recipe is the only recipe you're ever going to need for crockpot shredded chicken. It's so delicious, and easy to make with just six simple ingredients!
5 from 7 votes
Print Pin Rate
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 3 hours
Total Time: 3 hours 5 minutes
Servings: 8
Calories: 151kcal
Author: Pretty Providence

Video

Ingredients

  • 2 lbs chicken breasts frozen or thawed
  • 1 oz Italian dressing mix
  • 1 oz ranch dressing mix
  • ½ Tbsp minced garlic
  • ½ Tbsp chili powder
  • ½ Tbsp ground cumin
  • 1/2 cup water

Instructions

  • Place chicken in the bottom of the slow cooker.
  • Pour all other ingredients over the top of chicken and cook in the slow cooker on high for 3 hours or low 6 hours.
  • Shred chicken with forks. Pour some of the liquid from the crockpot into the bowl to keep the chicken moist. 

Nutrition

Calories: 151kcal | Carbohydrates: 4g | Protein: 24g | Fat: 3g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 73mg | Sodium: 778mg | Potassium: 436mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 180IU | Vitamin C: 1.5mg | Calcium: 11mg | Iron: 0.8mg
Did you make this recipe?Mention @prettyprovidenceblog or tag #prettyprovidence!

I hope you love it as much as we do!

xo,

Sarah

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Bri

    March 20, 2023 at 6:27 am

    Does the cooking time need adjusted if frozen chicken is being used instead of thawed?

    Reply
    • Sarah

      March 21, 2023 at 10:59 am

      No, the cook times are for either frozen or thawed! You could probably check the chicken sooner if your chicken is not frozen to start, it will cook through more quickly, but it’s also okay to stay in for the full time. That’s the beauty of the slow cooker.

      Reply
  2. L J Floyd

    June 02, 2022 at 2:07 pm

    Sounds good and I’m going to try it

    Reply
  3. Erin Merrill

    January 30, 2022 at 8:37 am

    5 stars
    Unreal delicious! Unreal easy! SO flavorful and perfect alone or in tacos. Thank you for sharing this go-to recipe … I will be using this weekly!

    Reply
    • Jessica

      February 03, 2022 at 10:08 am

      We are so so glad you liked it! It is basically in the weekly rotation for us as well. Thanks so much for coming back to review, we appreciate it!

      Reply
  4. Judy

    September 02, 2020 at 7:58 am

    This looks great and I’m planning to make it for Labor Day Weekend….what kind of sauce is that on top of the lettuce? Something homemade?

    Reply
    • Sarah

      September 02, 2020 at 9:05 pm

      It is this Jalapeño Ranch! https://prettyprovidence.com/jalapeno-ranch-dip/

      Reply
  5. Kim

    January 21, 2019 at 10:15 am

    8oz Italian seasoning packet? Thinking maybe this is a typo? Is it supposed to say 8 oz of Italian dressing? Or is it supposed to say one Italian dressing packet?

    Reply
    • Jessica

      January 23, 2019 at 1:52 pm

      So sorry! One italian seasoning packet!

      Reply
  6. Jess

    December 30, 2018 at 11:15 am

    So the only liquid is 1/2 a cup of water? The Italian packet is not made you just add the packet of seasoning?

    Reply
    • Sarah

      December 30, 2018 at 1:28 pm

      Yes, you just put the dry seasoning packet over the top of the chicken and then add 1/2 cup water to the slow cooker!

      Reply
  7. Jamielyn

    December 12, 2018 at 11:07 pm

    5 stars
    this chicken is so delicious! Perfect in tacos!

    Reply
    • Jessica

      December 14, 2018 at 12:59 pm

      Yes! Good in so many ways! Thank you!

      Reply
  8. Sabrina

    December 12, 2018 at 8:53 pm

    5 stars
    I need to try this so i’m No longer missing out! Sounds amazing!

    Reply
    • Jessica

      December 14, 2018 at 12:59 pm

      Haha yes you DO! It is so good!

      Reply
  9. Kara

    December 12, 2018 at 8:08 pm

    5 stars
    We love this stuff! It’s so easy and so flavorful. It makes great tacos, but my kids like to sneak and eat it plain. :)

    Reply
    • Jessica

      December 12, 2018 at 8:33 pm

      Haha my kids do that too! You are so sweet- thanks for the review!

      Reply
  10. Pam

    December 12, 2018 at 5:57 pm

    5 stars
    We’ve made this recipe for years! it’s a family favorite! Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
    • Jessica

      December 12, 2018 at 8:33 pm

      Yay! That is so fun to hear! Thank you so much for letting us know!

      Reply
  11. Becky Hardin

    December 12, 2018 at 3:08 pm

    5 stars
    Looks so easy! And delicioUs!

    Reply
    • Jessica

      December 12, 2018 at 8:33 pm

      It literally takes two minutes! It’s the best!

      Reply
  12. Linda skaggs

    September 17, 2018 at 6:13 pm

    5 stars
    So yummy and easy!

    Reply
    • Jessica

      September 19, 2018 at 12:50 pm

      Yay! I’m so glad you liked it! Thanks Linda!

      Reply

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Hey! We're Sarah and Jessica. We're BFF's and have known each other since we were 5 years old. This blog is our place to share all of our best recipes, tips, crafts and DIY projects.

You can read more about us on our about page and find us on instagram! We love making new friends.

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