Low Carb Chicken Taquitos w Marinated Avocado Shrimp Salad
Make this south-of-the-border recipe fresh for the best-tasting meal at your dinner table. This is also a great lunch recipe if you have a little time on your hands! Chicken “taquitos” are made with a crispy mozzarella cheese “tortilla” wrapped around a spicy chicken filling. The chicken filling is made in your Crock Pot, so this meal is much easier to make than you may think. You can either start the chicken early in the day or have a meal ready to throw together after coming home from work! Served on the side of hot taquitos are a cold, marinated avocado shrimp salad. Shrimp and avocado are cooked in a mixture of lime juice and salt in your refrigerator. The salad may be better known as Ceviche!
How to Make It
Step 1
Prepare whole chicken breasts by patting them dry with a paper towel and placing them in the bottom of a Crock Pot. Sprinkle the salt, pepper, cumin, paprika, and cayenne pepper over the chicken. If you don’t want a lot of spice, you can omit the cayenne pepper. Spoon dice tomatoes and chilis over the chicken, followed by 1-2 bay leaves. Cube the butter and arrange the pieces on top of the chicken.
Step 2
Cook the chicken in the Crock Pot on high heat for 4 hours. You may also cook on low heat for 8 hours. When the chicken is done cooking, remove the bay leaves and use a pair of forks to shred all the chicken. While the shredded chicken is still hot in the Crock Pot, stir in the shredded cheddar. Transfer the shredded spicy cheesy chicken to a new container to cool.
Step 3
During the final hour of the chicken cooking in the Crock Pot, make the avocado shrimp salad. Peel and devein your shrimp, if necessary, and chop into small pieces. In a large mixing bowl, mix the chopped shrimp with chopped avocado, salt, paprika, garlic, and lime juice. Make sure the shrimp is completely coated in lime juice before wrapping and marinating the salad in your refrigerator for 30-60 minutes.
Step 4
While the chicken is cooling and the salad is marinating, you can make the taquito cheese “tortillas”. You’ll want to keep the chicken warm, but not hot. Preheat an oven to 350 degrees and line a sheet tray with parchment paper. Arrange 2 slices of mozzarella cheese per serving on the sheet tray. Bake the tray in the oven for 8-10 minutes or until the cheese bubbles through the center of each slice and the edges of the slices turn golden and crispy.
Step 5
Remove the tray of cheese slices from the oven and let them cool for 30-60 seconds. They will cool to a pliable texture just before hardening. Use a spoon to transfer about 1 ½ TB of shredded chicken filling along the left side of each cheese slice, vertically, as pictured. Use your fingers or a spatula to lift the left edge of each cheese slice and roll it over the chicken filling. Roll up the filling in each cheese slice until you have rolled chicken taquitos.
Step 6
For serving, serve 4 taquitos with about 3 ½ ounces of avocado shrimp salad per person. You can garnish the dish with chopped cilantro or extra lime juice. At your discretion, you can include sour cream, Keto salsa, or Keto guacamole on the side for dipping the taquitos. You can store leftover taquitos in your refrigerator for later, but discard any leftover salad that isn’t eaten that day.
Ingredients
- Chicken Breast Boneless Skinless Raw
10 oz
- Salt
¼ teaspoon
- Black Pepper
¼ teaspoon
- Cumin, Ground
½ teaspoon
- Paprika
½ teaspoon
- Cayenne
¼ teaspoon
- Petite Diced Tomatoes With Green Chiles by Red Gold
3 tablespoon
- Bay Leaf
1 gram
- Unsalted Butter
½ tablespoon
- Cheddar Cheese
½ cup, shredded
- Shrimp Raw
4 large
- Avocado
3 ounce
- Salt
¼ teaspoon
- Paprika
½ teaspoon
- Garlic
¼ teaspoon
- Lime Juice, Fresh
2 tablespoon
- Mozzarella Cheese
8 slice- each 3/4 ounce