Mexican Chicken and Black Bean Tacos with Jicama Tortillas
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Mexican Chicken and Black Bean Tacos with Jicama Tortillas

Tacos with a new twist-you won’t believe these jicama tortillas! 

Robinsbite intern Krista Miller takes the lead on this month’s Recipe Redux.

 

When I was given the challenge to make a summer dish in a slow cooker/Instapot/pressure cooker, I was at a complete loss!! My cooking skills are admittedly minimal and I’ve never used a crockpot before, nor did I grow up eating anything cooked in a crockpot. I’ve always affiliated the crock pot being used during the fall and winter seasons for soups, stews and other heartier foods that keep you warm. But tacos? 

Once I started researching for this challenge, I realized how multi-functional Slow Cooker/Instant Pot/Pressure Cookers are and how easy and convenient they are to use. This is a huge benefit for someone like me–a novice in the kitchen.   

Since I love chicken and eat it at least 4 times a week, I decided to create a chicken and black bean taco recipe, but with a very untraditional twist. I recently came across these jicama tortillas. at our local HEB/Central Market grocery store.  Have you ever seen these?  Not only are they extremely low calorie (8 calories per tortilla), they are mild in flavor and have a crisp texture. They held up very nicely to my chicken and bean mixture and had a fresh flavor. It was a nice change of pace from traditional tacos. 

The recipe was so simple-I just tossed the chicken in the crockpot with salsa, taco seasoning and black beans and that was it!  By the time I finished my schoolwork and ran a few errands, it was ready.  This recipe was a huge success! Not only did my boyfriend love it (we ate it 4 times in a row), Robin created and served her own version of this recipe before I could even finish this post. Instead of tortillas, she served them with chips and made a nacho using the chicken mixture. I couldn’t believe how easy it was and that I’d been missing out using this wonderful invention all these years. The crockpot will definitely make more frequent appearances from now on! 

 

Mexican Chicken and Black Bean Tacos with Jicama Tortillas

 

Ingredients

Servings: 8

2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts

1 jar of commercial salsa

1 T. taco seasoning mix

1 can Cuban style black beans, drained and rinsed

juice of 1 lime

8 jicama tortillas

2 cups chopped fresh spinach

1 cup light Mexican shredded cheese

 

Directions

  1. Place chicken, beans, salsa and lime juice in a crock pot. Cover with lid and cook on low heat for 4 hours.

  2. Remove chicken from crock pot and place on a large cutting board. Shed chicken apart with two forks.

  3. Return shredded chicken to the crock pot and keep warm until ready to eat.

  4. Once ready to eat, remove chicken with tongs to drain juices before serving in tortillas.

  5. Place shredded chicken mixture in each jicama tortilla, top with spinach, cheese and any additional garnishes as desired.

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13 Comments
  • Kathryn Pfeffer
    Posted at 20:45h, 24 July

    This looks amazing! I have never tried jicama and need to find these now!

    • Robin
      Posted at 13:46h, 26 July

      I hope you can find them in your local area!!

  • Whitney @ To Live & Diet in L.A.
    Posted at 11:47h, 25 July

    These jicama “tortillas” are so cool!! I definitely need to try these!

    • Robin
      Posted at 13:47h, 26 July

      Right? I’d only recently seen these and my genius intern decided to take a stab using them—hope you like them!

  • Sarah Remmer
    Posted at 18:47h, 25 July

    Mmm I can’t wait to try these!

    • Robin
      Posted at 13:47h, 26 July

      Thanks, Sara!!

  • Jessica @Nutritioulicious
    Posted at 20:16h, 25 July

    These look SO good Robin! I’ve never heard of jicama tortillas, but totally want to give them a try now!

    • Robin
      Posted at 13:47h, 26 July

      Thanks, Jess! 🙂

  • Jodi Robinson
    Posted at 21:11h, 25 July

    Ohhhh jicama — you don’t see that used very often! Thanks for sharing your creative idea!

    • Robin
      Posted at 13:48h, 26 July

      Hi Jodi! You are very welcome.
      I’d never seen them before this summer! My super smart intern decided to go for it and came up with this great taco recipe!

  • EA The Spicy RD
    Posted at 15:13h, 26 July

    Yum! I am SO intrigued by these jicama tortillas. Leave it to Central Market to have them 🙂

    • Robin
      Posted at 21:15h, 26 July

      Right?? EA, have you ever seen them in your area?

  • Catherine Brown
    Posted at 11:17h, 31 July

    I love jicama, but I’ve never seen jicama tortillas! Going to have to look for these 😉