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These Caribbean Pulled Chicken Lettuce Wraps are a fresh, healthy, flavor-packed meal. They’re made with juicy shreds of sweet, spicy, smoky chicken topped with a simple and fresh mango salsa.
Easy Pulled Chicken Recipe
This Caribbean Pulled Chicken is one of our favorite slow cooker chicken recipes of all time!
It’s your favorite cut of chicken slow cooked with a delicious combination of sweet, savory, and flavorful spices to create a mouthwatering, hearty, yet light meal.
Our favorite way to serve this chicken is in lettuce wraps, but it can also be eaten over rice, in tacos, or just straight out of the crockpot with a fork…or your fingers.
Yes, it’s that tasty. I love making this chicken at the beginning of the week to have for lunches or dinners all week long.
Ingredients Needed for Caribbean Pulled Chicken:
- Chicken: Make sure you’re using boneless, skinless chicken.
- Veggies: We’re using a blend of fresh bell pepper, onion, and jalapeño as well as a little bit of canned diced tomatoes.
- Chicken Broth: Adds tons of flavor and moisture to the chicken.
- Aromatics: We’re brightening the flavors up a bit with freshly minced garlic and cilantro.
- Lime Juice: Lime juice adds a bright, citrus flavor and helps tenderize the meat as it cooks.
- Spice Rub: Our spice blend consists of a sweet and spicy blend of ground ginger, cumin, sea salt, black pepper, all spice, paprika, and coconut sugar.
- Mango Salsa: Feel free to use store-bought mango salsa or whip up a simple homemade batch using mangos, diced red onion, chopped cilantro, and lime juice.
- For Serving: Bibb lettuce (or another type of lettuce you prefer), avocado, tomato, or any other add-ons of your choice.
How to Make Pulled Chicken
This tasty pulled chicken recipe comes together with just 10 minutes of hands-on time! With a homemade salsa too!
- Combine and cook: In your slow cooker, combine the chicken, tomatoes, broth, veggies, garlic, lime juice, cilantro, and seasonings. Mix well, then cook on high for 3 hours.
- Make the salsa: In a bowl, combine all of the salsa ingredients, then set in the fridge.
- Shred and serve: Once the chicken is done cooking, shred it right in the crockpot, then serve as desired.
What is the Easiest Way to Shred Chicken?
I find the easiest way is to leave the chicken in the crockpot and use two forks to gently pull it apart!
Alternatively, you can use a hand mixer to shred the chicken.
Serving Suggestions
My favorite way to serve this crock pot pulled chicken is on lettuce wraps topped with avocado, tomato, and the homemade mango salsa!
If you’re looking to serve the shredded chicken another way, you can enjoy it on burger buns or slider buns, in a taco or a burrito, or mixed into a rice or quinoa bowl with your favorite toppings.
Looking for a side dish to serve alongside your Caribbean chicken? Here are a few ideaas:
Frequently Asked Questions
There isn’t one! Shredded chicken and pulled chicken are just two terms to describe the same thing.
You can use whatever cut of chicken you prefer for this recipe. Just be sure that it’s boneless and skinless.
Caribbean chicken definitely does not have just one identifiable taste. It pretty much hits every flavor it could. There’s a little bit of sweetness, spiciness, smokiness, and tanginess. So, long story short, it’s totally flavor-packed and mouthwateringly delicious.
Tips and Notes for Caribbean Pulled Chicken
- Mix everything well. Once you combine everything in the slow cooker, make sure you mix it all up thoroughly to evenly distribute all of those flavors before cooking.
- Let the chicken rest after cooking. I recommend letting the chicken sit for 10 minutes before shredding it. This gives the flavor and moisture time to redistribute back into the meat.
- Drain before serving if needed. If you notice a lot of excess moisture, I recommend using a slotted spoon to scoop the shredded chicken out of the pot so some of that moisture can drain. If there’s too much, you’ll end up with a mess.
- Need more time? Simply cook on low instead. Just plan for 6 hours rather than 3.
How to Store
Leftover shredded chicken will last in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days or in the freezer for 2-3 months.
When you’re ready to serve, thaw the chicken overnight in the fridge if frozen, then warm either in the microwave or on low on the stove over medium-low heat with a splash of broth to moisten if needed.
More Crockpot Chicken Recipes to Try
- Slow Cooker Chicken and Veggie Dinner
- Two Ingredient Salsa Chicken
- Slow Cooker Whole Chicken
- Classic Chicken Soup
Watch the video:
Caribbean Pulled Chicken Lettuce Wraps [VIDEO]
Ingredients
Caribbean Pulled Chicken:
- 1 1/2 pounds boneless and skinless chicken
- 1/2 cup diced canned tomatoes
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1 bell pepper diced
- 1 onion diced
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1 jalapeno minced
- Juice of 1 lime
- 1/2 cup cilantro chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 tablespoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon all spice
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon coconut sugar
Mango Salsa:
- 3 mangos diced
- 1/3 cup diced red onion
- 1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
- Juice of 1/2 lime
Everything Else:
- Head of butter lettuce or lettuce leaves of choice
- 1 avocado sliced
- Any other add-ins you’d like
Instructions
- Place all of the pulled chicken ingredients into the insert of your slow cooker. Mix to combine flavors, then put on high for 3 hours.
- While it’s cooking, prepare the mango salsa: In a bowl toss together all ingredients and set aside in the refrigerator until ready to use.
- When the chicken is done, shred with two forks and mix into the sauce. Let sit for 10 minutes, covered.
- Assemble lettuce wraps, top with mango salsa and other desired toppings, like avocado and tomato, and serve.
This was so good – my family LOVED it, nice to have a different twist on taco night! Lexi – you never disappoint!
This turned more liquedy than anticipated and the broth was too good, so I just turned into a soup. Just as delicious!
Do you reccomend bonless thighs or boneless breasts? And would they both cook for 3hours in low?
Does this freeze well?
What’s your stance on putting frozen chicken in the slow cooker? Came across this recipe and can’t wait to try – but am I better off waiting for chicken to thaw?
I followed the instructions. However, I checked the chicken after 1 1/2 hours and it was done, starting to get a bit dry. Nest time I’ll check my slow cooker after 1 hour.The liquid left in the pot tho was delicious. I reduced it and then mixed it with the shredded chicken. I added some jalapeno to the salsa for some heat. Very tasty, I recommend this recipe
Yum!!!! So tasty and very easy. Obviously not a last minute dinner but I will try it in the pressure cooker next time if I fail to plan. Such a great recipe to double or triple…leftovers were amazing but went way too quickly!!! And seriously…mango salsa…yes please.
Could you replace the coconut sugar with honey?
I haven’t tried that 🙂
So good! Lots of flavor and very easy recipe to follow. And the mango salsa was amazing!
Loved the Mango Salsa!
The chicken and mango salsa were both flavorful and delicious. I cooked this in my Instant Pot for 15 minutes and it turned out perfectly. My only complaint was the “drippiness” of the chicken in the lettuce, made for a super messy meal, but not any fault of the recipe’s! Next time I’ll just be sure to strain it out as much as possible before putting in wraps.
Perfect combo with the mango salsa! Simple and easy to throw together but packed with flavor. The lettuce wrap was a great touch and added some crunch.
Made this in my Instant Pot tonight. I reduced the broth to 1/2 cup, removed the chicken after 12 minutes at high pressure, and then let the liquid reduce! I ran out of mangoes so I made pineapple salsa. Delicious over caulirice.!
Found this recipe through Skinnytaste. Is there nutrition per serving information available for this recipe?
Hi Morgan! Here you go! Pulled chicken nutrition information per serving: 232 calories, 6 grams of carbohydrates, and 37 grams of protein.
Full Lettuce wrap nutrition information per serving: 264 calories, 17 grams of carbohydrates, and 114 grams of protein! Let us know if you have any other questions. Hope you LOVE if you try it!
Trying to figure out how a serving of the chicken has 37 grams of protein but as a lettuce wrap has 114 grams. Where do the 70 extra grams come from.? They look amazing gbut trying to figure that out
The mango salsa and lettuce and things have protein in them! Many don’t realize that!
Do you have the nutrition count per serving?
Do you think this would work in a pressure cooker?
Yes!
Those flavors sound amazing! I’m always looking for new ways to revamp good ole chicken. Thanks for the inspiration!
– MAK
I really need to start using my slow cooker more often to make easy but delicious dinners like these lettuce wraps! So full of yummy flavor that I would love!
All of these slow cooker recipes sound so amazing! I’m digging this Caribbean flare you’ve got going on. I’m all about pulled pork, and lettuce wraps are always a winner. That mango salsa? Delish!
This sounds like one FLAVOR BOMB of a meal, which is totally my kinda food! Can’t wait to try this for dinner! Pinned!