Slow Cooker Jerk Chicken Tacos

Spicy slow-cooked jerk chicken tacos feature fall-apart tender chicken cooked in a spicy homemade jerk sauce and topped with a fresh pineapple slaw.

Your next taco night is about to get a serious level-up! In the direction of insanely tender jerk chicken slow cooked for hours and a whole mess of colorful pineapple slaw on top.

I mean, how much goodness can one little tortilla even hold?? As it turns out, a lot.

These tacos are a pretty hands-off dinner which is absolutely the best part! You can cook the chicken many hours in advance and then when it’s time to serve you’ll only need a minute to pull together a quick slaw and warm up some tortillas.

Best taco night ever, you can be sure of that.

These Tacos Feature…

• Juicy fall-apart tender chicken slow cooked in a homemade jerk sauce
• A sweet pineapple slaw
• Soft charred tortillas

Making the Tacos

(scroll down to the bottom of the post for the full recipe)

Ingredients You Will Need

• Scotch bonnet peppers
• Garlic
• Ginger
• Green onion
• Parsley
• Lime
• Brown sugar
• Soy sauce
• Allspice
• Thyme
• Nutmeg
• Chicken breasts
• Cabbage
• Pineapple
• Cilantro
• Mayonnaise
• Honey
• Tortillas

Choosing Your Chicken

I recommend using boneless skinless chicken breasts for this recipe as this lean cut is ideal for slow cooking and breaks down into a tender texture that easily shreds apart. You will need about 2 lbs total which should equal about 3 medium breasts.

Tips for Perfect Jerk Chicken

1. Use fresh peppers, herbs, and lime in jerk sauce – you can’t beat the flavor these fresh ingredients will give the sauce.
2. Blend sauce – a blender or food processor will break the ingredients down into a smooth sauce.
3. Slow cook chicken 2-3 hours on high or 5-6 hours on low – the chicken is done when it can easily be pulled apart with a fork.
4. Assemble slaw just before serving – the slaw will get soggy the longer it sits so wait until just before serving to assemble for the best texture.
5. Warm tortillas – heat tortillas 30-60 seconds on each side in a hot cast iron until lightly browned.

Recipe Variations

Try these ideas for a different twist on these tacos.

• Adjust heat level – start with one scotch bonnet pepper and work your way up to taste. Alternatively, for a spicier flavor use three peppers.
• Use another fruit – replace the pineapple with mango or peaches.
• Top tacos with additional toppings – try fresh avocado, a crema, fresh tomatoes, or squeezed lime wedges.
• Make into bowls – start with a base of steamed rice and top with chicken and slaw.

Meal Prep Instructions

Follow these instructions for meal prepping the tacos.

• Slow cook the chicken – cook the chicken and store in refrigerator up to 6 days. The chicken may also be frozen up to 2 months.
• Prep slaw ingredients – combine the cabbage, pineapple, and cilantro in a bowl and store in refrigerator up to 4 days. Whisk mayonnaise, lime juice, and honey and store separately in refrigerator up to 4 days.
• Assembly – when ready to serve tacos, warm the tortillas, reheat the jerk chicken, toss the slaw with the dressing, and build into tacos.

The jerk chicken in these tacos is absolutely EVERYTHING! The herby, spicy jerk sauce infuses so much flavor into the chicken while it cooks and that fresh pineapple slaw on top pulls all the flavors together.

Trust me, this is one taco you won’t soon forget!

Save this recipe using the ‘save to recipe box’ button below. If you make it, please let us know! Leave a comment + star rating below, or take a photo and tag it on Instagram with #wholeandheavenlyoven.

Try these other taco favorites next time!

• Barbacoa Beef Tacos
• Chipotle Steak Tacos
• Cilantro Lime Shrimp Tacos

This post was updated with new recipe adjustments and photos on 3/26/26.