Getting ready for the biggest night in Football each year is something I have always looked forward to. Buffalo Chicken anything and Mexican dishes are two of my favorite foods. Game day is always a good excuse to go a little overboard with the snacks – however, with kickoff after 6pm, regular football season snacks are underwhelming in my opinion unless chips and dip are cool for you and your family as dinner.

Instead of accepting dips, fried chicken and crudités as supper for your family, make this healthier Game Day dinner instead that stills feels share worthy for a crowd and easy to eat with your fingers while watching Cam and Peyton battle it out. To make this recipe, you don’t need to go to a fancy grocery store. I got all my ingredients at the Star Market (former Shaws) in Back Bay. I wore Tommy in my baby K’tan to pick them up making it an easy outing with my newborn son.

Salsa Chicken Soft Taco Boats

This recipe is made with my favorite slow cooker recipe, salsa chicken. I’ve tried making it with various salsas and I must say some taste better than others. The ones that come in a jar by far taste better than the kind you get in the refrigerator section. Trust me. Old El Paso™ is one of my favorites to use for this recipe because it adds a ton of flavor and I don’t have to add any extra seasoning to it. Star Market had a sale going on and It was less than $3 a jar.

You literally just add the entire jar of salsa and 1-2 lbs of chicken breasts or thighs to your slow cooker. If set on high, it may be done in 5 hours. If set to low, allow at least 7. I like it to cook extra long personally. It really helps the chicken fall apart.

I used frozen chicken breasts too this time. I put them into my slow cooker still frozen and they came out just perfect. After about 4 hours on high or 6 hours on low, pull apart chicken breast. I like to let it sit for another hour or two and repeat. Chicken should be ready to go. The longer it cooks, the more liquid the chicken absorbs. Cook too little, you’ll be left with extra liquid. Cook too long and it will be too dry. Keep an eye on it. I would prefer to too long because you can always add more salsa!

Next, I decided to use these Old El Paso Soft Taco Boats. There was a coupon on the MyMixx to save $1.00 when purchasing one package of Old El Paso taco shells and two avocados. It’s good until 2/9/16 – just download the free app to use it. The taco boats make it easy to serve and eat tacos at a party. When you go to pick one up to bite, the juices don’t all slash all over the place.

You can eat 4 of them for just 160 calories. I toasted them up lightly in the oven at 350F for about 7 minutes. I first put in a the salsa chicken. Then I topped each one with a little bit of avocado and shredded lettuce. You of course could add cheese and sour cream as well, but I found the simplicity to be just perfect.

Here is the full recipe

Makes 24 taco boats.

Ingredients

• 1 jar Chunky Salsa
• 1.5-2 lbs Chicken (breast or thighs)
• 2 packages Old El Paso Mini Taco Boats
• Lettuce
• Avocado

Directions

Put salsa and chicken in a slow cooker on low for 6 hours or high for 4. Separate chicken with a fork and let cook for another 1-2 hours on low. Preheat oven to 350F. Place taco boats on a cookie sheet and cook for 10 minutes. Remove from oven. Fill with a heaping scoop of chicken. Try to avoid excess liquid. Top with sliced lettuce and avocado. Add cheese, sour cream or more salsa if desired! Enjoy.

What are you making this Sunday?

Get more Game Day recipes from Old El Paso here. 

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Albertsons. The opinions and text are all mine.