Within 24 hours of creating this shredded chicken taco recipe and posting a pic of it on my Instagram, my DM's were full of friends requesting I cook it for them.
I had made the pulled chicken filling earlier in the week and had some leftover and thought...I know what to do with this. I stuffed it into tacos with some cheese and baked it and now I'm not sure which iteration of this dish I prefer but boy...it's a good one.
Some recipes are made for sharing with friends. And these shredded chicken tacos is one of them. Load up the table with guacamole, sweetcorn salsa, sour cream, grated cheese and some rice or taco shells and you have yourself a party. And if you want to really make people love you, do as I did and bake them in the oven for a crispy outside and a cheese pull of dreams.
Inspired by a Mexican Pollo Tinga, the tender shredded chicken can be as hot and spicy as you like and is lighter than using pork or beef.
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Ingredients
- Chicken thighs
- Chipotle paste
- Mexican dried oregano
- Cumin
- Dried chilli flakes
- Garlic powder
- Ground coriander
- Bell pepper
- White onion
- Oil
- Tinned tomatoes
- Soft taco shells
- Grated low moisture mozzarella
- Sour cream
- Lime juice
- Sweetcorn
- Shallot
- Cherry tomatoes
- Fresh coriander
See the recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
First we make the chicken. Marinade the thighs in the chipotle paste and leave in the fridge whilst you prep everything else.
Peel the onion and slice in half. De-seed the bell pepper and place both on an oven tray. Bake at 200C/400F for 30 minutes until slightly charred.
Remove the skins from the pepper.
In a non stick frying pan with no oil, toast the spice mix for a minute until fragrant.
Add the spices, bell pepper, onion and tin of tomatoes to a food processor and blend until smooth.
In a thick bottomed casserole pot, heat some oil and fry the chicken until browned on both sides. Add the sauce and allow to cook together for 20 minutes.
Using two forks, shred the chicken, season with salt and pepper and leave to cook for a further 15-20 minutes.
Meanwhile, make your sweetcorn salsa by mixing the corn, cherry tomatoes, diced shallot, lime juice and fresh coriander in a bowl.
Now prep your shredded chicken tacos!
Lay the soft taco shells on a baking tray and scatter over some grated cheese before adding some of the shredded chicken.
Fold and close the tacos before baking them on a lined tray in the oven for 10-20 minutes until the outside is crispy and the cheese is melted.
Serve with the sweetcorn salsa and drizzled in sour cream.
Hint: Don't buy ready grated cheese from the supermarkets. They have to use a chemical on it that stops it clumping together in the packet and this same chemical stops it from melting properly. So if you want a proper, gooey melted cheese pull...grate it yourself.
Variations and substitutions
Here are a few ways to make this shredded chicken taco recipe suit you.
- Gluten free - Use corn flour tortilla shells
- Healthy(er) - Eat your taco filling by itself with brown rice or cauliflower rice
- Vegetarian - Use Jackfruit instead of chicken
Equipment
I always use Le Creuset to cook with, they are well worth the price point and last forever.
Storage
Store the wet ingredients (chicken, salsa, sour cream etc) separately from the dry ingredients (taco shells) in the fridge, and recombine when ready. Good for 2-3 days.
These ingredients don't stand up well to freezing.
Top tip
Use chicken thighs and not breast for this recipe so that the meat stays moist and juicy.
📖 Recipe
Shredded chicken taco recipe
Equipment
- Blender
Ingredients
- 1 kg (2.2 lb) boneless chicken thighs
- 3 tablespoon chipotle paste
- 16 soft taco shells
- 200 grams (2 cups) mozzarella cheese (use low moisture)
Sauce
- 1 large white onion
- 2 bell peppers
- 400 grams (1 lb) tomatoes (one can)
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon chillli flakes
- 1 teaspoon dried Mexican oregano
Sweetcorn salsa
- 150 grams (5 oz) sweet corn
- 150 grams (1 cup) cherry tomatoes
- 1 shallot
- 1 lime
- 3 tablespoon fresh coriander
Instructions
- Marinade the chicken in the chipotle paste and leave in the fridge whilst prepping everything else
- Peel the onion and slice in half. De-seed the bell pepper and place both on an oven tray. Bake at 200C/400F for 30 minutes or until slightly charred.
- Remove the skins from the bell peppers
- In a non-stick frying pan with no oil, toast the spice mix for a minute util fragrant.
- Add the spices, bell pepper, onion and tinned tomatoes to a food processor and blend until smooth.
- In a thick bottomed casserole pot, heat some oil and fry the chicken until browned on both sides. Add the sauce and allow to cook together for 20 minutes.
- Using two forks, shred the chicken, season with salt and pepper and leave to cook for a further 15-20 minutes.
- Meanwhile, make your sweetcorn salsa by mixing the corn, cherry tomatoes, diced shallot, lime juice and fresh coriander in a bowl.
- Now prep your shredded chicken tacos!
- Lay the soft taco shells on a baking tray and scatter over some grated cheese before adding two tablespoons of the shredded chicken to each one.
- Fold and close the tacos before baking them in the oven for 10-20 minutes until the outside is crispy and the cheese is melted.
- Serve drizzled in sour cream and with the sweetcorn salsa on the side
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