The Best Chicken Tinga Tacos Recipe

comment icon 473 more comments A) Look how pretty!! B) Imagine how good they taste because juicy chicken, smoky chipotle, creamy avocado, zippy lime, and a charred tortilla just SING together, right? I promise you, they sing. C) Do you have 20 minutes? Cool. You can make these because this is not fancy. This is just really, really delicious chicken tinga tacos. This is one of those rare recipes that comes together so quickly and somehow still rivals a restaurant-quality meal. It is a recipe that, once you make it, you say: I will probably make these chicken tinga tacos every time I have friends over because it makes me look fancy with minimal effort. You also say: I need to memorize this recipe. You also say: How soon is too soon to make these again. It is a miracle and a delight. A perfect taco unicorn.

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Speaking of minimal, two things. One: This recipe is from my friend Melissa’s cookbook coming out TOMORROW YO called The Minimalist Kitchen (affiliate link). It is a beautiful, inspiring, and (here’s my favorite part) practical cookbook. Oh, hey, and one other thing! It’s also more than a cookbook. Melissa’s expertise isn’t just real life recipes – it’s getting your kitchen life structured in a way that removes the clutter and stress while bringing the art and the craft and the joy (!!) back to cooking. You should definitely, absolutely get this book. I do not recommend cookbooks often, because, well, mostly we all just buy cookbooks and then get all our recipes online. I only recommend the ones I really think will be worth your while. This is one that will be well-loved with splattered and dog-eared pages. This is one for real life. This will be worth your while. Two: Naturally, being that this chicken tinga tacos recipe is from The Minimalist Kitchen cookbook, it is minimal. Here’s what you do. You take the usual suspects (garlic, onion, spices, chipotles, and some unpictured crushed tomatoes) and you make a sauce out of them. Then you throw your sauce in a pan with your chicken. Then you have chicken tinga for your chicken tinga tacos. It’s that easy. Avocado is necessary for these tacos (and/or for life?!?!), so you can either put some chunks of avocado on the tacos as Classy Melissa does in the book, or you can be like me who needs help with messy taco situations and you can just mash up your avocado on the bottom of the tortilla, like a little spread. Pro tip: a little lime and garlic salt in your avocado mash won’t be sad. It won’t be sad at all. Obviously, finally, you will lean hard into those toppings and generously sprinkle cilantro, red onion, and cotija over top to crown each beauty. And if you want to make it a full-scale meal, I highly recommend some green rice on the side. HELLO LOVER! That was so easy! Can you even with these. Really love chicken tacos? For our easiest, most mindless chicken tacos, you need this recipe – my whole family is OBSESSED with these tacos.

View the freezer meal version of this recipe here. 4.9 from 180 reviews

1 tablespoon olive oil 1 cup roughly chopped sweet onion 2 cloves garlic, minced 1–2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, chopped 1 teaspoon dried oregano 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin 3/4 cup canned crushed fire-roasted tomatoes 1/4 cup chicken stock 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt 3 cups shredded cooked chicken (rotisserie chicken works!)

For Serving:

10 (6-inch) corn tortillas 2 ripe avocados, sliced 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro 1/2 cup diced red onion 1/4 cup crumbled cotija 1 lime, cut into wedges

Spiciness: I like to use two chipotle peppers for optimal “medium” spiciness. If you want a mild version, just use one chipotle pepper. If you want it hot hot hot, go for three. Avocado Mash: I found my avocados sliding out of the tacos because I am a taco monster and things got a little messy. To make sure I got every ounce of avocado goodness possible, I mashed up the avocado, squeezed in some lime juice, sprinkled in some salt and a super light dusting of garlic powder, and spread that on my tortillas before adding the chicken. CHAR YOUR TORTILLAS PLEASE: Place directly over a gas flame to char the edges. Place on a plate, and cover with a towel to steam. (If working on an electric stovetop, heat the tortillas on a warmed pan, and cover to steam.) Freezer Meal Version Pickled Onions – I like to add pickled onions to add an extra umph to this recipe. Go all in with this guide to onions. You might also like our full freezer meals post.