Easy Weeknight Chicken Tacos. {Video!}
Are you mourning the continued nonexistence of the taco emoji?
I am.
I mean, what the heck? How do the emoji people think that we don’t need a taco emoji? The taco emoji HAS to be the most requested emoji. Right? Ugh. Whatever.
Real or cartooned tacos, let’s talk about these ones. GUYS.
I cannot even count the number of times we have eaten these exact tacos in the last few weeks.
Actually wait. Yes I can.
At least 16. Yep – SIXTEEN. I say that because Max is almost 18 weeks now and we have had these tacos at least once a week since right around Christmas, soon after he was born.
We are slightly obsessed.
Also, I realize I should stop saying that word “obsessed.” It’s so over. We’re all over it. I think someone told me to stop saying it in HIGH SCHOOL.
Clearly I’m not over that.
Anyhoo. Let me tell you things.
This is what we love about these, in no particular order (ooh we fancy today):
…The chicken thighs. I highly, highly, highly suggest you try this with the boneless, skinless chicken thighs. I know I’ve been ranting and raving about them forever now, but they make such a huge difference here. This chicken is done in 30 minutes: you sear it, release some of the fat and juices, then roast it and shred it with spices. Toss is back with the juice and OMG – super moist and wonderful.
…They taste fantastically old school but also kind of new school (which is really old, anyway) authentic, too. And when I say that, I mean they have that comfort food feel – think ground beef tacos made with an old el paso seasoning packet (which is basically cumin, cumin, cayenne and – you guessed it – cumin) and mixed with yellow cheddar and iceberg lettuce. You know? Please tell me you had this growing up. My mom still makes it once a week these days.
These tacos have a bit of that flavor, what with our own seasoning spices and all – but also have a little trendy taco truck taste too. The quick pico de gallo, crumbled queso freso and crema contribute to that.
…They are ridiculously customizable. Duh.
…They don’t come out of the crock pot. Don’t get me wrong, I’m no stranger to the slow cooker. But sometimes I forget, I don’t prep my stuff in time to make a crockpot meal, and occasionally I just find that recipes in a slow cooker taste… like… a slow cooker. Do you get me? This method keeps the chicken flavorful and moist but almost a little crispy – sort of like carnitas. Now with that being said, if you want to do the crockpot? Do the crockpot. Toss in the chicken, all the spices and maybe ¼ cup of chicken stock. Boom. You’re done.
Other mini details? Use YOUR favorite tortillas. I go back and forth. Sometimes I love corn. I usually prefer flour. Eddie always wants flour. Warm them up, toast them, toss them in the oven for a few minutes right before the chicken is finished or even hold them over the gas burners on your stovetop with kitchen tongs. Who does that?
I’ve been doing a weird thing with my avocado and just eating it on the side. Or putting half on my tacos and keep half on the side. LOVE it.
So does this make sense? Do you get the whole these-sort-of-seem-new-and-tasty-but-also-old-and-tasty thing? I find it to be the perfect balance in my tex-mex loving mind. Especially during this very new and wacky season of my life where I’ve been craving all things nostalgic but still want things to taste somewhat fresh and not like a casserole from 1987.
Oh! Also!
The most important thing ever.
LEFTOVERS.
I can be a leftover snob. These? They are the perfect leftovers. You can make a quick salad, you can make a quesadilla, you can make a tostado or heck – just another taco night. But most importantly, you can make quick, kick ass OVEN NACHOS. Throw the chicken on top with lots of cheese and whatever you have in the fridge.
Ooooh I’m dying. I need a nacho immediately. Microwave 90s nachos? Maybe. Don’t judge. Just…
Give me a nacho.
Easy Weeknight Chicken Tacos
Easy Weeknight Chicken Tacos
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon chile powder
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon chipotle chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 cup grape tomatoes, quartered
- 1/2 red onion, finely diced
- 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
- 1 lime, juiced
- 8 to 12 (4-inch) tortillas, flour or corn – your preference!
- 4 ounces queso fresco cheese, crumbled
- 1 avocado, sliced
- extra limes for garnish
quick chipotle lime crema
- 3 tablespoons greek yogurt
- 3/4 cup half and half
- 1 tablespoon adobo sauce, from a can of chipotles in adobo
- juice of half a lime
- zest of half a lime
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
- Heat a large oven-safe skillet over medium-high heat. Season the chicken with the salt and pepper. Add the olive oil to the skillet and once it’s hot, add in the chicken. Brown the chicken on both sides, about 2 minutes per side. Cover the skillet and place it in the oven, roasting for 20 minutes. In a bowl, combine the cumin, paprika, chili powders, garlic powder and onion power in a bowl. Set aside.
- While the chicken is cooking, combine the diced onion, tomatoes and cilantro in a bowl with the juice of the lime. Add a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Set aside.
- In another bowl, whisk together the yogurt, half and half, adobo, lime juice and zest and salt, whisking well to combine. Set aside.
- As soon as the chicken is finished cooking, add it to the bowl of your electric mixer, or a bowl that you can use a hand mixer with. If you used the chicken thighs, there will be juices in the pan – leave them in the pan and do not discard them because we will use them! Turn the mixer on to low speed for a few seconds to break up the chicken. Add in the spices that you mixer before and mix the chicken on low speed for a full minute or two to completely shred it and mixx with the spices. Transfer the spiced chicken back to the pan with the juices and toss it well, incorporating the juice. This is how the chicken will stay moist (no – we can’t use another word)!
- To assemble the tacos, place the chicken in a tortilla and top with the quick salsa, the crumbled cheese and a drizzle of the crema. Serve with avocado on the side or on top and a fresh squeeze of lime.
Did you make this recipe?
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I appreciate you so much!
(I totally ate the nachos.)
314 Comments on “Easy Weeknight Chicken Tacos. {Video!}”
These tacos were freaking awesome. I miss the taco truck that used to be in our town and these taste just like them!!! I used chicken breast since that’s what I had in the fridge. DELISH!
i got to tell you I was a little hesitant about the hand mixer with the chicken but it was pretty remarkable. It was definitely easier than using 2 forks and the meat was delicious without the cleanup of a slow cooker. My husband prefers nachos, so we made them and added the toppings. Soooooooooooo freakin’ yummy! Will make this a favorite
I had leftover chicken that my husband smoked yesterday. Tonight we made these …OMG! The family said best tacos ever! They were fabulous. The right amount of heat for me and so flavorful and fresh! Thanks for sharing!
Absolutely the best ever!!! I will never make these any other way!! Thank you!!!
You are hilarious! And these are delicious, thank you!
If it’s covered, that’s not roasting. Roasting is done with dry heat cooking the surface of the food, and covering it traps steam.
Oh come on!
So, apparently you didn’t know that? It’s very basic culinary knowledge, I’m afraid. “Roasting and baking are forms of dry-heat cooking that use hot, dry air to cook food. Like other dry-heat cooking methods, roasting and baking brown the surface of the food, which in turn develops complex flavors and aromas.
Both words describe a method of cooking an item by enveloping it in hot, dry air, generally inside an oven and at temperatures of at least 300°F and often much hotter.
A convection oven, which circulates hot air throughout the oven, can enhance the browning reaction.
Incidentally, the browning that happens when we heat carbohydrates (like when we bake a loaf of bread, for instance) is the result of caramelization, while the browning of meats happens because of something called the Maillard reaction.
Cook Uncovered
Roasting and baking both require that the food is cooked uncovered, so that it’s the hot, dry air that delivers the heat, not steam from the food.
Because it uses indirect heat, baking and roasting cook food fairly evenly since all of the food’s surfaces are exposed to the heat to the same extent. This differs from pan-frying , for instance, where the surface that touches the hot pan gets much hotter than the side that faces up.”
Really??? It’s taco meat, not that serious lol
It’s not the meat, nor is it the way the meat will be used that is the issue. It is the misuse of correct terminology that is problematic. Really.
Can you make the cream a day in advance?
Damn just post the recipe
the recipe is posted.
The idea of shredding the chicken with a mixer is AMAZING!
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These are officiate my favorite tacos. Using chicken thighs and mixing the chicken back into the juices makes these tacos so juicy and flavorful.. i also love the creama. Thank you so much for this!
Meant to give it 5 stars..
Here
Hi there, may I ask why you add all the spices after the chicken is done cooking and notnsuring the cooking? Just curious if there’s a reason. TIA Melanie
*and not during the cooking
So darn Good!!!! Chicken was perfect!!!! This will be the receipe I use EVERYTIME😍
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I just made these tonight, they were fantastic, I followed your recipe exactly and I will forever be making these!! So easy, fast and super delicious!!
Stupid wordy blog! Just give us the recipe already! This might be a fun thing to do if you are a stay at home mom that has all the time in the world to worry about dinner, but being a widower father (and most single moms and dads will agree with me) we don’t really have the time to work 70 hours a week and try and worry about what’s for dinner! Just get to the point already and stop worrying about trying to get more followers (meaning show the recipe and then tell me how to cook it and then add all your bullsh** later!) Waste of my time and I guess we are ordering out again!
i am not a stay at home mom. this is A BLOG. this is not a recipe website. the recipe is posted at the bottom and you are welcome to scroll down. i’m not doing anything to get more followers. i’ve done this for 9 years.
Jessica, you are fantastic and I love you for standing up for yourself and not stepping away from rude comments. Cannot wait to make this tonight. Thank you for putting the time in to typing this up for us. I found it hysterical and to be like chatting with my bestie. 👌🏼
Brian, your stupid wordy rant was too long so tldr; but it looks like you need a hobby.
It was worth the calories i burned scrolling down. (though I admit, I did cut some corners and made it even simpler-salsa out of the jar when I had no time for the “real stuff” ) Some days, you just gotta lower your standards. Tonight is one of them.
‘A stay at home mom
Who has all
The time in the world’- who is that? I’d love to meet her.
Just scroll to the bottom that’s what I do. Almost every recipe I find from an individual, not a company, is in this format so i don’t know why you choose to rag on her about this very popular format.. it’s really not that hard to scroll to the bottom and just look at the recipe 🙄
Hangry or something?
Damn Brian, maybe if you weren’t so rude you could find a woman to cook you dinner. 🤷🏼♀️
Wow you are a horribly rude person, all you had to do was scroll to the bottom for the recipe. I am going to choose to put this off as something you said after having a really bad day, I truly hope this is not the person you are.
My taco world has been changed forever!! Thank you so much for posting this! I followed everything exactly except I used adobo powder in the sauce.
It was awesome.
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I have now made this 20 times, I feel like I should say something.
This recipe is crucial. I’ve taught friends how to cook using this recipe. I love that you get to use the stove top, oven, and a stand mixer. For tacos. I’ve made the sauces in the past, and they are very good, we we usually just opt for cilantro and onion. Living in Chicago, putting anything else on top of a taco is like trying to put ketchup on a hotdog(That’s real. No one who lives here give a crud about deep dish. Ketchup can lead to fist fights)
Every time I made this it’s better. Every time I make this I can sub in a new spice (Berbere for chipotle, yum). Every time I made this I get to figure out how I can use my newest kitchen acquisition (Lodge 2 burner griddle for heating tortillas, game changer)
Thanks for this
Avocado on the side forever.
Hello! Do you think using thighs instead of breasts greatly influences the end product? Thank you!
My husband only likes white meat so I’ve made this recipe a dozen times using breasts…it’s still fantastic! So so delicious!!
I just cooked them with chicken breasts because that’s what I had in the fridge and it came out perfect!! I just cooked in the oven a little longer.
We love these! I used my machine yokey once because I HATE shredding chicken and ended up with powder, even then, still delicious! Thanks for posting, I’d be lost in dinner ruts for ever if it weren’t for the wide array of online recipes!!
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Great recipe! I thought it was funny when you used the word moist, then said there isn’t another word to be used here. Not sure why people hate that word so much. HA!
I’m planning a large party so do you think that the chicken could be cooked in advanced and frozen without drying out? Also, what’s your thoughts on mixing breast and thighs?
i absolutely do! and i’ve had it in the freezer with success. you can for sure mix breasts and thighs. i would add some chicken stock when freezing and reheat it on the stovetop or in a slow cooker with even more stock so it’s juicy!
Just made this for the first time. A BIG hit with the family. Would definitely recommend this recipe as-is, and I look forward to making it many, many more times and the experimenting with the variations that are to be had. Thank you for posting!!!
We made this last night for our taco night. We changed the heat aspects because we don’t like spicy and made a homemade guac to add to the tacos with the greek lime yogurt sauce. I seasoned the chicken before while it was browning and then after baking and shredding , reseasoned it and mixed it together on the stove. It was delicious!! I absolutely love cumin and so that robust flavor was great. This is now going to be my go to chicken taco recipe. Thank you!!
FOllowed even recipeexactly and it was so good. My picky kids loved it. I did have to make the Adobe sauce twice because I question the 3/4 cup of half n half. That portion made soup. I had to dial down the half n half by a lot. But I don’t even care.. it was so dang good.
I made these tacos and my boyfriend absolutely loved them! He’s a finicky eater but he said this was by far his favorite meal I’ve made him over the years. Thank you so much!
I wanted to make this tonight but I don’t have a skillet with a top that I can stick in the oven. What can I use? Also how can I make less spicy for my kids?
Thanks!
I used a glass casserole dish and covered it with foil. Chicken came out great!
AMAZING!!!!!!!! healthy, flavorful, delicious and quick!! My husband and I loved it. Thank you for sharing!!!
Thanks for taking the time to share this great recipe!
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Have you ever really, really wanted to make a recipe, but lacked the ingredients, and didn’t want to go to the grocery store at 5PM? Well, that was me tonight. I made a lot of changes, and these still came out great.
I used chicken breasts. Did not have red onion, and feared a yellow might be too strong, so I roasted the onion and tomatoes and threw in some dried cilantro; that made a very good salsa. Had only nonfat regular yogurt and thinned it a bit with skim milk. Had to use bottled lime juice. Did not have the queso fresco, so I used Monterey Jack. I did at least have all the seasonings called for. Despite all m substitutions, they were still very, very good tacos.
SUPER DELICIOUS! The spice mix was amazing as well, and even though I didn’t have all the ingredients, it worked out fabulously. Will use again!
These were so good.. I was a little skeptical about baking them in the oven. They were very tender and juicy upon coming out of the oven. The second thing I was skeptical of was putting them in the mixer. That was genius. It shredded them nicely and the spices were evenly distributed. Now we can get down to the taste. Delicious. I’ll definitely be making them again.
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These tacos were absolutely DELICIOUS! My son was home from his tour of duty and visiting. When I told him I make some tacos from a new recipe I found online, he wasn’t too excited. When I served them he said they were the best tacos he ever had! My husband loved these too. He quit eating my tacos because I used a seasoning mix and thought they were horrible. I made these and he said he’d give it 10 STARS.
Looks very good!
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Hi this looks like a great recipe. I’m probably going to make it tomorrow night but is it ok to cook the chicken thighs on the bone then pick it off just before hand mixing? will that work?
Also are there any substitutes that i can use for half and half because we don’t get it here in Bulgaria.
I know this post is super old since Max is practically a teenager now, but I got married about 2 months ago and my husband and I instituted Taco Tuesday religiously and I love that you have a whole section on your blog dedicated to tacos because after 8 Taco Tuesdays I am desperately in the need for fresh ideas. And working full time, only getting home at 8pm on an average night, I need recipes that can be on the table in under 45 minutes so boneless, skinless chicken thighs are a god send. And I completely agree with you… recipes in a slow cooker always end up tasting sort of like a slow cooker and so I am glad that despite my “no time at night” I have managed to avoid slow cooker meals (in spite of the advice I get from every single person I know–I guess my palette is just too refined ;-P). Please keep your quick weeknight dinner recipes coming!!
This recipe, as posted, is beyond words amazing!! I honestly can’t wait to have leftovers. It was RIDICULOUSLY good!! The la Crema was wonderful. I HIGHLY recommend!! All members of my family (age 45 thru 10) LOVED it!! Will be a regular on our menu!!!
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Hi! I rarely make Mexican food and I tried your recipe as – is when hosting a taco night recently and it was amazing! I have never cooked chicken in the oven before and this opened a whole new world of flavors and methods. Thanks so much. The grape tomatoes made my salsa a little sweet – maybe i added too much, so I put some chili powder to balance it and it was great
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Yum! I could eat that.
I have made these probably 25 times now. I do one 1.5lb package of thighs with one 1.5lb package of breast meat mixed together and I freeze half so I only have to make it every ten days or so. I eat this meat every morning over brown rice with an egg on top. Cannot recommend this enough. I also batch this out for my friends who have babies and they love it.
I made this recipe for work; I doubled all the ingredients and left in my slow cooker to cook overnight…. OMG!! Delicious! The salsa is a great final touch. Will be making this recipe again! Super yummy!