(The Best!) Easy Chipotle Chicken Tacos Recipe
This is an adaptation of the Chipotle-Garlic Grilled Chicken recipe in my book, The Food Processor Family Cookbook (Sonoma Press 2016). Canned chipotle peppers and garlic get pureed into a simple but deeply flavorful marinade for chicken (it’s delicious on skirt steak!). The spicy chicken is awesome on its own, but we love to shred it and pile it into tortillas with Napa cabbage, avocado slices and a garlicky, mint-spiked lime crema. The recipe makes a big batch of crema, but we end up slathering it over everything on our plates. If you have the time, marinate the chicken in the morning or even the day before for maximum flavor.
Servings: 4 people
Ingredients
Marinade
- 5 garlic cloves, peeled
- 1 7-ounce can chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 ½ - 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs
Lime crema
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 small garlic clove, grated
- Zest of 1 lime
- Juice of ½ lime
- 1 tablespoon thinly sliced scallions
- 1 tablespoon chopped mint or cilantro, or a mix of the two
For serving
- Oil for grill
- Warm tortillas
- 2 cups thinly sliced Napa cabbage, for serving
- Avocado slices, for serving
- Crumbled Cotija or feta cheese, for serving (optional)
- Hot sauce, for serving (optional)
Instructions
Marinate the chicken
- Put the garlic cloves in a mini food processor, and process until finely chopped. Add the chipotle peppers with their sauce and season with salt and pepper. Process until smooth, stopping and scraping down the sides occasionally.
- Season the chicken with salt and pepper, and transfer to a bowl. Add the chipotle marinade, and toss to coat. Let sit at room temperature for 15-45 minutes, or cover and refrigerate for up to 24 hours.
Make the lime crema
- Mix together the sour cream, grated garlic, lime zest, lime juice, scallions, and mint or cilantro. Season with salt and pepper.
Grill and serve
- Preheat a grill or grill pan to medium-high. If the chicken was refrigerated, let it come to room temperature.
- Remove the chicken from the marinade, leaving some of the marinade sticking to the meat. Oil the grill grates, then grill the chicken on both sides until cooked through, about 5 minutes per side. Transfer to a cutting board and let rest 5-10 minutes. Using two forks, coarsely shred the chicken.
- Pile the chicken into warmed corn or flour tortillas and top with napa cabbage, avocado slices and the lime crema. If you’d like, sprinkle with a bit of crumbled Cotija or feta cheese. Serve with hot sauce and the remaining crema at the table.
Notes
Do Ahead: The chicken can be marinated up to 1 day in advance (it gets even tastier the longer it marinates).
Tips:
- The chipotle marinade is also fantastic with skirt steak.
- If you don’t have an outdoor grill you can use a grill pan (I love this large pan, which does double duty as a griddle), or even just a heavy non-stick or cast iron skillet.
- Be sure to preheat the grill and oil the grates before adding the chicken. To oil outdoor grill grates, dampen a paper towel with vegetable oil, then use tongs to rub the oil onto the grates. (If using a pan, coat it lightly in oil). The chicken will release from the grates once it’s ready to flip.
- Let the chicken rest for at least 5 minutes to allow the juices to redistribute.
- For even more flavor, top the tacos with Quick Pickled Red Onions!
- If you like these tacos, you're going to love this Healthy Taco Salad and these Steak Burrito Bowls (which can be made with chicken!).