Chicken tinga tacos
30 min · 47 g protein · 519 cals / serving
Chicken simmered in a smoky, tangy sauce of tomatoes, sweet onion and chipotle in adobo, then shredded right in the pan so every strand soaks it up. Heaped into warm corn tortillas with crunchy cabbage, lime-pickled red onion, a cool lime yogurt crema, a few slices of avocado, salty cotija and cilantro. Smoky, spicy, fresh, and easily the best thing to happen to a weeknight.
Ingredients
Quick pickled onion
- 1/2 small red onion, very thinly sliced
- 2 tbsp lime juice, about 1 lime
Tinga
- 2 tsp canola oil
- 1 large onion, thinly sliced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano, Mexican if you have it
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 3/4 cups (one 14-oz can) canned crushed tomatoes
- 2 chipotles plus 1 tbsp of the sauce chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, chopped
- 1/2 cup chicken broth
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 1/3 lb chicken breast, each breast halved horizontally
Lime crema
- 1/2 cup nonfat Greek yogurt
- 1/2 lime, zest and juice, plus wedges to serve
To serve
- 12 (6-inch) corn tortilla, three tacos each
- 2 cups shredded cabbage
- 1/2 small avocado, sliced
- 1/4 cup crumbled cotija cheese
- 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
Steps
- Toss the red onion with the lime juice and a pinch of salt and set it aside; it turns pink and tangy while you cook.
- Heat the oil in a large, deep skillet over medium-high heat. Add the sliced onion and cook 5 minutes, stirring, until soft and golden at the edges. Add the garlic, oregano and cumin and stir 30 seconds.
- Stir in the tomatoes, chipotles and adobo, broth and salt. Bring to a simmer, nestle in the chicken pieces, cover and simmer 12–14 minutes, turning once, until the chicken is cooked through (165°F).
- While it simmers, stir the yogurt with the lime zest, a squeeze of lime juice and a pinch of salt to make the crema.
- Warm the tortillas in a dry skillet or straight over a gas flame for 20–30 seconds a side, then stack them in a clean towel to keep warm.
- Shred the chicken in the pan with two forks and simmer, uncovered, 2–3 minutes until the sauce clings to it; taste and add more adobo if you want more heat. Fill the tortillas with tinga, cabbage, pickled onion, avocado, a spoonful of crema, cotija and cilantro, with lime wedges on the side.
Good to know
How spicy is it?
Two chipotles make a smoky, medium heat. Use one for mild, or add a third and more adobo sauce for hot. The crema cools each bite either way.
Make ahead?
Tinga tastes even better the next day and keeps 4 days in the fridge or 3 months frozen. It is also great on a tostada, in a burrito bowl or over a big salad.
Corn or flour tortillas?
Corn is traditional and has more flavour; warm them well so they don't crack under the juicy filling. Flour tortillas work and are softer, at a score of about 53 instead of 60.
Per
- Calories
- 115
- Protein
- (37%)
- 10 g
- Fat
- (23%)
- 3 g
- Carbohydrates
- (40%)
- 13 g
- of which sugar
- 3 g
- Fiber
- 2 g
- Sodium
- 198 mg
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Computed from the ingredients with our published formula, not yet kitchen-tested. How
As written, 2078 kcal goes into the pot and 2171 g of ingredients comes out as about 1800 g of food: 115 kcal per 100 g. Cooking moves water and energy density is the score's biggest lever, so the dish is scored as cooked, not as an average of its parts. Every ingredient links to its food page, with the same data and score. The label's percentages are each macronutrient's share of the calories. The full formula.