Chicken Tinga Tacos
Chicken Tinga Tacos are filled with spicy, saucy, smoky chipotle chicken, served on warmed tortillas with your favorite toppings. This delicious Mexican "tinga de pollo" is full of flavor, and easy to make in about 30 minutes.
Servings: 6 servings
Calories: 240kcal
Ingredients
- 1 ½ pounds chicken breasts poached and shredded or about 3 cups rotisserie chicken
- 1-2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 medium onion 1 cup diced
- 3 cloves minced garlic
- 2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce roughly chopped
- 1 tablespoon adobo sauce from canned chipotle peppers
- 1 ½ teaspoons dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup fire roasted diced tomatoes
- ¼ cup chicken or veggie broth
- juice of half a lime
For serving:
- Tortillas
- Avocado
- Queso fresco or cotija cheese
- Finely diced onions
- Chopped cilantro
- Lime wedges
Instructions
Stovetop:
- Poach the chicken (see recipe post)
- Heat olive oil in a large skillet or sauté pan. Add onion and cook for 5-6 minutes until soft and translucent.
- Add minced garlic and cook another minute until just fragrant.
- Stir in oregano, cumin, salt, chipotle peppers and adobo sauce and cook for one more minute.
- Add in tomatoes and broth. When it's bubbling, turn the heat down and simmer on medium-low for 8-10 minutes.
- Transfer sauce to a blender (venting the top) and blend until smooth.
- Pour sauce back into sauté pan over low heat. Add in cooked, shredded chicken and heat for a few minutes until sauce thickens and coats chicken. Check for seasoning and add more salt to taste. Finish with a squeeze of lime and a sprinkle of fresh cilantro leaves. Serve in warmed tortillas with desired toppings.
For the Instant Pot:
- Add olive oil, onion, garlic, oregano, cumin, salt, chipotle chilis, adobo sauce, broth and fire roasted tomatoes to a blender and blend until smooth. Do not sauté first.
- Pour sauce into Instant Pot with stainless steel liner. Nestle whole raw chicken breasts in the sauce.
- Place the lid on, make sure the valve is pointed to sealing, set to manual high pressure for 10 minutes.
- Allow to natural release for at least five minutes. Carefully release remaining pressure, shred chicken with two forks right in the sauce and finish with a squeeze of lime and sprinkling of cilantro leaves.
For the slow cooker:
- Follow the exact same instructions as the Instant Pot and cook on high for 1-2 hours or low for 3-4 hours.
Notes
This recipe is spicy! To reduce the spice level, use one instead of two chipotle peppers in adobo sauce. I find that two is the perfect amount of heat.
My favorite way to enjoy Tinga de Pollo is in tacos but this chicken is also great for burritos, bowls, tortas and nachos!
Nutrition
Calories: 240kcal | Carbohydrates: 5g | Protein: 24g | Fat: 13g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 6g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 73mg | Sodium: 228mg | Potassium: 295mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 508IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 40mg | Iron: 2mg