The Best Chicken Tinga Tacos
Smoky, spicy, and saucy—these Chicken Tinga Tacos are packed with juicy shredded chicken simmered in a chipotle tomato sauce. Ready in about 30 minutes, they’re perfect for taco night and always a crowd-pleaser.
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.
- Poaching chicken. Bring a large pot of water (or broth) and a few crushed garlic cloves to a boil. You can also add onion scraps, slices of lime, or even a bay leaf to infuse flavor into the chicken. Add the chicken to the boiling water in a single layer. Allow it to come back to a boil, cover the pot with a lid, and then remove it from the heat. Let the chicken sit in the covered pot for 20 minutes (or up to 45 minutes).
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