Chicken Tinga Tacos: Full of Flavor
These spicy flavorful tacos are an easy to make and easy to clean up main course. Perfect for a weeknight quiet meal or a weekend party. A saucy stewed shredded chicken with the smoky heat of chipotle meet the freshness of lime, onions, tomato, cilantro for a great flavor combination. You’ll feel like you are in Puebla Mexico the birthplace of chicken tinga tacos. Tinga means shredded in Spanish. This recipe has become a staple in our house, and as most recipes do has evolved into our own creation. I am happy to share it with all of you.
Recipe Variations:
There are several variations you can make to this recipe to make preparing easier. You can use pre-ground spices. If you don’t have a spice mill or Mortar and pestle you can place the toasted seeds in a zip-lock type bag and crush them with a heavy bottom pan. Bone in chicken will add a lot of flavor. You can however use boneless chicken in a pinch if necessary. I strongly suggest the extra steps of both toasting the spices and stewing the chicken pieces with bone in for the best flavor possible
Double this recipe for entertaining and set up a taco bar. Include additional toppings such as cojita cheese, pickled radishes, green leaf lettuce and sour cream.
Click here for our homemade pickled jalapenos recipe.
[amazon_link asins=’B001C2GWTI,B00I9VQVIC,B00004R90X’ template=’ProductGrid’ store=’eattheheat-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’df4a7333-d514-11e7-abcc-3380175bec0a’]
Recipe adapted from Justin Chapple’s recipe on Food & Wine.
Chicken Tinga Tacos
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp canola oil
- 2 onions, medium sized sliced thin (reserve 1/3 amount for garnish)
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 2 tsp cumin seeds toasted and ground
- 2 tsp coriander seeds toasted and ground
- 1 tsp dried oregano mexican oregano if available
- 2 cups chicken stock
- 1 14 oz. can tomato puree
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 tbsp chipolte in adobo sauce if chipoltes are whole, finely chop
- 4 lbs chicken thighs bone in
- salt & pepper to taste
- 2 tbsp distilled white vinegar
- 1 lime 1/2 juiced, 1/2 sliced for garnish
- 1/2 bunch cilantro chopped for garnish
- 1 tomato rough chopped for garnish
- pickled jalapenos for garnish
- 12 flour tortillas soft
Instructions
- In a small dry fry pan over medium heat add the coriander and cumin seeds until fragrant and slightly toasted tossing frequently to prevent burning. Cool slightly transfer to a mortar and pestle or spice mill and grind.
- In a large Dutch oven heat oil on a medium high heat. Add onions, garlic, cumin and coriander stir and sauté until onions are soft and translucent.
- Add the oregano and bay leaves to the onion mixture stir to incorporate, then add tomato puree, chopped chipotle in adobo, and chicken broth stir and bring to a boil, add chicken thighs return to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer and cover with lid slightly ajar until chick is done. 40 minutes.
- Preheat over to 400°
- Remove chicken pieces from sauce, let cool slightly, debone and shred chicken with a fork. return to sauce cook for an additional 10 - 15 minutes. Remove from heat add vinegar and half of the lime juiced. Stir and cover.
- Place tortillas in a Taco Shell baking rack, or simply fold in half and slip them over the grates on the oven racks, (if uses this method make sure your over racks are clean otherwise you may end up with unwanted debris in your tacos and the possibility of them sticking) Bake for 10 to 15 minutes until edges are toasted but the tortillas are still pliable.
- Fill Taco shells with mixture add toppings (remaining onion slices, cilantro, pickled jalapenos and chopped tomatoes) and a squeeze of lime juice.... enjoy!
