Chicken Tinga Tacos: A Flavorful Twist for Taco Tuesday
For a tasty and simple chicken dish, try this Chicken Tinga Taco recipe. Your Taco Tuesday will be better.
You can use this shredded chicken recipe in many ways. Stuff it into tortillas for chicken tinga tacos. Or serve it over rice.
Smoky, spicy, and incredibly versatile. And the best part? Making it is a breeze, whether you’re using your stovetop, slow cooker, or even an instant pot!
What is Chicken Tinga?
Chicken Tinga, or tinga de pollo, is a classic Mexican dish. It comes from Puebla, a place famous for its tasty food.
The dish has shredded chicken. Someone cooks it in a sauce made from tomatoes.
The sauce is full of chipotle peppers, onion, and garlic. It also includes spices like cumin and oregano. The result is a smoky, spicy chicken that pairs perfectly with everything from tacos to rice bowls.
The beauty of this tinga chicken lies in its simplicity. This shredded chicken recipe is incredibly easy to make. With just a few ingredients, you can create a dish full of flavor. Plus, it’s the perfect meal for any occasion—quick weeknight dinners, meal prep, or even entertaining friends with taco night.
Why You’ll Love This Easy Chicken Tinga Recipe
This easy chicken tinga recipe is packed with bold flavors yet requires minimal effort. Whether you’re cooking the chicken on the stovetop, slow cooker, or instant pot, this dish is a time-saver without compromising on taste. This dish is quick and easy to make.
This dish is simple and fast to prepare. You will need boneless, skinless chicken breasts. You will also need chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, fire-roasted tomatoes, and basic seasonings like cumin and oregano.
For those days when you need a quick and easy meal, Chicken Tinga delivers. Plus, you can cook it ahead of time and enjoy it throughout the week—it’s a meal prep superstar! Just shred the chicken, toss it in the rich sauce, and you’re ready to go.
How to Serve Chicken Tinga
Chicken Tinga is incredibly versatile, and one of the best things about it is how many ways you can serve it. Here are a few delicious options:
- Chicken Tinga Tacos: Fill your tortillas with shredded chicken. Add sliced avocado, fresh cilantro, diced onion, and a squeeze of lime on top. Add a dollop of sour cream or refried beans for extra creaminess.
- Tinga Rice Bowls: Place the shredded chicken on a bed of rice. Add your favorite taco toppings like black beans, corn, salsa, and guacamole.
- Tostadas: For a crispy twist, serve the chicken tinga on a tostada with some refried beans, cheese, and fresh toppings.
- Quesadillas: Put spicy chicken and melted cheese into tortillas. You have a tasty tinga quesadilla.
You can use this shredded chicken recipe for chicken tinga tacos or on a salad. It adds great flavor to any meal.
Cooking Chicken Tinga in the Slow Cooker or Instant Pot
One of the best things about this dish is how easily you can adapt it to different cooking methods. To save time and allow the flavors to develop slowly, the slow cooker is the way to go. Here’s how:
- Slow Cooker: Sauté the onion and garlic in a pan with olive oil, then transfer it to your slow cooker. Add in the boneless skinless chicken breasts, chipotle peppers, crushed tomatoes, chicken stock, and seasonings like oregano and cumin. Let the chicken cook on low for 6-8 hours, or on high for 4 hours. Once done, shred the chicken and mix it with the sauce.
- Instant Pot: For an even quicker option, use the Instant Pot. Cook the onions and garlic in the Instant Pot using the sauté setting. Then, add the chicken, chipotle peppers, tomatoes, and chicken broth.
- Seal the lid and cook on high pressure for about 10-15 minutes. After a quick pressure release, shred the chicken and mix it with the sauce.
Both methods are fantastic for busy weeknights when you need a quick and easy meal without sacrificing flavor.
Why Chicken Tinga is Perfect for Meal Prep
Chicken Tinga is not only a delicious dinner, but it’s also ideal for meal prep. You can store this tinga chicken well in the fridge and reheat it for easy lunches or dinners throughout the week. You can even freeze it for longer storage. Plus, the flavors only get better as the chicken sits in the sauce, making it the perfect make-ahead meal.
This recipe will make your week easier. You can use it to make chicken tinga tacos for dinner. You can also pack it with rice and veggies for lunch.
Ingredients You’ll Need for Chicken Tinga
- Boneless skinless chicken breasts. Feel free to use boneless skinless chicken thighs too.
- Olive oil
- Sweet onion, roughly chopped
- Garlic, minced
- Chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, chopped
- Fire-roasted tomatoes
- Chicken stock
- Oregano and cumin
- Kosher salt
- Lime, for serving
- Corn tortillas, for serving
- Fresh cilantro, diced onion, sliced avocado, and crumbled queso fresco, for toppings
A Versatile Shredded Chicken Recipe
What makes this Chicken Tinga recipe stand out is how flexible it is. Don’t have boneless skinless chicken breasts? You can easily swap them for rotisserie chickens if you’re in a pinch.
Just shred the meat and let it soak up that delicious sauce for an instant flavor boost. You can also adjust the spice level by using more or fewer chipotle peppers, depending on your heat preference.
From tacos to quesadillas to rice bowls, this shredded chicken recipe is incredibly adaptable. And with a cook time of just about 30 minutes, you’ll have a restaurant-quality meal ready to go in no time. This is a great meal to make in advance and freeze as it is freezer safe.
Chicken Tinga is a dish that’s sure to become a staple in your kitchen. This dish is tasty and spicy.
Perfect for meal prep or for making chicken tinga tacos. You can also enjoy it with refried beans. Serving it will impress everyone.
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Ingredients:
- 1 tbs olive oil
- 1 white onion, roughly chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, chopped
- 2 tbs adobo sauce from can
- 2 tsp dried oregano
- 2 tsp cumin
- 1 tbs hot sauce of your choice
- 1 1/4 cup canned crushed fire roasted tomatoes plain crushed tomatoes work fine
- 1 cup chicken stock
- 1 tsp salt
- 5 chicken breasts
Taco toppings
- 1/2 cup white onion, diced
- 1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
- 1/2 cup mashed avocado
- 1/2 cup crumbled feta
- 10 corn tortillas
Instructions:
- Place a large pot or saute pan with a lid over medium high heat. Add in olive oil and onions and saute for 3 minutes. Next up add in garlic and sauce for 1 minute.
- Toss in chopped chipotle peppers, adobo sauce, cumin, oregano, hot sauce, crushed tomatoes, and stock. Stir and bring to a simmer.
- Once you reach a simmer, lower the temperature to low, add the chicken breasts, and cover with a lid. Simmer for 8-12 minutes or until you fully cook the chicken.
- Once chicken is cooked through, remove from sauce and place on a baking sheet. Using two forks, shred the chicken.
- Pour sauce into a blender and carefully blend until smooth. Return sauce and chicken to pan and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes. Season with salt and adjust seasoning if needed.
- Build your tacos and enjoy! Be sure to heat your tortillas for best results 🙂
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