Chicken Tinga Tacos are going to be your new go to dinner! If you've never heard of or made Tinga before, it's a Mexican dish made with shredded chicken with a sauce made from tomatoes, tomatillos, chipotle chilis in adobo, and onions. Chicken Tinga is perfection and serves a crowd. You can even make tinga tostadas out of it.
Table of Contents
Why I Love This Recipe
Shredded chicken cooked in the most crazy delicious spiced sauce on the planet and then stuffed in a taco…. Ummm yes please. This Chicken Tinga is out of this world. You’ll want to slather it on top of everything – serve it over rice, toss it into an enchilada style bake, use it in a taco salad, you name it, it works on just about everything! But when it’s folded up in taco and topped with some lime and avocado to balance the sauce, it’s absolute perfection. I made this a few weeks ago and my 3 year old requested it in her lunch for 3 days straight!
Ingredients & Substitutions
- Olive Oil
- Boneless Skinless Chicken Thighs
- Yellow Onion
- Garlic
- Tomatillo
- Dried Oregano
- Ground Cumin
- Fire-roasted Tomatoes
- Chipotles plus the adobo sauce
- Chicken Stock
- Bay Leaf
*For a full list of ingredients and instructions please see recipe card below.
How to Make Chicken Tinga Tacos
Step 1: Heat oil in a Dutch oven or large pot over medium-high heat until it shimmers. Add chicken thighs and cook until well browned, about 6 minutes.
Step 2: Flip thighs and continue to cook until the other side is lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Transfer chicken to a plate, leaving fat in the pan, and set aside.
Step 3: Add onions and garlic to the same Dutch oven and cook, stirring occasionally, until onions have browned around the edges, about 5 minutes.
Step 4: Add tomatillo and cook until browned around the edges, about 4 minutes.
Step 5: Add oregano and cumin and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
Step 6: Add tomatoes, chipotle, and adobo sauce and stir to combine. Remove from heat.
Step 7: Transfer sauce to a blender and puree until smooth. Pour sauce back into pan, stir in chicken stock and bay leaf, and bring to a boil over medium heat.
Step 8: Nestle chicken thighs in sauce, reduce to a simmer, and cook until chicken is fully cooked and easily shredded, about 15-20 minutes. Transfer chicken to a plate and let sit until cool enough to handle. Remove sauce from heat and discard bay leaf.
Step 9: Pull chicken meat into strips. Stir chicken into sauce and cook over medium heat until warmed through, about 3 minutes.
Step 10: Remove from heat and season with salt to taste.
Step 11: Warm the tortillas over an open flame to char, prep the white onion, avocado chopped cilantro, sliced scallions, crumbled cotija cheese, and lime wedges for serving. Spoon chicken into warm tortillas and top with avocado, onion, cilantro, and cotija cheese. Serve with lime wedges.
How to Store Chicken Tinga Tacos
This Chicken Tinga is a beautiful recipe to prep ahead. You can store the chicken tinga in the fridge for up to 5 days. Warm it through, warm the tacos, get your toppings and dinner's ready!
How to Freeze Chicken Tinga Tacos
You can freeze chicken tinga for 3 months in airtight container or zip top bag. I recommend freezing in meal-sized portions so that you can thaw the amount you need. Thaw it overnight in the fridge.
Tips & Tricks
The avocado will contrast nicely and tone down the spices. You can also add sour cream to your taco.
FAQs
Chicken tinga is made of shredded chicken cooked in a smoky and spicy tomato and tomatillo-based sauce, typically flavored with chipotle peppers, onions, garlic, and various spices.
The recipe below, no! My 3 year old ate this for dinner and then requested it in her lunch the following day. If you want to tone down the spice, you can omit or reduce the chipotles in adobo.
Tinga de Pollo is called so due to its traditional Mexican origins and the cooking method used to prepare it. The term tinga refers to a dish that typically includes shredded meat, and pollo specifies that the meat used is chicken.
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Chicken Tinga Tacos
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1.5 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs
- 1 yellow onion small dice
- 2 cloves garlic roughly chopped
- 1 large tomatillo husk removed, rinsed, and roughly chopped
- ½ teaspoon oregano
- ¼ teaspoon ground cumin
- 14.5 ounces fire-roasted tomatoes
- 2 tablespoons chipotles in adobo roughly chopped, plus 2 tablespoons of the sauce
- ½ cup low-sodium chicken stock
- 1 bay leaf
- Kosher salt
Toppings
- Corn or flour tortillas
- Avocado diced
- 1 white onion diced
- Cilantro roughly chopped
- Scallions sliced
- Cotija crumbled
- Lime wedges
Instructions
- Heat oil in a Dutch oven or large pot over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add chicken thighs and cook until well browned, about 6 minutes. Flip thighs and continue to cook until other side is lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Transfer chicken to a plate, leaving fat in pan, and set aside.
- Add onions and garlic to the same Dutch oven and cook, stirring occasionally, until onions have browned around the edges, about 5 minutes. Add tomatillo and cook until browned around the edges, about 4 minutes. Add oregano and cumin and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add tomatoes, chipotle, and adobo sauce and stir to combine. Remove from heat.
- Transfer sauce to a blender and puree until smooth. Pour sauce back into pan, stir in chicken stock and bay leaf, and bring to a boil over medium heat. Nestle chicken thighs in sauce, reduce to a simmer, and cook until chicken is fully cooked and easily shredded, about 15-20 minutes. Transfer chicken to a plate and let sit until cool enough to handle. Remove sauce from heat and discard bay leaf.
- Pull chicken meat into strips. Stir chicken into sauce and cook over medium heat until warmed through, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat and season with salt to taste.
- Warm the tortillas over an open flame to char, prep the white onion, avocado chopped cilantro, sliced scallions, crumbled cotija cheese, and lime wedges for serving
- Spoon chicken into warm tortillas and top with avocado, onion, cilantro, and cotija cheese. Serve with lime wedges.
Notes
Nutrition Information
Photo by Matt Armendariz / Food Styling by Adam Pearson / Recipe by What’s Gaby Cooking
This was really good. I did not have a tomatillo so I left it out, and the recipe was still good. I also used 2 chicken boneless breasts and 4 chicken tenderloins in Lou of the thighs. My husband suggested next time use beef instead of the chicken.