Who's still hanging with their fam post-holiday madness? I am, and it's all about these Chicken Tinga Tostadas! They feed a crowd, everyone can assemble their own and they are de-lish! I have always loved chicken tinga tacos, and its time to make them into tostadas.
I love a tostada moment. They kinda change the game when it comes to feeding a crowd. I like to prep all the ingredients, fry up some Old El Paso flour tortillas, and then let people get all DIY and craft their own Chicken Tinga Tostadas. If it was up to me, they'd each be piled high up obscene amounts of avocado, but that's a given seeing as how I'm obsessed.
I've done shrimp tostadas in the pasta, carnitas, shredded chicken, but today it's all about the chicken tinga. Chicken cooked in a medley of spices and tomatoes and then stewed in all the liquid to make the most delectable, fall apart chicken you'll ever taste. It's absolutely NOT to be missed!
Chicken Tinga Tostadas
Ingredients
For the Chicken Tinga
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 ½ 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
- 1 can fire-roasted tomatoes
- 2 tablespoons roughly chopped chipotles plus 2 tablespoons adobo sauce
- ½ cup low-sodium chicken stock
- 1 bay leaf
- Kosher salt
For the Tostadas
- 1 package small Old El Paso Tortillas fried
- 1 cup refried black beans
- 1 cup finely shredded cabbage
- freshly shredded Monterey jack cheese
- 1 avocado thinly sliced
- 1 cup pico de gallo
- 2 scallions sliced
- fresh cilantro
- lime wedges
- thinly sliced jalapeños
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 20-30 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.
- To assemble, place a fried tortilla on a plate and top it with a smear of warmed refried beans, about a ½ cup of Chicken tinga, some finely shredded cabbage, a few tablespoons of freshly shredded Monterey jack cheese, as many avocado slices as you want, a heathy spoonful of pico de gallo, some sliced scallions, fresh cilantro, thinly sliced jalapeños and serve it alongside some additional lime wedges
Notes
Nutrition Information
Photo by Matt Armendariz / Food Styling by Adam Pearson / Recipe from What’s Gaby Cooking
I made this tonight and it was delicious! The Tinga sauce is a keeper. I used shredded meat from a store-roasted chicken, which made the whole prep very speedy. My husband and girls all raved about it. Will definitely make again!
Gaby, these look fantastic! Approximately how long does the chicken simmer till it's done?
20-30 mins!
Wow, what a recipe. I love it. I can just imagine eating these on a cold winter night.
This is my kind of dinner. I could eat this every single day!
YUM!!! This is what I call a weeknight meal!!
These look to be just about perfect. Can't wait to try them!
These sound totally great, although I've never heard of using a flour tortilla to make a tostada. Gosh I want Tinga so badly right now. Yay- dinner is sorted!
omg I'm OBSESSED with the flour tortillas as the base - I actually prefer them to corn tortillas! They are the best 🙂
I so want these tostadas right now!
These tacos - on point!
we've been getting a little bored with tacos at our house, these will be perfect on next week's menu!
I love the idea of letting everyone make their own! Although I might have you make mine because these look insanely good. I need those fried tortillas in my life ASAP.
These are just gorgeous! Love love love tostadas. The crunchiness is everything!
I can't wait to try these...love that the sauce is blended. And those fried tortillas are everything!
Loving all the fresh ingredients you topped these tostadas with!
Love the idea of doing a tostada bar! I'm planning the menu for our family time at a lodge later this week, and I'm pretty sure we need these!