These Easy Chicken Tinga Tacos feature shredded chicken in a smoky chipotle sauce that’s ready in only 30 minutes! (gluten free, low carb, paleo)
Chicken tinga tacos! I bet you can’t say that five times fast without getting hungry. It’s nearly impossible. I’ve tried.
Okay, so now that you’re officially hungry, let’s talk about these babies.
What is chicken tinga?
Chicken tinga is a Mexican dish from Puebla made from shredded chicken cooked in a smoky and slightly spicy tomato-based sauce. It’s can be served in corn tortillas, flour tortillas or paleo tortillas as tacos, but can also be used in quesadillas, tostadas and even burrito bowls.
This recipe is a super quick and easy version of the traditional chicken tinga. If I were making everything in this recipe 100 percent authentically, I would probably roast my own tomatoes and cook a few of the ingredients separately before combining them to make the sauce. But by the time dinner rolls around and everyone is home and ready to eat, I’m usually tired and don’t have the energy to do that.
Instead, I’m taking a few shortcuts and using canned fire roasted tomatoes and my blender to help make this chicken tinga as flavorful as can be without having to spend lots of time in the kitchen. Here’s what I do.
How to make quick and easy chicken tinga tacos
- First, make the sauce by adding the diced tomatoes, chipotle peppers, oregano, garlic, salt and onion into a large blender. Blend until smooth.
- Next, fry the sauce in a large skillet or (SAUCEPAN?) over medium-high heat with a little olive oil. This will help deepen the flavors and fully cook the raw onion and garlic in there.
- Lastly, add in some shredded chicken and toss it with the sauce until the chicken is fully coated. Reduce the heat to low and cook it for 10 more minutes to help all the flavors meld with the chicken. This will also reduce and concentrate those flavors, which is always a good thing.
Tip: If you don’t have shredded chicken on hand, you can use store-bought rotisserie chicken and shred it yourself of you can make your own following this recipe here. I love making a double or triple batch of shredded chicken so I can have it on hand to use in recipes like these chicken tinga tacos or in quick lunch salads or breakfast omelets.
Like this taco recipe? You may also like these!
- Easy Chicken Tacos
- Easy Ground Beef Tacos
- Slow Cooker Pork Carnitas Tacos
- Slow Cooker Beef Tinga Tacos
Ingredients
- 1 15-ounce can fire roasted diced tomatoes
- 2 tablespoons chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
- 1 large white onion, roughly chopped
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 pounds shredded chicken (about 5 1/2 to 6 cups)
For serving
- corn tortillas, flour tortillas or lettuce cups
- queso fresco, cotija cheese or feta cheese
- diced onions
- chopped cilantro
Instructions
- Add diced tomatoes, chipotle peppers, oregano, garlic, salt and onion in a large blender. Blend until smooth.
- Heat a large skillet (skillet with high sides) over medium-high heat. Add olive oil and blended tinga sauce. Cook for 10 minutes.
- Add shredded chicken and toss with sauce until fully combined. Reduce heat to low and for 10 more minutes, stirring occasionally. The sauce will thicken and reduce a little during this time.
- Remove from heat, taste and season with more salt if necessary.
- Serve chicken tinga in warm corn tortillas, flour tortillas or lettuce cups. Top with cotija cheese, diced onions and cilantro.
Video
Nutrition Information
This is a great dish, will this freeze well??
Hi Rach! Yes the chicken will freeze well!
I made this tonight for dinner and the entire family loved it ! The recipe comes together quickly and has amazing flavor.. Most time was spent shredding the chicken breasts . I’m certainly glad I doubled batched this one and can’t wait to have it again tomorrow. It’s been added to my Favorites and I will certainly be making it again and most likely soon . I’ve made many of your recipes and they’ve all been delicious. You’re my go to for Mexican Food for sure and thank you so much for sharing your recipes with us . If you put out a Cookbook I would absolutely get it .
Thank you so much Greg! We’re glad you enjoyed this recipe.
I made these! Well; i made the chicken and then assembled it into a bunch of quesadillas for the superbowl. It came out really great!
This recipe was super quick and easy to make. Dinner was done in 30 minutes! Thanks for sharing this recipe.
This recipe was really easy to throw together. We enjoyed it. I will make this again.
hello how many chipolte peppers equals 2 tablespoons per the tinga recipe ?
Hi! If you’re getting them out of a can, I would day about 2-3 of them!
This might be the first recipe of yours that we have made. It was excellent and look forward to more recipes.
So easy and delicious thanks Isabel!
Just made this and it is amazing. I didn’t think it would be as favorable as it is with such a basic sauce. Has a little heat behind it but goes away quickly. Made it with the chipotle sauce recipe and some cotija cheese. So easy too, the longest time was taken was breaking down the store-bought rotisserie chicken I used. Thank you for this recipe even my girls love it!
Fast, easy and delicious! Thanks for the recipe, Isabel. Shared the picture I took and made everyone drool. đŸ˜‚
I made these last night and they were delicious! Thanks for the recipe.
You’re so welcome, Brad! So happy you liked it!
When it says 2 tbsp of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce that that mean just the sauce? Or 2 peppers?
For this recipe, you can just measure 2 tablespoons of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce including the peppers and sauce.
Do you drain the tomatoes?
No.