Easy Chipotle Chicken Tacos With Chipotle Sauce
These chipotle tacos are simple, quick, and full of smoky flavor.
Servings 8 small tacos
Equipment
- 12-inch Heavy Bottom non-stick pan
- 1 Gallon sized zip tight bag or bowl with a lid large enough to marinate the chicken
- Meat scissors or sharp knife
- Splatter screen pan lid optional
Ingredients
- 1.5 lbs chicken thighs
- 1 tsp chipotle Powder
- 1 tsp chili Powder
- 1/2 tsp cumin
- 1/2 tsp salt kosher or coarse preferred
- 1/2 tsp brown sugar
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon
- 2 Tbsp lime juice or the juice of half a lime
- 3 Tbsp olive oil divided 1 for the marinade and 2 for the pan
- 8 street taco sized flour tortillas
Ingredients for the chipotle Sauce
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1/4 cup diced chipotles in adobo sauce + more to taste
Instructions
Prepare the marinade
- Trim any excess fat from the chicken. This will help reduce grease and smoke during the cooking process.
- Whisk together spices, olive oil, and lime juice in bowl until fully incorporated.
- Transfer chicken to zip-tight storage bag or a bowl with lid. Pour marinade over chicken, making sure to fully coat each piece.
- Refrigerate chicken covered for at least 30 minutes or up to 24 hours.
- Allow chicken to return to room temperature for 30 minutes once pulled from the refrigerator and ready to cook.
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven or toaster oven to 350°F (to warm the tortillas).
- In a large heavy-bottom skillet over medium high heat, swirl olive oil to coat bottom of the pan.
- Carefully place each thigh in pan leaving room between each piece.
- Cook undisturbed for 6 minutes, flip and cook for another 6 minutes.
- Check for doneness and add an additional 2 minutes per side if necessary. The chicken will have clear juices and a meat thermometer will read at least 165°F.
- Remove chicken from pan and loosely cover to allow meat to rest for 10 minutes.
- While the meat is resting, prepare your sauce and warm up your tortillas. In a small bowl combine the sour cream and the diced chipotles and return to the refrigerator. Next, place foil wrapped tortillas into your pre-heated oven for approximately 10 minutes.
- Dice the cooked chicken into bite sized pieces.
- Assemble your tacos with the toppings of your choice and enjoy!
Notes
- This process can get very smoky. Running your stove top fan or kitchen fan will help, as well as cutting excess fat from chicken.
- A splatter screen will help circulate heat while keeping oil from splattering out of your pan. It also helps keep your food textures nice and crisp. You can also use a lid, but the steam will soften the texture of the meat.
- For clean-up, to release the stuck bits at the bottom of the pan add hot soapy water to pan and let rest for 30 minutes before you wash.