Chicken Tinga Tacos

Welcome back! This week has started to get lighter and warmer and that means I’m justified in making food as if its summer already. I went all out with this and ended up making my own Guacamole, Pico de Gallo and Aioli but you can absolutely just buy it to save time. I’m going to include the recipe for all of the extras here, as a lot of the ingredients I used in the chicken went into the accoutrements too. You can’t judge the picture on the pre-shaped flour tortillas, I had real tortillas as an option but I was outvoted so we ended up using the tortilla boats.

JUMP TO RECIPE

There’s a couple of things in this one that you may have to substitute if you can’t find it. The flavoured stock cube can be substituted with a plain stock cube and a healthy helping of smoked paprika and a squirt of tomato puree. If your water when you add the stock smells sort of like soup, you’re doing it right.

I was lucky to find a spice blend titled “Chipotle Tinga Spice” from Wicked, which was convenient but if you can’t find this I would go for a fajita or taco seasoning and add some chilli powder, smoked paprika and onion powder. Tinga just means the method the chicken is shredded.

If you have a good few hours to kill before you’re wanting to serve this I think it’s worth the effort to make your own dips and salsa like I did. The salsa is super easy and is a lot drier than most store bought versions so you don’t have a soggy tortilla.

I don’t like guacamole any time I’ve tried it but this one was fresh and cut through the heat of the chicken. I also wanted an excuse to use my Pestle & Mortar because it’s my favourite impulse kitchen purchase of 2020. If you don’t have one – you can just mash up your avocado in a bowl.

What you Need:

Serves 4. Prep 40-60 minutes. Cook 45 mins.

2 Chicken Breasts
8 Mini Flour Tortillas
Grated Cheese (Optional)
Siracha (Optional)

1 Stock Cube (Tomato and Paprika)
Onion Powder
Garlic Salt
Garlic powder
Cayenne Pepper
Chilli flakes
Smoked Paprika
Paprika
Tinga Spice Blend (chipotle)

1 Red Pepper (Half for the Sauce, Half for the Pico de Gallo)
1 Red Onion (Half for the Sauce, Quarter for the Guacamole and the last quarter for the Pico de Gallo)
Coriander
1 bulb of Fresh Garlic (I’ll break down the cloves for each in the recipe)
150g Cherry Tomatoes
1 Lime
1 Large Ripe Avocado
1 Lemon
2 Big dollops of mayonnaise

I cooked the chicken first and whilst that was cooking I made the rest, but you can make it in whatever order you want. I’d make the Guacamole last so it’s as fresh as possible!

For the Chicken:

1. Fill a large pot about half way with water – add the stock cube and season with a heaped teaspoon of Chipotle seasoning. Stir and keep on the lowest heat.
2. Score each chicken breast with a knife 3 times and season with salt, pepper and chipotle seasoning so it is coated.
3. Place your chicken into the water, adding more water if the chicken is not submerged and increase the heat to a boil.
4. Boil until chicken is cooked (25-30 mins)
5. Once your chicken is cooked all the way through, remove it from the pan and shred it with two forks. You can keep the chicken to one side while you finish the sauce.
6. Allow the water in the pan to keep simmering so it reduces to about half.
7. Use half of the red onion and dice it along with half of the red pepper chopped into chunks – add these to the water once you have removed and shredded the chicken.
8. Add 2 cloves of garlic (finely chopped) into the water and stir, keep it on a low heat until sauce is thicker. Once the sauce has thickened, add all the shredded chicken back into the pot and stir it through. There should be very little liquid by the end but keep it on a low heat and keep stirring to reduce it.

For the Pico de Gallo:

1. Chop the Tomatoes into quarters along with a quarter of the Red Onion finely diced and the other half of the Red Pepper also finely diced, add into a bowl.
2. Finely chop 1 clove of garlic and add to the bowl.
3. Chop a handful of fresh coriander, including stalks, into fine pieces and add to the mix.
4. Then add 1 Tsp of Garlic Powder, 1 Tsp of Cayenne Pepper, 1 Tsp Smoked Paprika and 1 Tsp of Onion Powder. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
5. Stir, so all the seasonings are mixed in and allow to sit for 5 – 10 minutes in the fridge to allow flavours to mix.

For the Aioli:

1. In a ramekin (or whatever you’re serving your aioli in) add the mayonaise.
2. Mix in, 3 finely chopped cloves of garlic. the juice of half a lemon, 1 Tsp of Paprika, 2 Tsp of Garlic Salt, 1 Tsp of Onion Powder and mix until combined.

For the Guacamole:

You’re at the final hurdle, well done!

1. Use the remaining onion and garlic cloves and roughly chop. Add these to a bowl. (or a pestle and mortar if using one)
2. Use another handful of roughly chopped coriander and add.
3. Half and cut your avocado, scooping the middle out and adding to the onion, garlic and coriander.
4. Mash!
5. When thoroughly mixed add 2 Tsp of Paprika and Smoked Paprika. 1 Tsp of Garlic Salt and the juice of the lime.
6. Add chilli flakes to taste. If you don’t want any heat skip this step!

Once you’ve made everything it’s time to assemble!

Have all your toppings on the table so everyone can help themselves, this includes the siracha and grated cheese along with everything you’ve made (or bought!)

Heat your flour tortillas in the oven or the microwave. And ready! Everyone can assemble how they want and enjoy! The chicken will keep for around 4 days and is great for chicken wraps if you have left overs!