Chicken Street Tacos are so easy and so delicious. Double coated in flavor, and cooked to perfection, these tacos are never dry and always delicious!
Normally chicken tacos are something I skip over and go straight for carne asada, carnitas, or al carbon. BUT I figured out why they typically aren’t great and now that I’ve remedied the problem, I love them and you will too!
The problem with most chicken tacos: they are dry and flavorless. It’s chicken, there’s little fat to add extra flavor, and it’s easy to overcook.
The solution: a good marinade AND a second coating of flavor post cooking.
One of my favorite cookbooks is the Cooks Science of Good Cooking Cookbook, and once of their recipes called for marinating chicken, then after cooking, tossing the chicken in some of the reserved marinade after and this my friends is a GAME CHANGER. (amazon affiliate link)
What you need for chicken tacos?
Marinade: soy sauce, garlic cloves, limes (zested and juiced!), chipotles in adobo sauce, chili powder, cumin, oregano, paprika, oil, water.
Chicken: Breast or Thighs: I love using Good Rancher’s Chicken such high quality!
Additional Taco Necessities: Diced Onion, Chipped Cilantro, Salsa, and Tortillas.
Product Feature: Good Rancher’s Chicken!
You know I love Good Rancher’s- steak, chicken, pork, and fish- all delicious and all amazing quality! They sent me a box to use for this recipe and it was delicious!
Get your own box of meat here and use code Joy on check out for an extra discount!
How to make Chicken Street Tacos:
- Mix up the marinade and reserve ⅓ cup. Make sure to do this before adding chicken so you don’t cross contaminate the liquid you will need for later with raw chicken.
- Add remaining marinade to bag, along with the chicken, close and shake to coat. Refrigerate chicken for 30 minutes.
- Preheat and grease grill, then cook chicken until done, flipping halfway through cooking. IT of chicken should be 165°F.
- Once cooked and cool enough to handle, chop chicken in to ¼ inch pieces.
- Add chicken and reserved marinade to a fry pan. Heat over medium, stirring to coat the chicken with the reserved marinade, and letting the chicken brown slightly.
- Once coated remove from heat and serve in a warmed tortilla with diced onions, cilantro, salsa, or pico de gallo!
Tools I used for this recipe:
Zester- love a good microplane! Always use the zest from citrus- it adds extra flavor!
Juicer- I have this one and use it all the time!
Garlic Twist- since getting this I have used my garlic press at all!
Meat Thermometer- Love my Thermoworks thermometer!
(Affiliate links for Amazon and Thermoworks)
How to season chicken for street tacos?
First, marinade the chicken, then cook, and then toss in reserved marinade. This not only coats the chicken in flavor again, but adds a little more fat (aka flavor via the oil), to the chicken so it extra tasty and juicy!
Substitutions and Variations
- Meat- This works great with turkey too!
- Salsa- I love a good green salsa with this but a tasty pineapple mango is delicious too.
- Tortillas- Try flour and corn and see which you like best!
If you like this taco recipe, make sure to check out my tri tip tacos, salmon tacos, and these tasty shrimp tacos too!
Watch how to make this recipe!
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Chicken Street Tacos
Ingredients
- 2 lbs chicken breast or thighs*
Marinade
- 1 tbs soy sauce
- 6 garlic cloves minced
- 2 Limes zested and juiced
- 2 chipotles in adobo sauce minced
- 2 teaspoon chili powder
- ¾ teaspoon cumin
- 1 ½ teaspoon oregano
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 6 tbs oil
- 2 tbs water
Other Taco Ingredients
- Tortillas
- White Onion diced
- Cilantro chopped
- Extra limes cut into wedges
- Salsa
Instructions
- In a medium bowl combine soy sauce, garlic cloves, chipotles in adobo sauce, lime juice, chili powder, cumin, oregano, paprika, oil, and water. Reserve ⅓ cup of marinade- set aside.1 tbs soy sauce, 6 garlic cloves, 2 Limes, 2 chipotles in adobo sauce, 2 teaspoon chili powder, ¾ teaspoon cumin, 1 ½ teaspoon oregano, 1 teaspoon paprika, 6 tbs oil, 2 tbs water
- Add whole chicken breasts or thighs to a Ziploc bag and pour remaining marinade over them. Close and shake the bag to coat the chicken evenly. Allow chicken to marinade for at least 30 min or up to 1 hour.2 lbs chicken
- Clean and oil grill*, then heat on med-high until hot. Once grill is preheated, add chicken cook until done. At 4 minutes, flip chicken, and continue cooking. Depending on the thickness of the chicken will vary cooking times. Chicken will be done when it reaches an internal temperature of 165°F. Start checking for doneness at least the 7-minute mark and every few minutes thereafter.
- Once chicken is cooked through, chopping into ¼ inch- ½ inch pieces. Add reserved marinade to a non-stick pan along with chicken (you may need t work in batches deepening on the size of your pan so portion at reserved marinade accordingly). Stir and heat until chicken pieces are coated and starting to brown slightly.
- Serve in warmed tortillas* topped with diced onion, cilantro, lime, and your favorite salsa.Tortillas, White Onion, Cilantro, Extra limes cut into wedges, Salsa
Notes
- Chicken Meat: Thighs are more flavorful due to being slight more fatty, but I was determined to make a recipe that works great for chicken breast too0 and this does! So use whatever you have on hand!
- Stove Top or Oven: If you want to cook the chicken in a fry pan with oil, or bake in the oven that works too. Just cook to an internal temperature of 165°F, the continue on with the recipe.
- Tortillas: I like to warm small corn or flour tortillas in a fry pan with a little oil, just until they are warm and pliable and just starting to brown. The blackened/charred tortillas in the photos look great but don’t taste very good!
- Nutrition Info-:This is just an estimate for the chicken meat and marinade. Adjust accordingly for whatever tortillas and toppings you use.
Nutrition
This post and recipe was updated on 5/17/2024
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