Canned chicken tacos
Saucy, smoky chicken tacos from a couple of cans and a few spices, ready faster than a drive-through run.
- 20 min total
- 20 min hands-on
- Anyone can make this
- Serves 4
- About $2.67 a serving
- 450 calories
- Gluten-free
Dolly says: I’d make this on a weeknight. It’s on the table in 20 minutes.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- ½ yellow onion, finely chopped
- 2 cans canned chicken breast, drained
- 1 can tomato sauce, 8 oz
- 1 lime, half juiced, half cut in wedges
- 8 corn tortillas
- 1½ cups shredded lettuce
- 1 cup Mexican blend cheese
From your pantry
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tsp chili powder
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- ½ tsp smoked paprika
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp dried oregano
- ¼ cup water
Each serving has about 450 calories, 44 g protein, 32 g carbs and 17 g fat, and costs about $2.67 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No yellow onions? White onions or red onions work.
- No tomato sauce? Crushed tomatoes work.
- No limes? Lemons work.
- No shredded lettuce? Iceberg lettuce or romaine lettuce works.
- No Mexican blend cheese? Shredded cheddar or cheddar cheese or Monterey Jack cheese works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
Heat the oil in a large over medium heat. Add the onion and cook 4 minutes, until soft.
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Medium heatTimer: 4 min
Add the chili powder, cumin, paprika, garlic powder and oregano and 30 seconds, .
Stir. Stirring means moving food around with a spoon or spatula so it cooks evenly and doesn’t stick. Unless the recipe says constantly, every so often is plenty, and it gives food time to brown.
How you’ll know: When you drag the spoon across the bottom, nothing is sticking or scorching.
Fragrant. Fragrant means cooking until you can clearly smell it, usually garlic or spices, often in about 30 seconds. That’s the moment the flavor is ready, just before it can burn.
How you’ll know: You can smell it from a step back, and garlic is pale gold, not brown.
Medium heat
Add the chicken, tomato sauce and water and 5 minutes, breaking the chicken into shreds with your spoon, until thick and saucy.
Simmer. Simmering means keeping a liquid just below a boil, with small bubbles rising gently. It cooks food evenly and lets a sauce thicken without scorching on the bottom.
How you’ll know: Small, lazy bubbles break the surface every second or so, and nothing is churning.
Medium heatTimer: 5 min
Food safety: Rotisserie chicken, deli meat, canned tuna and cooked shrimp are already cooked. Keep them cold until you use them, and heat them until steaming hot if the recipe warms them.
Squeeze in the juice of half the lime and scrape the chicken into a bowl.
Wipe out the and warm the tortillas in it one or two at a time over medium heat, about 30 seconds per side, until soft and spotty.
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Medium heat
Dolly’s tip: Stack them in a clean kitchen towel as they come out. They steam each other and stay soft.Fill the tortillas with the chicken, lettuce and cheese and serve with the lime wedges.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
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