Easy chicken tacos
Smoky, juicy taco chicken from a spice mix you stir together yourself, folded into warm tortillas with all your favorite toppings.
- 25 min total
- 20 min hands-on
- Anyone can make this
- Serves 4
- About $2.09 a serving
- 500 calories
- Good the next day
- Gluten-free
Dolly says: I’d make this on a weeknight. It’s on the table in 25 minutes.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 1¼ lb chicken breasts, cut into small bite-size pieces
- 1 lime, juiced
- 12 corn tortillas
- 1 cup Mexican blend cheese
- 1½ cups shredded lettuce (optional)
- ½ cup pico de gallo (optional)
- ½ cup sour cream (optional)
From your pantry
- 1 tbsp chili powder
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp onion powder
- ¾ tsp salt
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 3 tbsp water
Each serving has about 500 calories, 44 g protein, 39 g carbs and 19 g fat, and costs about $2.09 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No chicken breasts? Boneless chicken thighs or chicken tenderloins work.
- No limes? Lemons work.
- No Mexican blend cheese? Shredded cheddar or cheddar cheese or Monterey Jack cheese works.
- No shredded lettuce? Iceberg lettuce or romaine lettuce works.
- No pico de gallo? Salsa works.
- No sour cream? Plain Greek yogurt works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the chili powder, cumin, smoked paprika, garlic powder, onion powder and salt together in a small bowl.
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.
Cut the chicken into small bite-size pieces, them with the spice mix, and wash your hands and board.
Toss. Tossing means gently lifting and turning food so everything gets coated, like pasta in sauce or vegetables in oil. It coats every piece evenly without mashing anything.
How you’ll know: Every piece looks glossy or evenly coated, with no dry spots hiding underneath.
Food safety: Wash your hands, the board and the knife with hot soapy water after touching raw meat, and don’t rinse raw chicken in the sink.
Heat the oil in a large over medium-high until it . Add the chicken and cook 3 minutes without .
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.
Shimmering oil. Oil shimmers when it’s hot enough to cook: its surface looks rippled and wavy, like heat over a road. That’s your cue to add the food, just before the oil would start to smoke.
How you’ll know: The oil looks wavy and runs thin like water when you tilt the pan, with no smoke yet.
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.
Medium-high heatTimer: 3 min
and cook 3 to 4 minutes more, until the biggest piece reads 165°F.
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.
Medium-high heatTimer: 3 min 30 sec
Food safety: Chicken and turkey are done at 165°F in the thickest part. A thermometer is the only sure check. Without one, cut into the thickest piece: it should be white all the way through, with no pink.
Add the water and lime juice and , scraping the spices off the bottom, until the chicken looks saucy. Take it off the heat.
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.
Medium heat
Dolly’s tip: That little splash turns the toasted spices on the pan into a sauce that clings to the chicken.Wrap the tortillas in a damp paper towel and microwave them for 45 seconds, until warm and soft.
Timer: 45 sec
Fill the tortillas with the chicken, cheese, lettuce, pico de gallo and sour cream.
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.
More dinners like this
Ground turkey tacos
25 min
Ground turkey taco skillet
25 min
Garlic butter chicken thighs
30 min
Sheet pan chicken tostadas
40 min
30-minute dinners ›High-protein dinners ›What to make with lettuce and Mexican blend cheese ›