If you don’t like spicy, but you want great flavored chicken tacos… THIS RECIPE IS FOR YOU!! I came up with this recipe because my husband likes everything very plain. I am a trained chef and don’t do plain!! This is a great way to make super simple, but super flavorful chicken for tacos. What I even love more about this is that you can marinate it the night before or the same day. It needs anywhere from 1 hour to overnight to get the flavor. You can roast it off early in the day when you have time and shred it up and then just reheat it in the cooking liquid! You can even just throw it in the slow cooker and then shred it up and you are good to go!
Chef’s tip- Lime or any acid will start to make the outside of the chicken white,(essentially “cooking” it), after about 24 hours. Yet, it needs at least an hour to penetrate the meat with flavor. That is why this recipe is perfect if you can marinate it for 1-24 hours. Over night is the best and gives amazing flavor, but that is if you can be proactive and remember to do it the day before! We are all super busy, so that does not always happen… I TOTALLY get it!!
If you have an hour, you are good! If you are using a slow cooker, you can add marinade to the cooker and cook with the chicken because it will come to temp and kill any bacteria while the chicken cooks. If you are using marinate and then roast method, reserve extra marinade for after to reheat the chicken in that has not been with the raw chicken.
Shredded Chicken for Tacos
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup chicken broth
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup lime juice squeezed fresh
- 3 cloves garlic peeled and smashed
- 1 jalapeno seeded and chopped, optional
- kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste
- 2 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp paprika
- 2 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1 small white onion sliced
- 1/2 cup chopped cilantro to mix in at the end
Instructions
- Place the chicken broth, olive oil, lime juice, garlic, jalapeno, salt, cumin, paprika, and pepper into a food processor. Blend until the garlic and jalapeno,if using) are pulverized and the sauce is well incorporated.
- Pour the sauce over the chicken and marinate for 1 hour or up to over night. If you are oven roasting, reserve about 1/4-1/2 cup of the marinade for after the chicken is cooked and shredded.
- If you are roasting in the oven, preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Place the chicken in a small roasting pan and top with the sliced onions. Cover with foil and roast for 35-40 minutes. Remove and let cool to the touch. Shred the chicken. Either heat the remaining sauce and mix into the chicken and serve immediately. Otherwise, you can cool down and when you are ready to reheat, toss with the reserved marinade and heat through and serve with the chopped cilantro.
- If using the slow cooker, lay the chicken in a single layer in the crock pot. Pour the sauce over the chicken and sprinkle with the sliced onion.
- Cover and cook on low for 8 hours for best results (or high for 4 hours).
- Using two forks, shred the chicken. Add the cilantro to the chicken, and toss again. Serve immediately. ENJOY!
