5 from 6 votes
Adobo-Marinated Chicken Tacos
There are countless ways to make chicken tacos, but these adobo tacos are flavorful and easy enough for a weeknight. You can make the marinade ahead of time, and even freeze it! Then just marinate your chicken in the adobo paste and cook until juicy. Delicious!
Prep Time
15 mins
Cook Time
20 mins
Resting Time
30 mins
Total Time
1 hr 5 mins
Servings:
16
tacos
Calories:
122 kcal
Course:
Main Course
Cuisine:
Mexican
Ingredients
- 4 ancho chile about 2 ounces), wiped clean, stemmed, and seeded, dried
- 4 guajillo chile about 1 ounce), wiped clean, stemmed, and seeded, dried
- ½ cup water plus more for soaking the chiles
- 1 tablespoon ginger finely chopped, peeled
- 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt plus more as needed
- ¾ teaspoon cumin ground
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper freshly ground
- 2 pounds chicken tenders, cutlets, or boneless skinless thighs
- vegetable oil about 2 tablespoons
For serving:
- corn tortillas or flour tortillas, warm
- avocado optional, diced
- salsa optional
- sour cream optional, or Mexican crema
- cilantro optional, fresh, chopped leaves
- lime optional, wedges
- onion optional, finely chopped; white onion
Instructions
- Combine the chiles in a large bowl and add enough water to cover them (I use hot but not boiling water). Soak the chiles until they’re soft, about 30 minutes. Drain and discard the soaking water.
- Place the drained chiles in a blender. Add the ½ cup water, ginger, salt, cumin, and pepper and blend until smooth, stopping and scraping down the pitcher with a rubber spatula as needed, about 1 minute. (The mixture will be thick—don’t add extra water.) You will yield about 1 cup of chile purée.
- Put the chicken in a bowl, add ½ cup of the chile puree (the rest can be refrigerated for a week or frozen for a few months to make another batch of tacos in the future), and rub it onto the chicken until the meat is well coated. At this point you can cook the chicken right away, or cover and refrigerate it for up to 24 hours.
- Preheat a grill, griddle, or large skillet over medium heat. Add just enough oil to add a thin sheen to the grill grates or pan. Season the chile-slathered breasts with salt and cook, in batches if necessary, until they’re well browned on both sides and just cooked through, turning them over once, 8 to 10 minutes per batch. Let the chicken rest for a few minutes, then slice or dice it for tacos, and serve with the tortillas and your choice of garnishes.
Cup of Yum
Notes
- Adapted from Tacos, Tortas, and Tamales
- This recipe uses kosher salt (aka cooking salt, kitchen salt, coarse salt outside of the US). If you are using table salt, definitely scale down the salt as that is a saltier type of salt! The type of salt will make a big difference in how salty your food tastes, so keep that in mind.
Nutrition Information
Serving
1taco (without toppings)
Calories
122kcal
(6%)
Carbohydrates
13g
(4%)
Protein
10g
(20%)
Fat
3g
(5%)
Saturated Fat
7g
(35%)
Polyunsaturated Fat
2g
(12%)
Cholesterol
22mg
(7%)
Sodium
85mg
(4%)
Potassium
232mg
(5%)
Fiber
3g
(12%)
Sugar
2g
(4%)
Nutrition Facts
Serving: 16 tacos
Amount Per Serving
Calories 122
% Daily Value*
| Serving | 1taco (without toppings) | |
| Calories | 122kcal | 6% |
| Carbohydrates | 13g | 4% |
| Protein | 10g | 20% |
| Fat | 3g | 5% |
| Saturated Fat | 7g | 35% |
| Polyunsaturated Fat | 2g | 12% |
| Cholesterol | 22mg | 7% |
| Sodium | 85mg | 4% |
| Potassium | 232mg | 5% |
| Fiber | 3g | 12% |
| Sugar | 2g | 4% |
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.