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5.0 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
15 mins
Resting Time
30 mins
Total Time
1 hr 5 mins
Servings: 16 tacos
Calories: 122 kcal
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Mexican

Ingredients

  • 4 dried ancho chiles (about 2 ounces), wiped clean, stemmed, and seeded
  • 4 dried guajillo chiles (about 1 ounce), wiped clean, stemmed, and seeded
  • ½ cup water plus more for soaking the chiles
  • 1 tablespoon finely chopped peeled ginger
  • 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt plus more as needed
  • ¾ teaspoon ground cumin
  • ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 pounds chicken tenders, cutlets, or boneless, skinless thighs
  • About 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
For serving:
  • Warm corn or flour tortillas
  • Diced avocado optional
  • salsa optional
  • sour cream or Mexican crema optional
  • chopped fresh cilantro leaves optional
  • Lime wedges optional
  • finely chopped white onion optional

Instructions

    Cup of Yum
  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.

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 Cholesterol 22mg (7%) Sodium 85mg (4%) Potassium 232mg (7%) Fiber 3g (12%) Sugar 2g (4%)

Nutrition Facts

Serving: 16tacos

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.