Smoky Chicken Street Tacos

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These easy slow cooker Smoky Chicken Street Tacos are loaded with flavor and prep time is minimal. Serve them as a delicious easy dinner, or add them to your taco bar menu for a get together with a Mexican flair. 

Love tacos?

I know I do! 

This recipe comes from Sheila at Life, Love and Good Food. Several times a year Michaela from An Affair from the Heart hosts a Freaky Friday blog swap, where participating bloggers make a recipe from the blog assigned to them and then we keep it a secret until our blog posts go live.  

Sheila has lots of wonderful recipes on her blog, but these Smoky Chicken Street Tacos with Pickled Red Onions caught my eye right away. I have a bit of an obsession with soft tacos. We make them a lot! There were a few other recipes I noticed on her blog that were right up my alley…like this Tex-Mex Chicken Burrito Bowl, Chicken Black Bean Enchiladas and Easy Beef Enchilada Skillet. I have a feeling I will be trying a couple of these as well.

Sheila describes herself as a Southern cook from Tennessee who loves creating and sharing good food with my family and friends. I would describe myself pretty much the same way, except that I live in the Northeast. However, I have one son living in Tennessee, another one that is interested in living there eventually, and my husband’s sister’s family lives there. We are currently in the process of buying property there, which I am pretty excited about. Our goal is to move there eventually as well. So, after our official Freaky Friday reveal, I am hoping to talk more to Sheila about Tennessee!

WHAT’S SO GREAT ABOUT TACOS

Tacos are the ultimate party food! One, they’re easy finger food, especially if you use the Mission street taco size tortillas. Two, you can make them up so many different ways, it’s easy to do a taco bar for a party.

But they’re also one of my favorite dinners. I make fish tacos on a regular basis, as well pork carnitas tacos. We are keeping it simple here though, for an easy dinner that takes a minimal amount of prep time. The smoky shredded chicken is made in the slow cooker, and both the pickled onions and salsa can be made ahead of time.

HOW TO MAKE SMOKY CHICKEN STREET TACOS

SMOKY CHICKEN

Let’s start with the smoky chicken. Coat the inside of your slow cooker lightly with a cooking spray. I prefer to use olive oil sprays. Place your boneless chicken breasts into the ceramic pot, sprinkling with cumin, salt and pepper. Add the chopped onions, chipotle chiles, and adobo sauce. Top with 1 cup of chicken broth. Then set your timer to 4 hours on the high setting.

Shred the chicken with two forks. Strain the leftover juices and broth; then pour 1/2 to 1 cup back over the chicken and toss to mix. Keep the chicken warm in the slow cooker until you’re ready to make the tacos.

PICKLED ONIONS

I make Spicy Red Pickled Onions all the time for my Mexican dishes (and I sometimes use them in salads as well), so I went ahead and used my own version of pickled onions here. 

EASY FRESH SALSA

To make the salsa, combine together tomatoes, jalapeño, garlic, green onions, and lime. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Cover and refrigerate until you are ready to use.

RECIPE TIPS

You can replace the fresh salsa with a chipotle salsa instead, or even a cabbage slaw…or use both! 

Mix some lime juice with sour cream OR add a chipotle (or two) plus a little adobo sauce to some sour cream and use one of these as a topping. 

Avocado slices would also be a delicious addition.

Bone in chicken works just as well. Just discard the bones after shredding, or save them for the next time you’re making chicken stock. 

You can keep your taco shells soft by wrapping a stack of them in a damp paper towel or damp clean dish towel and microwaving them for a 45 seconds to a minute or so. If you are warming them in the oven, preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Wrap stacks of 5 tortillas in tin foil and warm them for 10-15 minutes.

WHAT TO SERVE WITH SMOKY CHICKEN STREET TACOS

Mexican Black Beans…easy restaurant quality Mexican black beans that take almost no time to make.

Refried Beans…use canned pinto beans to make a delicious side dish in just 15 minutes that is so good, you will never used premade canned refried beans again! Any leftovers can be used in burritos, or a layered bean dip or loaded nachos!

Mexican Beans and Rice…a simple side dish where the leftovers can be repurposed another night into burritos with any leftover chicken!

Take a look at all of our 2021 Freaky Friday Spring Edition Recipes:

1. A Dish of Daily Life – Smoky Chicken Street Tacos
2. An Affair from the Heart – Sheet Pan Shrimp Fajitas with Cilantro Lime Butter
3. An Affair from the Heart – Blueberry Mojitos
4. Aunt Bee’s Recipes – Easy Chile Relleno Casserole
5. The Carefree Kitchen – Glazed Lemon Cookies
6. The Culinary Compass – Easy Candied Pecan Recipe
7. Devour Dinner – Cheese Stuffed Meatloaf
8. The Foodie Affair – Keto Broccoli Salad
9. The Fresh Cooky – Bowtie Pasta Recipe
10. Hostess at Heart – No Bake Chocolate Cheesecake 
11. House of Nash Eats – Roast Beef Sliders
12. Lemon Blossoms – Lemon Blueberry Crumb Bars
13. Lemoine Family Kitchen – Lemon Blueberry Bread
14. Life, Love & Good Food – Sandwich Cubano
15. Off the Eaten Path – Grilled Vegan Guacamole
16. Or Whatever You Do – Blackstone Mexican Style Street Corn
17. The Speckled Palate – Lemon Bars
18. Take Two Tapas – Pepperoni Pizza Pinwheels

I hope you’ll take some time to check out some of the other great food blogs and recipes here! Happy eating!