Crispy Chicken Tacos
These Crispy ChickenTacos are the tastiest Friday night or weekend dinner option. Served up intoasted soft shell tacos with tangy Pico del Galo!
Ingredients
Crispy Chicken
- 4 pounds (2 kg) chicken thighs boneless and skinless (see notes)
- 2 tbsp olive oil plus extra to crisp up chicken
- 3 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp cumin ground
- 2 tsp pepper
- 2 tbsp oregano dried
- 2 oranges juiced
- 1 lime juiced
- 1 red onion chopped
- 3 garlic cloves sliced
- 4 cups (1 litre) chicken stock
Pico del Galo
- 1 large brown or red onion finely chopped
- 2 large tomatoes cubed (see notes)
- 2 tbsp coriander finely chopped
- 1 lime juiced
- 1 tsp salt
- birds eye chilli thinly sliced, seeds removed (optional)
To Serve
- 5 small flour tortillas per person (see notes)
- Chipotle Mayonnaise Sauce
- lime wedges to serve
Instructions
Crispy Chicken
- Note: First off, this recipe is easily scalable. If you want to halve the ingredients that will work. Cooking time will lessen by about half. Just make sure the chicken is covered in stock when you begin cooking.
- If using chicken thigh, feel for any bones before cooking. Cut away if you find them.
- Drizzle 1 tbsp of oil in a very lot frypan or deep pot and cook chicken in batches taking care not to overcrowd your pan. Cook on each side until golden. Place in a bowl and continue cooking until all the chicken is cooked. Salt the top of the chicken with each batch.
- Place all the chicken back into a deep pot. Sprinkle with salt, cumin, oregano, pepper, orange juice, lime juice, chopped onion, garlic cloves and chicken stock. Mix to combine everything. Place a lid on top and cook on medium low heat for 2 hours. If cooking less chicken the cooking time will be about half. You’re looking for about 3/4 of the stock to have cooked away and for the chicken to be soft and fall apart.
- Use two forks to shred the chicken (but don’t overdo it).
- To Crisp Up - add a tsp of olive oil in a large skillet on medium high heat. Add a portion of chicken and stir using a wooden spoon until chicken is crispy and golden.
- To freeze chicken - if you want to freeze the chicken, portion it into 8 freezer bags and freeze for up to two months. Thaw and crisp up fresh. Each freezer bag is one serving.
Pico del Galo
- Add all ingredients into a bowl and mix!
To Serve
- Place each soft shell taco on top of a gas stove top and lightly char on both sides. Use tongs to turn over. Do this right before serving so they’re warm!
- Add chicken in each taco, Pico del Galo on top and a drizzle of spicy mayo. Drizzle with a fresh lemon wedge before eating!
Notes
This is a bulk recipe: I make this recipe in bulk which is what the ingredients quantities are because I like to freeze a lot of the chicken to have on hard when we want tacos. This recipe will make 8 portions of chicken. Each portion will make 5 soft shell tacos when used with my delicious Pico de Galo.
Chicken Thighs: I used chicken thigh for this recipe which helps provide loads of flavor. Make sure to feel for any small bones in the thighs before cooking. Alternatively, you can use chicken breast, but it won’t be as flavorful and will be a little dryer. Just use extra oil when cooking.
Flour tortillas - the amount of chicken in this recipe will serve 8 people. So if you’re using all the chicken you’ll need 40 tortillas. Hooray it’s a taco party! But the great thing is, the chicken is easily freezable. So if you’re feeding 2 people, you’ll need 10 flour tortillas.
Storage - Crispy Chicken can be stored in a container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Can be stored in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 3 months (I store them in individual freezer bags). Thaw in the microwave for 30 seconds and crisp up fresh on a frypan.
Nutrition - is based on per serving. This serves 8 people. Each serving makes 5 soft shell tacos with Pico del Galo, crispy chicken and some spicy mayo.
A note on measurements - all ingredients in this recipe are offered in Australian cup measurements and weight measurements. Weight measurements are created by me, in my kitchen here in Melbourne Australia. The best way to get recipe success is to measure ingredients by weight, using kitchen scales.
Nutrition
Calories:679kcal | Carbohydrates:26g | Protein:43g | Fat:45g | Saturated Fat:12g | Polyunsaturated Fat:9g | Monounsaturated Fat:19g | Trans Fat:0.2g | Cholesterol:226mg | Sodium:1653mg | Potassium:887mg | Fiber:4g | Sugar:9g | Vitamin A:683IU | Vitamin C:32mg | Calcium:112mg | Iron:4mg
Have you tried this recipe?Tag me on instagram @thescranline!