Crispy Cheddar Chicken Tacos

Name: Crispy Cheddar Chicken Tacos
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 35 min
Yield: 8 tacos
Ingredients: 1/2 medium red onion, thinly sliced (lengthwise, from root to stem end); 1 cup hot water (tap water is fine); Salt; 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano; 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice; 2 tablespoons fresh orange juice; 2 cups shredded, cooked chicken, warmed; 2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, chopped, plus 2 tablespoons adobo sauce; 6 ounces medium Cheddar, Monterey Jack or queso Chihuahua, grated; 8 (6-inch) corn tortillas; Sliced avocado, salsa and lime wedges, for serving

By Rick A. Martínez

Updated May 28, 2024

Crispy Cheddar Chicken Tacos — Julia Gartland for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Barrett Washburne.

Total Time: 35 minutes
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Rating: 5(500)
Comments: Read comments

These quick tacos use leftover or store-bought rotisserie chicken, and have a satisfying crispy Cheddar frico called a costra (crust) that is common both in taquerias in the northern half of Mexico and in the southwestern United States. In some taquerias, you can order a taco using only the costra as the shell without a tortilla. In this recipe, the tortilla and costra are layered together to wrap a simple but delicious shredded chicken and chipotle filling.

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Ingredients

Yield:8 tacos

½medium red onion, thinly sliced (lengthwise, from root to stem end)
1cup hot water (tap water is fine)
Salt
½teaspoon dried oregano
3tablespoons fresh lime juice
2tablespoons fresh orange juice
2cups shredded, cooked chicken, warmed
2chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, chopped, plus 2 tablespoons adobo sauce
6ounces medium Cheddar, Monterey Jack or queso Chihuahua, grated
8(6-inch) corn tortillas
Sliced avocado, salsa and lime wedges, for serving

Ingredient Substitution Guide

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Preparation

Step 1
Set an oven rack in the middle position; heat the oven to 375 degrees.
Step 2
In a medium bowl, stir the onion, hot water and 1 teaspoon salt until the salt has dissolved. Let sit for 5 minutes. This will soften the onion and lessen any bitter or harsh flavors. Rinse the onion under cold water and drain. In the same bowl, toss the onion with the oregano, lime juice, orange juice and ½ teaspoon salt; reserve.
Step 3
In a separate bowl, quickly toss together the chicken, peppers and adobo sauce, making sure the chicken is completely coated. Season with salt. Cover and keep warm.
Step 4
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat (do not use foil or the cheese might stick). Arrange cheese in 8 equal mounds on the prepared baking sheet. Spread each mound evenly to about 3 inches wide, and space at least 1 inch apart. Bake until the cheese is bubbly and deep golden brown in spots and around the edges, about 14 minutes. Remove from the oven and place 1 tortilla over each cheese crust and return to the oven to heat the tortillas, about 2 minutes.
Step 5
Use tongs to carefully remove each tortilla with its costra, flipping each one onto a plate so that the cheese is facing up. Top with chicken, onions, avocado, salsa and a squeeze of lime.

Ratings

5 out of 5

500 user ratings

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Comments

Workerbee1 year ago

While an added step, for those who dislike the stale flavor of grocery store corn tortillas, perhaps consider the Serious Eats approach about the right way to warm corn tortillas. Following their method of a quick dip in water then directly onto a dry hot pan and finally stacked in a tea towel to finish steaming, the stale taste is gone. It takes a few extra minutes, but the results are well worth it. For this recipe, the corn tortillas were warmed before melting the cheese. Very delicious.

Great Recipe, But There's An Quicker Way1 year ago

Instead of baking the cheese in the oven first followed by the tortillas and flipping them, simply put the tortillas in a sheet pan, cover thinly with cheddar cheese all over, and then and then broil. Then follow the recipe as specified. Done in 10 minutes.

Pattie1 year ago

You can make it whatever you want it to be! Simply omit chicken and add your favorite veggies. Recipes are a guide so we can make them all our own. <3

Scott3 weeks ago

There are two separate good concepts here - toss pre-cooked chicken with canned chipotles for a very easy filling; and melt cheese on a silpat to get a frico disk on your tortilla. The quick-pickled onions are fine but there are plenty of other recipes for that. To the popular comment to just melt the cheese ON the tortillas - no, you've entirely missed the point! The point is that the cheese crisps against the silpat or parchment, for a browned craggy edge, but releases easily.

Claire4 months ago

This was fantastic and an easy, healthy ish weeknight meal! Using a silicon baking mat was key and made for very easy clean up. I used chicken breasts and slow cooked them with seasonings, then tossed with enchilada sauce (it’s all I had). Also I marinated the red onions for 4ish hours and they were so good.

TacoBurrito4 months ago

This turned out very tasty - loved the texture of the tortillas. Used the method suggested in one of the notes for the cheese costra: broiled cheese on top of tortillas. I used flour tortillas and topped with thin layer of shredded cheese: note this only took about 2.5-3 minutes for me at 525 broil temp. Made some chili lime marinated chicken for the taco filling, had a delightful evening.

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