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Delicious easy green chile boiled chicken, shredded with tons of rich, spices and herbs for a melt-in-your-mouth flavor you won’t be able to get enough of!
These tacos are simple enough to make every night of the week, and the chicken can be used in wraps, sandwiches, burritos, salads – the sky is the limit!
Don’t want all the extras in a recipe post? We provide a skip to recipe button in the top left corner, as well as a clickable table of contents, just below, to help make this page easier to navigate.
At Sweet C’s, I add lots of tips in all of my recipes – because I am a home cook without any formal training, and I find I am more confident making dishes when I understand why it works, and what each ingredient means to the flavor of a recipe – my goal is for even the most beginner home cook to feel empowered in the kitchen.
I want each reader to walk away with a solid knowledge of each recipe, with all of the tips I’ve gathered from extensive testing of each recipe. I also answer questions my friends and family have asked about my recipes, to help everyone better understand the processes we use – and why!
Table of Contents
Green Chile Shredded Chicken
If you love tangy, spicy, flavorful shredded chicken in tacos – just like from your favorite restaurant – this recipe is for you. It is simple to make, with very little active time and a super easy hack to shredding chicken – plus it is low carb and low calorie, so it works in a number of healthy eating plans.
This recipe is a knockout with our Pickled Carrot and Jalapeno Salsa or Knockoff Tito’s Tacos Salsa – simple, delicious spicy jalapeño-based salsas with a subtle kick that you’re sure to love! We also love to add our Spicy Garlicky Beans to these tacos to take the flavor over the top – you can’t beat the flavor of pink or pinto beans with tons of garlic! The combination also makes a great taco salad, especially with Blistered Shishito Peppers!
How to Make Shredded Chicken Tacos
To make this recipe, you’ll need:
- Chicken breasts – The base of the dish, chicken breasts provide a lean, mild flavor that absorbs the surrounding spices and seasonings.
- Chicken stock – Adds depth and richness to the chicken, enhancing its natural flavors with a savory, umami background.
- Adobo seasoning – Imparts a smoky, slightly spicy taste, adding complexity to the chicken with a blend of garlic, onion, and other spices.
- Ro-tel Diced Tomatoes – Contributes a juicy, slightly acidic kick, complementing the chicken with a fresh tomato flavor and subtle heat.
- Green chiles – Offer a mild, tangy heat that infuses the chicken with a distinct, slightly fruity pepper flavor.
- Bay leaves – Provide a subtle, herbal essence that deepens the overall flavor profile with hints of mint and clove.
- Mexican oregano – Adds a robust, earthy flavor with a hint of citrus, distinguishing itself from regular oregano with its more intense aroma.
- Ancho chile – Delivers a mild, smoky heat with hints of raisin and coffee, adding depth and a touch of sweetness to the dish.
- Garlic powder – Offers a concentrated, savory garlic taste that enhances the overall savoriness of the tacos.
- Salt – Essential for seasoning, salt amplifies all other flavors, making them more pronounced and balanced.
- Pepper – Adds a slight piquancy and complexity, bringing a subtle sharpness that complements the chicken.
- Olive oil – Provides a smooth, slightly fruity base for cooking, helping to bring out the flavors of the other ingredients.
- Coriander – Contributes a lemony, floral note with a hint of nuttiness, adding a unique and refreshing element to the flavor palette.
Once you’ve gathered your ingredients, we will use the following process:
- Boil chicken. Add chicken breasts, stock, herbs, oil, seasonings to pan with tight fitting lid, and bring to rapid boil, then reduce heat to low simmer, and cook, covered 15-20 minutes, until chicken has reached 165 degrees internal temperature.
- Shred. Remove chicken from pot and add to stand mixer with a paddle attachment. Mix on medium-high while chicken is piping hot (it is easier to shred when steaming hot) until finely shredded.
- Thicken sauce. While chicken is in stand mixer, bring liquid in pot to a rapid boil and reduce by over half. Add chicken back in to absorb liquid and keep from drying out.
- Serve. Remove from heat and assemble tacos, adding to tortillas with beans, rice, cabbage, salsa, or any other preferred topping.
Tips and Tricks for Perfect Shredded Chicken Tacos
Use a stand mixer to shred chicken. It sounds really weird – but the easiest way to shred chicken is by letting your stand mixer do all the work for you! This method involves placing chicken in a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, and slowly increasing the speed to high (go slow or the chicken will fly out of the bowl in large pieces until shredded finely) until shredded to your desired thickness.
Control heat of chiles. We love using green chiles for their tangy, bright flavor – and the variation in heat. Be careful when selecting heat levels to better control how spicy your chicken is – all green chiles will come properly marked with mild, medium, or hot. Pay close attention! Reducing the stock will intensify the heat of spicy chiles, so if you’re a bit nervous, go with a milder heat. You can always add more later with hot sauce or diced jalapeños!
Don’t overcook. Chicken is try and tough when overcooked – cook to 165 degrees internal temperature, not over.
Make in a slow cooker. This recipe can be cooked in a slow cooker for hands-off cooking! Simply add to the slow cooker and go about your day, come home to chicken ready to shred! Cook for 3 hours on high or 4-5 on low.
FAQs
If you pick a keto tortilla (cheese or almond flour are ok options, lettuce is best), chicken tacos work really well in keto and low carb or slow carb diets!
If you’d like to add cheese, we recommend Monterrey jack, sharp cheddar, cotija, asadero, or queso fresco.
Use whatever tortillas you love – flour, corn, or crunchy! You can also use almond tortillas, cheese tortillas, or lettuce tortillas.
Chicken thighs can be used in place of chicken breasts, but the cook time will be different. Always go by the temperature of cooked chicken – which is 165 degrees regardless of breast or thigh – instead.
What to Serve With Shredded Chicken Tacos
These tacos are delicious with Spicy Garlicky Beans, Avocado Jalapeno Elotes, Copycat Chipotle Corn Salsa, Easy Black Bean and Corn Salsa, and our Avocado Tomatillo Salsa Recipe – or stuffed into Cheesy Chicken Taco Salad Stuffed Avocados!
Look for more of our favorite taco dinner ideas here:
Shredded Chicken Tacos Recipe
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Shredded Chicken Tacos
Equipment
Ingredients
- 3-4 chicken breasts
- 12 oz chicken stock
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 can ro-tel diced tomatoes with green chiles, your heat preference
- 6 oz diced green chiles, mild, medium, or hot up to you
- 2 teaspoons adobo seasoning
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon celtic sea salt
- ½ teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon ancho chile powder
- 1 tablespoon dried Mexican oregano
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
Instructions
- In a large pot, add stock, chicken breasts, herbs, spices, oil, and seasonings, with ro-tel and green chiles.
- Bring to a boil.
- Add lid to pot, and reduce to a simmer.
- Continue to cook until chicken is firm and turns bright white, about 15-20 minutes, and the internal temperature has reached 165 degrees at the thickest part when probed with a digital meat thermometer.
- Remove chicken from pot and place in bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment. Slowly increase speed from slow to high, shredding chicken until shredded to desired thickness. Let chicken sit in bowl for a minute as you thicken stock.
- Bring liquid in pot back to a boil and reduce by half. When reduced, add chicken back in and stir to mix.
- Remove from heat and serve.
- Spoon chicken into tortillas of your choice, topping with salsa, cheese, jalapenos, onions, diced peppers, diced onion, garlicky beans, rice – the sky is the limit!
- Enjoy!
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
