Chicken Tinga
Chicken Tinga is a delicious Mexican dish of shredded chicken tossed in a flavorful chipotle tomato sauce, served in tacos, burritos, or on tostadas. In this blog post, I'll show you how to make a quick and easy version of this recipe using rotisserie chicken. I'll also show you how to make it from scratch with chicken breasts or thighs in the oven, or in an Instant Pot!
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 cup yellow onion, diced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano, Mexican oregano, if available
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 chipotle chilies in adobo sauce, chopped
- 1 tablespoon adobo sauce from the can of chipotle chilies
- ½ cup chicken broth
- 14.5 ounce can fire roasted tomatoes
- 3 cups cooked, shredded chicken, from a rotisserie chicken or using this recipe for Instant Pot shredded chicken
Instructions
- Heat a large skillet on the stove over medium-high heat. Add the olive oil.
- When the oil is hot, add the onion and cook for 4-5 minutes, add the garlic, ground cumin, oregano and salt to the skillet and cook for an additional minute.
- Add the chopped chipotle chile and adobo sauce, chicken broth and fire roasted tomatoes to the skillet, stir to combine and simmer for 7 minutes.
- Transfer the sauce to a blender and puree, then return the sauce to the skillet.
- Add the shredded chicken and stir to combine. Simmer the chicken in the sauce for 2-3 minutes over medium heat on the stove.
- Serve the chicken tinga in tacos, burritos, on tostadas, nachos, or in a burrito bowl.
Notes
- If serving the chicken tinga in tacos, wrap 12 small corn or flour tortillas in damp paper towels and microwave for 60 seconds. Spread guacamole in the middle of each tortilla, add the chicken tinga, then sprinkle cotija cheese, diced onions and fresh cilantro over each taco.
- For instructions on how to make this recipe in the oven, or in an Instant Pot, with raw, boneless, skinless chicken breasts or chicken thighs, refer to the blog post above.
- Store leftover chicken tinga in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. You can reheat the chicken in a skillet on the stove over medium-high heat for 3-4 minutes.
- This recipe has a medium spice level. If you want to make it more spicy, add more chipotle peppers.
- If you don’t have a can of fire roasted tomatoes on hand, you can use a traditional can of diced tomatoes and add 1 teaspoon smoked paprika to give it a similar flavor as the fire roasted tomatoes.
- This chicken tinga recipe is gluten free. Serve the chicken tinga in corn tortillas, or in a bowl with rice to make the entire meal gluten free.
Nutrition Facts
Calories 268kcal (13%)Carbohydrates 12g (4%)Protein 34g (68%)Fat 8g (12%)Saturated Fat 2g (10%)Polyunsaturated Fat 1gMonounsaturated Fat 5gCholesterol 90mg (30%)Sodium 1410mg (59%)Potassium 362mg (10%)Fiber 3g (12%)Sugar 5g (6%)Vitamin A 460mg (9%)Vitamin C 6mg (7%)Calcium 78mg (8%)Iron 3mg (17%)
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