Description
Chicken Tinga is a flavorful Mexican dish featuring tender chicken simmered in a smoky, spicy tomato chipotle sauce, perfect for tacos, tostadas, or bowls.
Ingredients
Scale
For the chicken
- 1 ½ – 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts or thighs
- ¼ large onion
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- Water, as needed to cover chicken plus 1 inch
For the sauce
- 4 large Roma tomatoes
- 1 large white onion, halved
- 2 tablespoons chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 teaspoon dried Mexican oregano
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
For serving
- Warm corn tortillas
- Cotija cheese
- Diced white onion
- Chopped cilantro
- Diced avocado
Instructions
- Make the chicken: Add the chicken, onion, garlic, bay leaf, and salt to a large saute pan or Dutch oven. Cover with water plus an additional inch. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to simmer, cover, and cook for 20 minutes until chicken is cooked through and reaches 165˚F internal temperature.
- Shred the chicken: Reserve 1 cup of the broth, then transfer chicken to a cutting board and let rest 5 minutes. Shred the chicken with forks, hands, or mixer paddle and set aside.
- Roast the vegetables: Spray a baking sheet with nonstick spray or oil. Place tomatoes and onion halves on it. Broil on high for 10 minutes, flipping halfway through, until blackened and charred in spots.
- Make the sauce: In a blender, combine roasted tomatoes, onion halves, chipotle peppers, garlic, oregano, salt, cumin, and ½ cup reserved broth. Blend until smooth.
- Cook the sauce: Heat olive oil in a large saute pan or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the sauce, cover, and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Combine chicken and sauce: Add shredded chicken and stir to coat. Cook an additional 10 minutes until sauce thickens. Add extra broth if sauce reduces too much.
- Serve: Spoon chicken tinga into warm corn tortillas. Top with cotija cheese, diced onion, cilantro, and avocado as desired.
Notes
- You can substitute 4 cups of shredded rotisserie or leftover chicken to save time; use ½ cup chicken broth if skipping chicken cooking step.
- For more heat, add extra chipotle peppers beyond the 2 tablespoons.
- Use a 15-ounce can of fire-roasted diced tomatoes as shortcut for roasting fresh tomatoes.
- If Mexican oregano is unavailable, substitute regular oregano.
- To make in slow cooker: prepare sauce with water (½ cup), add chicken and sauce to slow cooker, cook low 5-6 hours or high 3 hours, shred chicken and stir.
- To make in Instant Pot: prepare sauce with water (½ cup), add chicken and sauce, pressure cook on high for 10 minutes, quick release, shred chicken, and stir.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Calories: 320 kcal
- Sugar: 6 g
- Sodium: 580 mg
- Fat: 14 g
- Saturated Fat: 3 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 9 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 15 g
- Fiber: 4 g
- Protein: 32 g
- Cholesterol: 90 mg
