Updated Easy Chicken Tacos

You can find my original post for these tacos here. These are delicious, and a favorite of my family. Keep a dish of chopped chipotle chilies with the sauce on the side to add to your own tacos, to amp up the smoky spice. I start with a rotisserie chicken, so they are made very quickly. I usually make one and a half to two times the sauce mixture that I allow to reduce by half. You want the sauce to be nice and thick, so that it coats the chicken well. You can serve this with lime cilantro rice, and fresh Pico de Gallo (Recipe below). The recipe for the rice can be found on my blog, here. 

 

3 tablespoons butter
2 teaspoon minced canned chipotle chili peppers in adobo sauce
1/2 cup orange juice (not frozen concentrate)
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
3/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro, divided (See note below)
1 1/2 pounds of shredded meat from a rotisserie chicken
salt and pepper, to taste

12 (6-inch) flour tortillas, warmed
shredded lettuce
chopped tomatoes

grated cheese

sour cream

In a skillet, melt the butter, then add the chopped chipotle chilies and cook in the butter until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the orange juice and 1/2 cup of the chopped cilantro. Bring to a boil, and then reduce heat and allow to reduce by half. Add the chicken and remaining chopped cilantro and stir well to coat all the chicken. Spoon mixture into a warmed flour tortilla, and top with desired toppings. Serve with chopped up chipotle chili peppers with some of the sauce. Serve with Lime Cilantro Rice, and tostito chips with homemade Pico de Gallo on the side. Recipe is below.

Note on cilantro

You can cut up the cilantro with kitchen shears. There is no need to remove all the leaves from the stems, because they are tender enough that you can cut those up, too. I just don't use the thicker stems that just might be more tough. I toss those away. 

I wish I had a photo of these with the Pico de Gallo, but you can see just how fresh everything looks!

Pico de Gallo is a Mexican salsa consisting of fresh tomatoes, onion, jalapeno pepper, cilantro, and flavored with fresh lime juice (it must be the juice from a fresh lime rather than bottled, for optimal flavor), and then seasoned with salt and pepper, to taste. I find that it doesn't keep for too long in the refrigerator as it waters down, so don't make a huge batch of this. 

This recipe and photo are from the blog  Natashas Kitchen. 

Pico de Gallo

1 pound (3-4 medium) diced tomatoes (see note below) 

1/2 medium onion, chopped (about 1 cup)

1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely minced 

1/2 cup cilantro, chopped

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice (1 lime)

1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

Combine all of the ingredients in a bowl. Store in a covered container in the refrigerator. 

Note on tomatoes

I like to remove the pulp from the tomatoes, then cut into strips and chop. This keeps the salsa from becoming too watery.