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    You are here: Home » Food

    Spicy Chicken Tacos with Avocado Crema (Grilled)

    January 8, 2019 By Mary 11 Comments

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    Grilled chicken breasts marinated in an easy spicy chipotle marinade, quickly grilled to perfection and topped with a cooling and refreshing avocado crema. These Spicy Chicken Tacos are perfect for a Taco Tuesday or weekday meal with your family!

    Spicy Grilled Chicken Tacos with Avocado Crema

    There’s always room for a spicy chicken taco recipe in your arsenal! We make different kinds of tacos several times a week, and the go-to protein for our family is chicken. Sometimes we smoke a whole chicken on the weekend to use the shredded meat throughout the week, and sometimes we use chicken breasts.

    Chicken breasts are perfect for when you don’t have time to roast a whole chicken. They’re easy and quick to marinade and grill in just a few minutes.

    I like to go a wee bit spicy on the marinade, with either chipotle in adobo (you can also use your favorite hot sauce, or a combination of spicy dry seasonings), then cool it back down with a creamy and cooling avocado crema sauce.

    Best Part of Chicken for Tacos

    Like I mentioned, you can go the whole roaster and shred it. You can also use thighs. But for these, we’re going with boneless skinless breasts.

    Remember that chicken, from any part of the bird, is a blank canvass and will soak up whatever flavors you add to it. We find that breasts (when pointed out fairly thin) marinade nicely and grill up quickly. We keep it easy with skinless since we’re shredding it and using it for tacos. No need to bother with any skin.

    One thing to note, however, is that when grilling chicken I recommend pounding out your chicken to an even thickness. Most breasts will be thicker on one side. This also helps with marinating, as thicker pieces of chicken won’t take well to a marinade.

    Before you pound out chicken, note the difference in size from the one above, to the one below.

    Just pound out that thicker side to make the chicken more even, so when you cook it you can cook it to proper temperature (165 degrees) throughout, and one side isn’t overcooked.

    After you pound out the left side. Note it’s an even thickness throughout.

    This will also help the chicken cook faster on the grill! #bonus!

    Spicy Chicken Taco Marinade

    To spice it up I’m adding chipotle to the marinade, because I love that smoky flavor. But if you don’t have chipotle you can easily substitute your favorite hot sauce. Alternatively you can add some dry spices (like red pepper flakes, dried chipotle, cayenne). BUT just a warning, if you add dry spices use much less as they are more potent (like 1 teaspoon of your spicy dry seasoning vs. 2 tablespoons of the liquid chipotle in adobo).

    How to Marinate Chicken for Spicy Chicken Tacos

    • Once you’ve pounded out your chicken to even thickness, place them in a large seal-able Ziploc bag and add the marinade ingredients.
    • Place the bag the fridge for a minimum of 30 mins (up to 24 hours).
    • We’re keeping this marinade quick and easy, yet ultra flavorful!
    • Note: you want your thicken to be pounded out evenly, and thin. Thick pieces of chicken won’t allow the marinade to fully soak in. Thinner is better for a marinade.

    How to Grill Chicken Breasts for Tacos

    Once you’ve marinated the chicken you can pull it and place it directly on the hot grill over direct heat. Since we pounded them out they’ll cook fairly quick and consistent. Expect them to cook roughly 6 minutes per side, to an internal temperature of 165 degrees F.

    Chipotle Grilled Chicken

    Once they’re done, pull them from the grill and allow them to cool just enough to work with. Shred your chicken and you’re ready to make your spicy chicken tacos!

    Avocado Crema

    This Avocado Crema is meant to cool down any spiciness from the spicy chicken taco marinade, and to give these tacos a great creamy topping.

    What’s a crema?

    Well, exactly that. It’s a thick, slightly sour, Mexican-style cream. Think of it as somewhere between sour cream and crème fraîche. You can find it in most grocery stores in the cooler near specialty foods.

    Otherwise, you can go with sour cream if it’s easier.

    *Note: If you go with sour cream know that it won’t be as thick of a consistency as crema, and tastes a bit sourer. But it’s a good enough substitute.

    Grilled Chicken Tacos with Avocado Crema 2

    How to make Avocado Crema For Spicy Chicken Tacos

    • Place your crema (or sour cream) in the food processor with shallots, garlic clove, lime, salt, and a half an avocado, and pulse to combine.
    • Now all you need to do is build your tacos! I think you can handle that from here.

    More Favorite Taco Recipes:

    • Carne Asada Skirt Steak Tacos
    • Reverse Seared Ribeye Steak Tacos
    • Smoked Pulled Pork Tacos
    • Easy and Healthy Grilled Fish Tacos
    • Smoked Brisket Tacos
    • Chipotle Honey Grilled Chicken
    Grilled Tacos with Avocado Crema

    Spicy Chicken Tacos Recipe

    Spicy Grilled Chicken Tacos with Avocado Crema

    Grilled Spicy Chicken Tacos Recipe with Avocado Crema

    Grilled chicken breasts marinated in a simple chipotle marinade, then quickly grilled and topped with a cooling and refreshing avocado crema. These are perfect for a weeknight meal with your family. 
    5 from 5 votes
    Print Pin Rate Save Saved!
    Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes
    Marinating time: 2 hours hours
    Total Time: 2 hours hours 10 minutes minutes
    Servings: 4 servings
    Calories: 606kcal
    Author: Mary Cressler | Vindulge
    Cost: $10

    Equipment

    • 1 Instant Read Thermometer
    • 1 Mallet

    Ingredients

    • 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts (approximately one pound)
    • 8-10 corn tortillas

    Marinade

    • 2 whole chipotles in adobo sauce Use 2 of the peppers from the can and finely dice them
    • 2 tablespoons adobo sauce From the chipotles in adobo.
    • ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
    • 1 clove garlic, minced
    • ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
    • ½ lime, juiced

    Avocado Crema

    • ½ cup Mexican crema (or sour cream)
    • ½ an avocado
    • 1 tablespoon shallots, diced
    • 1 clove garlic
    • ½ lime, juiced
    • ¼ teaspoon kosher salt

    Optional Taco Toppings

    • diced onions
    • cilantro
    • diced tomatoes
    • lime quarters
    • Cotija cheese
    • radishes
    • more avocado (because there’s never enough avocado)
    Prevent your screen from going dark

    Instructions

    • Combine the marinade ingredients into a plastic bag. Place chicken on a cutting board and cover with plastic wrap. Pound out chicken so it appears uniform in width and place in the plastic bag. Marinate in the refrigerator fo 2 hours. Or at least 30 minutes but no longer than 24 hours.

    Making the Avocado Crema

    • Place all ingredients in a food processor and pulse until everything is combined. Can be made in advance and should last in the fridge for five days.

    For Grilling

    • About 30 minutes before you are going to grill your chicken prepare your grill for direct grilling targeting 500 degrees Fahrenheit using lump charcoal.
    • Place the seasoned chicken on the grill grates over direct heat. Grill for 5 minutes and then flip. Continue to grill for additional 4 – 5 minutes or until the chicken breast is cooked to the proper internal temperature as read with a good instant read thermometer like the Thermoworks Thermapen One.
    • Once they’re done, pull them from the grill and allow them to rest 10 minutes. Shred your chicken and you’re ready to make your spicy chicken tacos!

    Making the Tacos

    • Place a couple tablespoons of the shredded chicken on your corn tortilla and top with the crema. Add your favorite toppings like Cotija cheese, cilantro, white onions, or tomatoes.

    Notes

    Chef’s Tip: Warm tortillas add a texture and flavor element. While the chicken is resting grill off the soft tacos for 1 minute per side. cover with a clean towel so they stay warm.

    Nutrition

    Calories: 606kcal | Carbohydrates: 31g | Protein: 29g | Fat: 42g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g | Monounsaturated Fat: 25g | Trans Fat: 0.01g | Cholesterol: 88mg | Sodium: 236mg | Potassium: 677mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 228IU | Vitamin C: 7mg | Calcium: 114mg | Iron: 2mg
    Tried this recipe? We would love to see!Mention @vindulge or use the hashtag #vindulge

    If you like this recipe we’d truly appreciate it if you would give this recipe a star review! And if you share any of your pics on Instagram use the hashtag #vindulge. We LOVE to see it when you cook our recipes. 

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Vigila says

      January 22, 2019 at 7:08 am

      5 stars
      Thank you so much for the wonderful recipe.It looks really yummy.I will definitely be going to make this one.I love cooking and especially love to make chicken recipes.Spicy Grilled Chicken looks really simple and colorful.

      Thanks
      https://mytellthebell.com

      Reply
      • Mary says

        January 23, 2019 at 1:32 pm

        That’s so great to hear! Thanks for the feedback 🙂

        Reply
    2. Mark says

      January 12, 2019 at 6:48 pm

      One thing I would like to see is macro information on your wonderful recipes.

      Reply
      • Mary says

        January 13, 2019 at 11:06 am

        Mark, thanks for reaching out and yes, we are going to start adding nutritional information into the posts this year!! Stay tuned.

        Reply
    3. Pech says

      January 09, 2019 at 6:34 pm

      5 stars
      Yes, I’m so in your camp of make it spicy and cool it down with crema! These sound tasty enough to make a burrito bowl I need more then taco portions!

      Reply
    4. Waz says

      January 09, 2019 at 3:15 pm

      5 stars
      I just had mushroom tacos for dinner last night, and now I want to try a vegan version of your recipe with mushrooms or jackfruit. That marinade sounds so delicious!

      Reply
      • Mary says

        January 09, 2019 at 6:09 pm

        Oh yum, that sounds fun! We also love mushrooms as well, especially shitake!

        Reply
    5. Renee | The Good Hearted Woman says

      January 09, 2019 at 1:26 pm

      5 stars
      Guess what we’re having for dinner tonight?!? These look so tasty, easy, and perfect for a weeknight. Thanks, Mary!

      Reply
    6. Erin Lynch says

      January 09, 2019 at 1:22 pm

      5 stars
      These look SO yummy Mary!!! I haven’t had a taco night in a while and you’ve definitely convinced me that we need one soon! Thanks for this yummy recipe!

      Reply

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    Mary-Cressler-Sept-2015-smI'm Mary, a wine/food/travel writer, Certified Sommelier, mom of twins, former vegetarian turned BBQ fanatic, runner, and founder of Vindulge and author of Fire + Wine cookbook.  Thanks for stopping by!

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