Name: Chipotle Chicken Tacos
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 40 min
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 15 ounce diced canned tomatoes; 1 chipotle in adobo sauce, plus 2 tablespoons of the sauce; 1 1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt, divided; 1/4 cup cilantro leaves; 1 teaspoon kosher salt, divided; 1 pound chicken breasts, sliced in half lengthwise; 5 cups bagged coleslaw mix; 1/4 cup chopped cilantro; Juice of 1 lime; Warm flour tortillas; Chopped cilantro; A few squeezes of lime juice

These chipotle chicken tacos are a little spicy, a little smoky and a whole lot of deliciousness. The chicken is marinated in a simple chipotle sauce and tucked into tortillas with a cool and crunchy cilantro-lime coleslaw.

Oh, hi, I’m here sharing another chipotle pepper recipe! Last week, I mentioned it’s been chipotle-flavored everything lately and I’m back now to prove it wasn’t hyperbole – I have, in fact, been using the smoky, spicy saucy peppers in quite a few recipes lately. Most recently? Chipotle chicken tacos.

I first shared this recipe back in 2016, but I’ve made a few tweaks to make it easier because we all need a little easy these days, don’t you think? Here are a few more fun facts:

The simple chipotle marinade doubles as a sauce. It’s a twofer.
You can cook the chicken on the stove or on the grill. Choices! Yay.
The spicy chipotle peppers are balanced out with some plain Greek yogurt that also helps tenderize the chicken as it marinates.
A crunchy cilantro-lime slaw adds texture and flavor. I love a good slaw.

So, it’s basically a two-part recipe: the chicken and the slaw. Here’s how you make it!

Chipotle Marinade

For the marinade, we’re combining canned diced tomatoes, cilantro, Greek yogurt, chipotle pepper plus adobo sauce and salt.

I usually go with one chipotle pepper, but you can add more if you want it extra spicy. You do you!

Pop it all in the blender and blend until smooth.

photo collage showing the marinade ingredients, the marinade in the blender and the chicken in a bag with the marinade.

Divide the marinade and use half of it to marinate the boneless skinless chicken breasts. Save the other half to drizzle over the tacos.

Make the Slaw

The chicken only needs about 30 minutes to marinate and while it does you can make the slaw.

First, save yourself some time and buy a bag a coleslaw mix or a bag of shredded cabbage.

photo collage showing the slaw ingredients in a bowl and mixed up together.

Combine the coleslaw with Greek yogurt, lime juice, cilantro and salt. Mix and pop it in the fridge while you cook the chicken.

Cook the Chicken

Remove the chicken from the marinade and let the excess marinade drip off.

Cook the chicken on the stove to or grill over medium-high heat. If you opt to grill I recommend cooking the chicken over indirect heat so it doesn’t char too much.

Once it’s cooked through, let it rest for a couple of minutes and then thinly slice it like so…

close-up photo of the cooked chicken sliced

Assemble the Tacos

Warm some flour tortillas, pile on some slaw, top it with the sliced chicken, and drizzle some of the reserved sauce over the top. Garnish with chopped cilantro and a squeeze of lime juice if you’re feeling it.

overhead photo of a taco being assembled

A Couple More Thoughts

You may end up with some extra chipotle sauce and, for the record, that’s not a bad thing. Store it in the fridge and use it like you would enchilada sauce. It goes with all the things.
The chicken is very leftover-worthy. If you want to save some just pop it in a container and use it for more tacos or salads or serve it over some cilantro-lime rice.

Juicy, tender chicken wrapped up with all the crunchy slaw and spicy-smoky sauce. These chipotle chicken tacos are anything but ordinary. Enjoy!

Happy Cooking,

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