Description
These Baked Crispy Chicken Tacos are crunchy, delicious and make the perfect weeknight meal or serve them for Taco Tuesday and Cinco de Mayo! Plus, they only take an hour to make.
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 and 1/2 lbs chicken breast, trimmed and patted dry
- 1 batch of homemade taco seasoning or store bought packet
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- juice from one lime
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 10 flour tortillas
- 2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
- Optional taco toppings: chopped lettuce (I prefer romaine hearts or iceberg for the extra crunch factor), diced roma tomatoes, minced red onion, sour cream, and lime wedges for serving
Instructions
- If you're making my homemade taco seasoning, prepare that first.
- Slice the each chicken breast in half lengthwise, into two thinner breasts. Add into a bowl with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, lime juice and taco seasoning. Toss to combine. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to marinate for 30 minutes at room temperature.
- Prepare all of your taco toppings and set aside for serving.
- Into a large skillet over medium heat, add in 1 tablespoon of olive oil and allow it to heat up. Place the chicken into the pan and saute for 4 to 6 minutes on each side, until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees.
- Place the cooked chicken breast on a cutting board and tent with foil.
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
- Into a large skillet on medium high heat, add in the vegetable oil. Allow it to heat up for at least 3 to 5 minutes until it's really hot. To test the oil, dip a corner of the tortilla into the oil and listen for a loud sizzle. Once it's hot, add in a tortilla. Cook for 20-30 seconds, then flip with tongs and fry the other side.
- Fold the tortilla in half with tongs while it is still hot in pan, and place on a paper towel lined plate. Repeat with all the tortillas.
- Chop the chicken breast into cubes or strips, whatever you prefer.
- Carefully open each tortilla and spoon on chicken and sprinkle with cheese.
- Close each shell back up and place them on a cookie sheet with rack. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes until nice and crispy.
- Add all of your favorite taco toppings and serve. Enjoy!
Notes
Don't allow the chicken to marinate more than an hour. Because of the high lime content, it could break down the meat too much.
If the seasoning starts to burn when sautéing the chicken, drop the heat to medium low.
The vegetable oil needs to be really hot and sizzle when the tortilla shell is added. Watch it closely, as it only needs 20 to 30 seconds to cook on each side.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Marinating Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Category: dinner
- Method: baked
- Cuisine: mexican
Keywords: baked chicken tacos, crunchy chicken tacos