Grilled Chicken Tacos

Andy | Lunch | Mexican

Prep time: 20 min Cook time: 20 min Servings: 4

What do you crave on a nice Saturday lunch? For me it's tacos with mates. Tacos is a great recipe to go to when you're having people around. You can prep most of it before anyone comes over, and then all you have to do is cook the meat on the BBQ and toast the tortillas and then everyone can serve themselves. For this recipe, we're making a very simple grilled chicken taco with fresh red salsa and some pico de gallo.

Key Steps

Chicken

We're going to use chicken thigh for this recipe and it stays juicy on the grill and it picks up char beautifully without going tough. The marinade has orange juice for sweetness and acidity, a splash of adobo sauce from a tin of chipotles for smoke and heat, ground cumin for warmth and salt. Marinate the chicken while you’re prepping the rest of the elements, you don’t need long, half an hour is plenty. Grill the chicken over hot coals until well charred on both sides and cooked through. Let it rest before slicing against the grain.

Two Salsas

This recipe uses two salsas which we'll make while the chicken cooks. The salsa roja has charred tomato, onion and garlic blitzed with chipotle in adobo. Charring is imporantant as the blackened skins add a smoky bitterness that balances the heat of the chipotle. The pico de gallo is the opposite, fresh tomato, onion, jalapeño, coriander and lime. One brings smoke and richness, the other brings brightness and crunch. Usually, you would use red onion in pico de gallo, but I've swapped it for white as we're already using a white onion in the salsa roja.

Ingredient Notes

Chipotle in adobo: Smoked, dried jalapeños cooked in a tangy, slightly sweet tomato and vinegar sauce. Find it in tins at most supermarkets or any Latin grocer. We use both the chipotles themselves for the salsa roja and a couple of tablespoons of the adobo sauce for the marinade. The rest keeps in the fridge for weeks, transfer to a jar after opening.

Tortillas: Soft wheat flour tortillas are my pick for this. They’re chewy, fold well and don’t break under wet toppings. Corn (masa) tortillas work just as well if you prefer the flavour or need gluten-free. Whichever you go for, warm them properly, cold or stiff tortillas ruin a taco.

Chicken thigh: Boneless skinless chicken thigh is the right cut for tacos. It’s more forgiving than breast over fierce charcoal heat, stays juicier through the cook and has more flavour. Don’t substitute breast unless you’re willing to babysit it, it’ll dry out before it picks up colour.

Equipment

Chopping board
Chef’s knife
Charcoal BBQ (or cast iron pan)
Long tongs
2 small bowls (one per salsa)
Blender or food processor
Wire rack and tray
Clean tea towel
Citrus juicer or reamer

Ingredients

Chicken
6 boneless skinless chicken thighs
1 orange, zest and juice
2 tbsp juice from canned adobo
½ tbsp ground cumin
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp neutral oil
Salsa roja
2 roma tomatoes
¼ white onion
4 cloves garlic, skin on
½ tin chipotle in adobo
pico de gallo
2 roma tomatoes
¼ white onion
1 green jalapeno
¼ bunch Coriander
Pinch of salt
1 tbsp olive oil
1 lime, juice
Serving
12 Soft, wheat flour tortillas

Directions

Marinate chicken
Preheat a charcoal grill for 15 minutes before cooking.
Place the chicken thighs into a large bowl, along with the zest and juice of an orange, adobo juice, cumin, salt and oil. Mix well and set aside while you prepare the other components.
Make the salsa roja and pico de gallo
Slice the tomatoes in half.
Place the tomato, onion and garlic on a rack over the preheated coals for 10-15 minutes or until well charred.
While they’re cooking, make the pico de gallo. Finely dice the tomato, onion and green chilli. Leave the seeds in the chilli if you like it hot, or remove them for a more mild flavour. Mix together well with some finely sliced coriander, salt, olive oil and lime juice. Set aside.
Once the garlic has charred, remove it from the skin.
To a blender, add the charred onion, tomato, chipotle in adobo, peeled garlic and a pinch of salt. Blend until smooth. Taste and adjust seasoning then set aside.
Cook chicken and toast tortillas
Place the thighs on the rack directly above the hot coals for 5-6 minutes, before turning over to grill on the other side until charred and cooked through (65°C) in the centre.
Remove the thighs from the grill and rest on a tray fitted with a wire rack. In the meantime grill the tortillas over the charcoal for 20-30 seconds per side to warm through. Wrap the tortillas in a clean tea towel.
Once rested, slice the thighs against the grain and serve with the pico de gallo, salsa and warm tortillas.

Recipe notes

Chef Tips

Get the coals white hot before you cook

Charcoal only works if the coals are properly lit and have burned down to a white-grey ash. Cooking over half-black smoking coals gives you a bitter, sooty flavour rather than clean smoke and char. Wait until the coals are glowing and topped with grey ash before anything goes on the grill.

Move the chicken around the grill

There are always hot and cold patches on a charcoal grill. Move the chicken around as it cooks so each piece gets equal exposure to the hottest spots. If a thigh is sitting over a cold patch it’ll just bake instead of charring. Cooking with charcoal takes a bit of practice, but the smoky flavour is worth the patience.

Warm the tortillas properly

Grill the tortillas directly over the charcoal for 20-30 seconds a side, then stack them in a clean tea towel. The steam keeps them soft, pliable and warm right through the meal. Cold tortillas split when you fold them and lose all their character.

Storage

The cooked chicken keeps in the fridge for 3 days. The two salsas keep separately: salsa roja for 4-5 days, pico de gallo for 2 days max as the fresh tomato breaks down quickly. Reheat the chicken in a hot pan or microwave, the salsas come straight from the fridge. Tortillas are best toasted fresh just before serving.

FAQs

Can I make this without a charcoal BBQ? Yes. The smoke from charcoal does make a difference, but a hot cast iron pan does the job well. Char the tomatoes, onion and garlic in a dry pan over medium heat for 10-15 minutes, turning often, until blackened in patches. Grill the chicken in the same pan over high heat. A gas BBQ also works, you just won’t get the same smoke.

What can I substitute for chipotle in adobo? If you can’t find it, a teaspoon of smoked paprika plus a pinch of dried chilli flakes gets you close on flavour. You won’t have the adobo sauce for the marinade, in which case use a splash of red wine vinegar and a teaspoon of tomato paste instead. Not identical, but the dish still works.

Are these tacos gluten-free? As written, no, because of the wheat flour tortillas. Swap them for corn (masa) tortillas and the whole recipe is gluten-free. Just check the label on your chipotle in adobo as some brands use wheat-based thickeners.