Pulled Chicken Tacos

Today we’re going to make pulled chicken tacos by braising a few chicken thighs in tomato sauce until they’re fall off the bone tender. For the braising sauce I used the basic red sauce featured in another post. Feel free to use your family favorite. We’re going to add a few spices to give a South of the Border flavor your whole family will love.

Why do we braise the chicken?

Braising is the process of cooking some sort of meat in a flavorful liquid. In this case its sauce, but broth, stock, wine even water can be used. Braising is a good choice for less expensive cuts of meat, where the longer cooking time will help make it tender. It’s all about intensifying flavors. Browning the meat first leaves some bits at the bottom which give flavor to the sauce. And while cooking the meat and the braising liquid flavor each other.

Sure, you could throw some leftover chicken into tomato sauce and warm it up. It’s quick. We’ve done it plenty of times. But you get better, more flavorful result when you take the time to braise.

A meal of this type is perfect for preparing with children (or husbands :)). The thighs will take about an hour to cook and only require the occasional turn or stir. Let your children help by having them prepare the toppings. We like a variety like:

• shredded cabbage
• chopped radishes
• chopped parsley
• onions
• guacamole

We didn’t have cheese on hand (a rarity for us) otherwise I would have grated some. Any of the toppings can be prepared by a child with a little supervision on your part. Little guys too young to handle knives can put toppings into bowls or perform tasks like washing lettuce.

We prefer our own taco seasoning blend but we’re not above using store bought flour tortillas for our tacos.

Pulled Chicken Tacos

Print Recipe Pin Recipe Rate Recipe

Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour hour

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Mexican, Southwestern

Servings: 0

Author: LydiaF

Ingredients

Taco seasoning

• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 2 teaspoons cumin
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper

Taco meat

• 1 pound chicken thighs
• 2 cups tomato sauce more or less
• olive oil

Instructions

• Mix up the taco seasoning and set aside.
• If not already skinless, remove the skin and any excess fat from the thighs. Sprinkle about half the seasoning on the thighs.
• Cover the bottom of a large dutch oven with a little olive oil and brown the thighs on both sides.
• Add the tomato sauce and turn the thighs over to coat. The sauce doesn't have to completely cover the thighs. You can add a little more sauce (or water or broth) if needed while the thighs are cooking.
• Reduce the heat to medium low and cover the dutch oven.
• It will take about an hour to cook the thighs. Turn the heat off under the dutch oven and remove the thighs to a platter or bowl to cool.
• When cool enough to handle, remove the meat from the thighs and pull into shreds. (I use my hands for this).
• Eyeball the remaining sauce and if you feel like it's too much for the meat, take some out.
• Return the shredded meat to the sauce and season as desired with the remaining taco seasoning. Add more sauce if needed.
• Use any leftover sauce to moisten the pulled chicken taco meat before storing in the fridge.

Like this recipe?Be sure to Pin It for later!

This is a perfect recipe for making a double batch and freezing half for later. Pulled chicken makes a great sandwich, too.

More braising recipes: