Cooking with Ruth

Baked Chicken Tacos

How to make the best baked chicken tacos!

 Learning Objectives:

• Explore their senses.
• Expand their palate.
• Working in the kitchen provides consumers opportunities to gain a sense of accomplishment.
• Making healthy choices.
• Sharing good conversation.
• Basic math, science and language skills.

 Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• ½ pound cooked chicken (cooked, shredded, I used cooked Rotisserie chicken)
• 1 ounce taco seasoning (click for homemade recipe!)
• ½ cup onion (diced)
• 1 can tomato (diced, 14.5 ounce, fully drained)
• 1 can chopped Green Chiles (4.5 ounce, fully drained)
• 10 Stand and Stuff Taco Shells (I used Old El Paso)
• 8 ounces refried Beans (1/2 can)
• 2 cups Mexican Blend Cheese (shredded)
• Toppings (such as Old El Paso sliced Jalapenos, sour cream, salsa, chopped cilantro, shredded lettuce, or any of your favorite taco toppings!)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400F. Spray a 9×13 baking dish with nonstick spray.
2. Heat olive oil over medium heat in a medium skillet.
3. 1 tablespoon olive oil.
4. Add onion to skillet and cook for 2-3 minutes, or until the onion is translucent and fragrant.
5. 1/2 cup onion.
6. Stir in the chicken, taco seasoning, tomatoes (fully drained), and green chiles (fully drained). Stir to combine fully. Reduce to simmer and allow to cook for 5-8 minutes.
7. 1/2 pound cooked chicken, 1 ounce taco seasoning, 1 can diced tomato, 1 can chopped green chiles
8. Place the taco shells in the baking dish, standing up. I was able to fit 10 taco shells in the dish by adding 2 on each side.
9. 10 Stand and stuff taco shells
10. Bake the taco shells for 5 minutes by themselves to allow them to crisp up. Remove from the oven.
11. Spoon 1 tablespoon of beans into the bottom of each taco shell. Top with the chicken mixture, almost to the top of each shell.
12. 8 ounces Refried Beans
13. Sprinkle each shell generously with shredded cheese, the more the better!
14. 2 cups Mexican Blend Cheese
15. Bake for 7-10 minutes or until cheese is fully melted and the edges of the shells are browned.
16. Remove from the oven and top with your favorite items such as jalapenos, sour cream, cilantro, and salsa.
17. Toppings such as Old El Paso sliced Jalapenos, sour cream, salsa, chopped cilantro, shredded lettuce, or any of your favorite taco toppings!

What’s in this Chicken Taco recipe?

A deliciously spicy, shredded chicken taco filling is whipped up and layered into crispy taco shells with beans, then baked in the oven until hot and tasty. Dinner will be ready in about 25 minutes, and the whole family will be happy!

• Shredded Chicken:Use fully-cooked, shredded chicken for the taco filling.
• Taco Seasoning:This blend of spices (chili powder, paprika, garlic and onion powder, cumin, and red pepper flakes) is perfect for any taco recipe.
• Taco Shells:Use hard taco shells. They bake up nice and crispy in the oven!
• Shredded Cheese:Use a Mexican blend shredded cheese, or your favorite variety.
• Green Chiles:Use a chopped green chiles for the chicken mixture. It adds a little bit of heat and it’s really delicious.
• Refried Beans:The creamy texture of refried beans adds a nice layer of texture and flavor beneath the chicken.
• Tomatoes:Diced tomatoes.
• Onion:Diced onions are sauteed to add more texture and some aromatics. You can use white, sweet, or red onions depending on your flavor preference.
• Toppings:Add jalapeno slices, sour cream, shredded lettuce, pico de gallo, cilantro, salsa, taco sauce, or any of your favorite taco toppings.

What kind of dish should I use to bake tacos?

I use a 9×13 baking dish when making these chicken tacos. This fits about 10 taco shells. Other sized of square or rectangular dishes will work as well, but you might need to find the best way to arrange the shells, or use multiple baking dishes.

What’s the best chicken to use for tacos?

You can make shredded chicken with either boneless chicken breasts or boneless chicken thighs. Cook it with whatever method you prefer, just make sure it’s fully cooked before baking the tacos (it’s just being reheated in the oven).

How can I keep chicken tacos warm for serving?

I usually turn the oven down to about 250F, and keep them in a baking dish covered with foil.

How do you keep hard taco shells crispy?

There are a few things I do to make sure the shells don’t get soggy

• Bake the shells by themselves for about 5 minutes before filling them.
• Layer the refried beans on the bottom, and place the chicken taco meat on top. This helps them hold up better.

Is taco seasoning good with chicken tacos?

Yes! The same taco seasoning blend you use with beef works deliciously with chicken tacos too.

 How to Store and Reheat Baked Chicken Tacos

I generally recommend storing these baked chicken tacos separately, rather than as whole tacos. Store the shredded chicken mixture in an airtight container, and keep it in the refrigerator up to 4 days. Taco shells can be stored as you normally would, usually in the pantry. The refried beans and toppings can all be stored separately in the fridge as well.

If you have leftover tacos after baking everything together, you can wrap individual tacos in aluminum foil, and place them in a resealable bag. Keep in mind that the shells might get soggy if stored this way.

To reheat, assemble tacos and bake as instructed in the recipe card, or until the chicken is fully heated through (165F).

How to Freeze Rotisserie Chicken Taco Meat

If you have leftovers, or want to do some freezer meal prep, you can freeze the shredded chicken meat. Store the taco filling in a freezer-safe container or resealable bag, and freeze for up to 3 months. Defrost in the fridge before reheating.

I don’t recommend freezing these baked chicken tacos whole, because hard taco shells will end up soggy as they thaw. But soft taco shells, especially flour tortillas, are usually fine to freeze.

What to Serve with the Best Chicken Tacos

My favorite side dishes for these are Mexican grilled corn, Mexican rice, cilantro lime rice-You can’t go wrong with fresh tortilla chips with simple guacamole and salsa (try avocado corn salsa or tomatillo avocado salsa).

Nutrition Facts:

Calories: 233kcal (12%) Carbohydrates: 15g (5%) Protein: 12g (24%) Fat: 13g (20%Saaturated Fat: 5g (31%) Cholesterol: 38mg (13%) Sodium: 610mg (27%) Potassium: 196mg (6%) Fiber: 3g (13%) Sugar: 2g (2%) Vitamin A: 515IU (10%) Vitamin C: 9.6mg (12%) Calcium: 188mg (19%) Iron: 1.6mg (9%)

Clean up:

• Cleaning up stations, wash containers and pots
• Wipe down all surfaces used tables, countertops, stove.
• Clean off all floors and vacuum surrounding areas.
• Load dishwasher
• Trash, ect..

Thank you for coming and participating in the cooking class.

                         Have a wonderful day! 😊