Shredded Chicken Taco Meat

Cook together. Eat together.
Street tacos for a crowd — or a super topping for nachos.

There’s nothing quite so crowd-pleasing as a taco bar. I learned leading Girl Scout troops and youth groups, the way to work around a myriad of preferences, allergies and picky eating is to offer a food bar where kids can add their favorite toppings and customize what they eat. I think adults, too, like to mix and match their meals. 

This shredded chicken has been a favorite main ingredient for tacos when cooking for our friends and family.

A couple of weeks ago, I tried out this recipe as a topping when Rebel and I made nachos at a distance. I don’t always love meat on nachos, but this shredded meat is perfect with the texture of chips, beans and all the toppings.

It’s such a versatile chicken dish and great for taco salad or on rice. Rebel enjoys heating up the leftovers and eating it with sour cream in a bowl.

I make it on the stovetop or in a slow cooker/crockpot but will try it next time in the instapot. It’s easy to make ahead and reheat.

Enjoy your next taco party!

~ Lee

shredded chicken, chicken tacos, taco meat, Mexican chicken, street tacos, crockpot, instapot, instant pot

recipes

Mexican

Yield: 8-10 servings

Author: Burnt Toast Food Blog

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Shredded Chicken Taco Meat

Simple delicious chicken taco meat perfect for street tacos, as a nacho topping or in Mexican taco salad.

Prep time: 40 MCook time: 1 H & 10 MTotal time: 1 H & 50 M

Ingredients:

Shredded Chicken

• 3 - 4 pounds chicken breast, bone in, or cut up chicken
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, or more to taste
• white pepper to taste
• 2 cups water
• 1 teaspoon chile powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large yellow onion, peeled and sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
• 1 red, orange or yellow bell pepper, cored, seeded and chopped
• 1 cup tomato sauce, no salt added
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 bay leaf, in two pieces
• 1/2 cup dry white wine (optional)

Tacos and topping possibilities:

• Flour tortillas or hard taco shells
• Shredded lettuce or baby arugula
• Sliced avocado
• Chopped tomatoes
• Salsa
• Cheese, dairy or nondairy plant based
• Sliced green onions
• Sour cream, dairy or nondairy plant based
• Fresh cilantro, chopped

Instructions:

1. Clean chicken and place in a Dutch oven or pot. Season with salt and pepper. Add water. Cover, bring just to a boil and reduce to a simmer – don’t keep it at a fast boil because this tends to make the chicken tough. Simmer for 40-45 minutes, or until chicken is falling off the bone. Add more water if the pan dries out. (Or, cook according to crockpot or instant pot directions.)
2. Remove the pan from the heat and place the chicken pieces on a plate, reserving the juices in a large bowl. (Set aside the pan to reheat the chicken after it’s shredded.)
3. Let the chicken rest for about 15 minutes until just cool enough to work with. Remove the skin and debone. With two forks pulling away from each other, shred the chicken. Add the shredded chicken to the bowl with the pan juices. (At this point you can refrigerate and finish the recipe later.)
4. Heat the pot over medium heat, and add the olive oil. When fragrant, add the sliced onion for 2 minutes and then add the garlic. Sauté until onion is translucent but not browned. Add the red pepper and stir for 3-4 more minutes. Add the tomato sauce, salt, bay leaf and wine plus the chicken and its pan juices.
5. Simmer covered for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally. About halfway through, taste and adjust seasoning. 
6. Serve in tacos, over salad or layered on nachos. Use tongs to serve so that the sauce drains and doesn’t create soggy tacos.

Notes:

Easy to make ahead, reheat the next day and serve. Just be sure to shred the chicken while it's still warm because it’s much easier than when it cools down. Add the shredded chicken back into the pan juices and refrigerate, or cook with onion and remaining ingredients, then store. If you prefer not to have long strings of onion in the meat, coarse chop the onion instead. You can add another 1 teaspoon chile powder and 1/2 teaspoon cumin with the vegetables and tomato sauce.

Burnt Toast Food Blog, 2019

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