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Chicken Tinga – Mexican Recipe For Tostadas

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This chicken tinga recipe is one of my favorite recipes! This Mexican dish is so easy and frugal! Grab the ingredients and enjoy it soon.

I loved living in Mexico City. I learned how to make Mexican food like Picadillo – a Mexican ground beef dinner, Carne asada, tacos al pastor, and so much more! All the recipes they taught me were a crowd pleaser.

We lived on the campus of the seminary that my husband taught at. So every day my kids would run out and play on the playground and I would hang out with the moms. My kids always knew that when the Hermana asked them if they wanted any kind of food – they said yes! We loved everything they shared with us. And they loved to learn how to make my dessert recipes.

You are going to love this meal. It has so much flavor. You can use it to make tostadas, chicken tinga tacos, chicken tinga burritos, or burrito bowls.

 

 

This authentic recipe for Chicken Tinga - Mexican recipe is so flavorful and easy to make! It's great for a quick dinner or to serve at a party!  

 

What to serve with Chicken Tinga (Mexican Recipe)

  • We like to enjoy this recipe with some Mexican Rice or white rice.
  • If you are not serving them on Tostadas (my favorite way to enjoy them) you can serve them with warm corn tortillas. But make sure you use warm tortillas that you make on the stovetop to give them a little extra flavor.

Ingredients you need to make tinga de pollo recipe:

 

This authentic recipe for Chicken Tinga - Mexican recipe is so flavorful and easy to make! It's great for a quick dinner or to serve at a party!

 

Chicken – You can make this dinner on busy weeknights if you use rotisserie chicken. But I like to boil boneless skinless chicken breasts in a pot of water and shred the meat. If you are meal planning on the weekend you could cook a whole chicken and put the meat aside to make the tinga. I have never used chicken thighs but I am sure it was used many times in Mexico.

Mexican chicken tinga is a great way to use leftover chicken.

 

This authentic recipe for Chicken Tinga - Mexican recipe is so flavorful and easy to make! It's great for a quick dinner or to serve at a party!

 

Cabbage – The first time I enjoyed this recipe, I had no idea that there was as much cabbage in this meal as chicken. It’s a frugal way to spread this meal to feed many people.

 

This authentic recipe for Chicken Tinga - Mexican recipe is so flavorful and easy to make! It's great for a quick dinner or to serve at a party!

 

Fresh tomatoes – you need about 3-4 large tomatoes to make the tinga sauce.

Water – Just enough water to thin out the salsa.

Onion & Garlic – Just a little bit – but it has lots of flavors. I prefer a white onion but you could use a yellow onion if that is all you have available.

Chipotle peppers – This is what gives it the smoky flavor. It’s so good! If you like spicy foods, you can add a little more.

Pro Tip – Add the leftover chipotle chiles to a small freezer bag and store them in your freezer for a few months so you will have them the next time you make this meal.

Chicken bouillon – I usually have chicken bouillon in my pantry but if you have chicken stock you can use 1/2 cup of chicken broth to the chipotle tomato sauce.

Salt – This will really bring out the flavor and if you don’t like a spicy sauce – the salt will help take away a little bit of the spiciness.

This main dish recipe is so easy because you don’t need exact measurements – if you like more garlic – add more. If you have smoky adobo sauce and not chipotle peppers, you can add that instead.

 

Instructions to make Chicken Tinga (Mexican Recipe)

  1. Add the raw chicken breasts to a large pot over medium-high heat. Once it gets to a boil cook it for 12 minutes until fully cooked. Shred chicken – set aside.
  2. While the chicken cooks, grab the sauce ingredients. In a blender or food processor, combine tomatoes, 1 garlic clove, onion, 1-2 chipotle peppers, chicken bouillon, and water.
  3. In a large pot or large frying pan heat oil over medium heat and add cabbage. Let it cook for about 10 minutes until limp.
  4. Pour the tomato mixture into the pot and heat. Add the chicken. Heat for about 30 minutes so all the flavors combine.
  5. Serve on tostada shells. If you can find Mexican Crema and Queso Fresca to add on top of the meat. Enjoy!

 

This authentic recipe for Chicken Tinga - Mexican recipe is so flavorful and easy to make! It's great for a quick dinner or to serve at a party!

 

To assemble your Authentic Chicken Tinga Tostadas:

  • Add a layer of refried beans to the tostada shell. (We skip this because we don’t like the beans.)
  • Top with juicy shredded chicken.
  • Then you add a drizzle of Mexican crema. If you can’t find Mexican crema You can use sour cream but Mexican crema is so much better!
  • Finally, sprinkle some queso fresco and enjoy!

 

Keep scrolling for the printable recipe for the best chicken tinga tostadas

Did you know that Cinco de Mayo is not Mexican Independence Day? Independence Day in Mexico is September 17. Cinco de Mayo was the date of a large victory in Puebla. Most of Mexico doesn’t actually celebrate the holiday. It’s probably celebrated more in the US.

This chicken recipe is a great recipe to feed a crowd. If you have leftovers you can enjoy them the next day. Just add them to an airtight container.

You can also make this recipe in the slow cooker!

 

 

Yield: 8

Chicken Tinga - Mexican Recipe For Tostadas

Chicken Tinga - Mexican Recipe For Tostadas
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes

Ingredients

  • 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts
  • About 6 cups of cabbage sliced thin
  • 2 Tablespoons oil
  • 3-4 large tomatoes
  • ½ cup water
  • ⅛ piece small onion (just a small wedge)
  • 1 garlic clove
  • chipotle peppers (1-2 from a can – freeze the leftovers)
  • 1 teaspoon chicken bouillon
  • Salt to taste (at least a teaspoon)
  • Tostada Shells
  • Refried Beans, Mexicana Crema, Queso Fresco, Avocados, etc

Instructions

  1. Add the raw chicken breasts to a large pot over medium-high heat. Once it gets to a boil cook it for 12 minutes until fully cooked. Shred chicken - set aside.
  1. While the chicken cooks, grab the sauce ingredients. In a blender or food processor, combine tomatoes, 1 garlic clove, onion, 1-2 chipotle peppers, chicken bouillon, and water.
  2. In a large pot or large frying pan heat oil over medium heat and add cabbage. Let it cook for about 10 minutes until limp.
  3. Pour the tomato mixture into the pot and heat. Add the chicken. Heat for about 30 minutes so all the flavors combine.
  4. Serve on tostada shells. If you can find Mexican Crema and Queso Fresca to add on top of the meat. Enjoy!


To assemble your Authentic Chicken Tinga Tostadas:

  1. Add a layer of refried beans to the tostada shell
  2. Top with juicy shredded chicken.
  3. Then you add a drizzle of Mexican crema. If you can't find Mexican crema You can use sour cream but Mexican crema is so much better!
  4. Finally, sprinkle some queso fresco and enjoy!

Notes

You can use rotisserie chicken to speed up dinner.

Did you make this recipe?

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Independence Day in Mexico is September 16th. It is actually celebrated starting in the evening of September 15th, with the Grito de Independencia (Call to Independence) and people stay up most f the night partying, The Independence Parade is on the 16th.

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You are correct - I lived there for 12 years and even attended a Grito in one city. Most people think Cinco de Mayo is a huge event in Mexico - but it's not.

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