The Best Chicken Tacos Recipe Ever
on May 22, 2017, Updated Oct 01, 2024
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Introducing the Best Chicken Tacos recipe ever—they taste like they just came off a food truck! Chicken thighs, plus a simple onion and cilantro topping, make this our all-time favorite easy chicken taco recipe.
These are the BEST tacos and are one of my family’s favorite recipes. Made with some delicious, full-of-flavor chicken meat and a simple onion and cilantro topping on corn tortillas and topped with a squeeze of lime before eating—and that’s a wrap for Taco Tuesday!
Keeping them simple makes them taste like they are straight off a food truck (you might also call them street tacos). They aren’t fussy, but they are so flavorful. You could add a bit of avocado or a sprinkle of cotija cheese, but they aren’t really needed. Keep it simple, friends! Round out the meal with some black beans and cilantro lime rice and you’ll be one happy camper.
Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Full of Flavor: This flavorful chicken is marinated in a delicious blend of spices and lime juice.
- Low Cost: It’s budget-friendly; using chicken thighs as the main protein makes this recipe affordable without compromising on taste.
- Great Leftovers: Leftover chicken can be used in salads, quesadillas, or burrito bowls. Just store any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
- Please Everyone: Use your family’s favorite toppings to create a taco bar!
Recipe Ingredients
- Boneless Skinless Chicken Thighs – use boneless skinless chicken breasts if that’s what you have on hand
- Seasonings – garlic, onion, chili powder, cumin, paprika and cilantro
- Limes – don’t skip the fresh lime juice!
- Olive Oil
- Red or Sweet Onion – green onions would also be good!
- Jalapeño
- Small Corn Tortillas – use flour tortillas if preferred
See the recipe card below for full information on ingredients and quantities.
How to Make the Best Chicken Tacos
- Combine spices, lime juice, and oil. Add the chicken and marinate.
- Heat a large skillet over medium heat and add the chicken.
- While the chicken cooks, combine all the topping ingredients.
- Chop the chicken, place it in warm tortillas, and add toppings. Squeeze lime juice over it just before eating.
Recipe FAQs
There are so many options for taco side dishes. I like to serve a Mexican rice or cilantro lime rice, fresh pico de gallo, or refried beans. They are quick, easy, and delish!
Now, this is a great question. I firmly believe in the power of warming the tortillas in the skillet so they get a little toasty and maybe even a little crisp around the edges. It’s a MUST; you must try it out if you’ve never heated yours up. I also like to double-layer my tortillas so they keep all the toppings in better without tortilla breakage. Finally, a sprinkle of lime is absolutely necessary to bring everything together and really add a kick of freshness.
You can literally put whatever you want inside tacos—that’s the beauty of these little customizable wraps! For this recipe, I kept things simple and added some chopped onion, cilantro, and jalapeno with a little lime juice, salt, and pepper. It was divine! You can also add cheese, sour cream, and other veggies.
This recipe makes 4 servings, and I get one pound of boneless, skinless chicken thighs. Feel free to adjust the amount of chicken you purchase depending on how many people you’re serving (and if you have too much, it does make great leftovers!).
Expert Tips
- Two tortillas aren’t a must, but they help to keep everything in. When you just use one tortilla, it seems to break and fall apart.
- If you don’t want the topping to be too spicy, you can remove the seeds from the jalapeno or omit it altogether.
- The lime for serving isn’t optional; it really makes the dish!
- Boneless, skinless chicken thighs stay moist better than chicken breasts, and they’re less expensive, which is always a win.
What to Serve With the Best Chicken Tacos Ever
Because these chicken tacos are so simple and easy to make, feel free to add a side of chips, salsa, and guacamole, plus some fun drinks. I recommend some fresh homemade lemonade for this recipe!
You’ll feel like you’re eating out while sitting in your own kitchen.
More Chicken Recipes to Consider
Chicken Recipes
Kung Pow Chicken
From Scratch Recipes
Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo
From Scratch Recipes
Chicken Divan Recipe
From Scratch Recipes
Chicken Brine
Did you make this recipe? Leave a ⭐️ review and share it on Instagram, Facebook, or Pinterest!
The Best Chicken Tacos Ever
Ingredients
For the chicken:
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken thighs
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- Juice of 2 limes
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
For the topping:
- 1/3 cup finely chopped red or sweet onion
- 1/3 cup finely chopped cilantro
- 1 finely chopped jalapeño
- Juice of 1 lime
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- 1 lime, cut into 8 pieces
- 16 small corn tortillas for serving
Instructions
- In a large zipper-topped plastic baggie or in shallow dish, add the chicken, all of the spices, lime juice, and oil. Close the bag and use your hands to mix everything together. If you are using a shallow dish, use tongs to work the spices evenly into the chicken. You can let this rest for up to a half-hour or work with it right away. I like to let it rest a minute to increase the flavor.
- Heat a large skillet over medium to medium-high heat. When the skillet is hot, add a tablespoon of oil to the pan and then add the chicken. Cook for 12 to 14 minutes, turning once, until the chicken is cooked through. Remove the chicken from the pan and let it rest for 10 minutes. If you have an extra-large chicken thigh, you’ll need to cook them longer, so turn down the heat to medium and cook them until no longer pink (could take up to 25 minutes or 12 minutes per side).
- While the chicken cooks, stir together the chicken taco topping by placing the chopped onion, cilantro, jalapeño, and the juice of one lime in a small bowl. Add salt and pepper, and stir to combine.
- While the chicken rests, wipe your skillet clean with a warm rag or paper towels, and place the skillet back on the heat over medium-high to high heat. Place two tortillas (still stacked together) on the skillet and cook until the underside starts to char. Flip over and cook the other side (so the middle of each tortilla won’t be cooked against the skillet but it will get warm all the way though). Repeat with remaining tortillas.
- Chop the rested chicken into small pieces.
- To serve, place 1/8 of the chopped chicken in each set of tortillas (still two stacked together) and top with 1/8 of your onion mixture. Serve each taco with a wedge of lime to squeeze over the taco just before serving.
Video
Notes
- Two tortillas aren’t a must, but they help keep everything in. When you use just one tortilla, it seems to break and fall apart.
- If you don’t want the topping too spicy, you can remove the seeds from the jalapeño or leave it out altogether.
- The lime for serving isn’t optional; it makes the dish!
- You can also bake or grill the chicken for this recipe.
Omg thank you for finally giving a realistic amount of time for chicken to cook in a pan. Mine always takes way longer than the “2-3 minutes on each side” that all these other recipes say.
Right? I know what you are taking about! lol, I made these last night too 🙂
Made this tonight and it was so flavorful! I doubled the spices and added it to cubed acorn squash that had been roasted. Then sautéed in a cast iron pan. I called it “vegan chicken!” 😂
That sounds really good! Thank you for sharing!
I do not normally comment on any recipes I try but OH MY GOSH!!!!! Let me preface by saying I’m not an amazing cook. I CAN cook, but far from amazing. I felt like a chef in a 5 star restaurant serving this chicken taco recipe. Amazing doesn’t even describe it. This should explain it better. I bought a 3.6 pound pack of chicken. We have a large family but also planned on having leftovers for my lunch. It ended up being just 3 of us eating last night. We ate all but one cup of the chicken. My husband and son were blown away with how delicious it was. I could easily eat this 4 time a week. Thank you for posting this mind blowing yummy recipe. AND for having exact measurements on EVERYTHING! Us not so amazing cooks need this more than you know!!! 🙂
Best comment ever!! Thank you for taking the time do write that out Pamela, it made my day!
This turned out amazing! My entire family loved it. We used small flour tortillas instead of corn. The topping is a must try!
I tried this recipe, and it was excellent, but I have questions I want to ask; how can I reach you?
Made a batch 5x the amount suggested for our Sunday church gathering, and it turned out delicious! I marinaded it a bit longer than suggested, and we just cooked the thighs in vegetable oil outside on a griddle. Definitely adding this recipe to our favorites! 🙂
Question: I don’t have chicken thigh on hand, but I have ground chicken. Do you think it will work similar if i did the rest the same?
Please advise.
I’d probably skip it with the ground chicken, I think chicken breast would be a better second option.
Hi, is really just salt in the topping “to taste” enough salt for this recipe? Would you kindly confirm that no salt is needed to salt the chicken? Because I don’t see it in the ingredients list, and asked once before without a reply, thanks!
Sorry I missed you the first time, the chicken has a 1/2 teaspoon salt in it, but you can for sure adjust that to taste if you’d like. Enjoy, this is one of my favorite recipes.
Hello, it looks from the recipe that you cook the chicken in a dry heated pan? Or are the chicken thighs covered in water? Thank you.
You just add a little oil to the pan first!
Question: no salt in the marinade? Only pepper? Thanks