Crunchy Baked Chicken Tacos
Updated Aug 22, 2024
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Crunchy Baked Chicken Tacos are an easy dinner idea and a satisfying meal. This filling dinner is made with baked chicken, taco seasoning, black beans, hard taco shells, and plenty of shredded cheddar cheese. It’s a toss together meal the whole family will love.
I can’t get enough of these Crunchy Baked Chicken Tacos. I mean, you can never go wrong with Tex-Mex, like, ever, and these make the perfect handheld dinner option for nights when you only have a half-hour or less to get a meal on the table. Not only are they incredibly easy and incredibly delicious, but they’re also incredibly adorable. These guys are winners for kids, parents, and Instagram alike… Just sayin’. Add some Cilantro Lime Rice and Easy Black Beans and you have a quick, delicious meal.
Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Crunchy Texture: The combination of the crunchy shell and the tender chicken filling is so, so good.
- Easy Prep: These Crunchy Chicken Tacos come together quickly so they’re perfect for busy nights.
- Family Friendly: Tacos are one of those things that everyone in the family loves.
Ingredients
- Cooked Chicken
- Black Beans
- Diced Tomatoes
- Taco Seasoning: use my homemade recipe or store-bought
- Hard Taco Shells
- Shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese
- Cilantro, Lettuce, Salsa, Olives, Sour cream, Hot Sauce, etc. for serving: if desired
See the recipe card below for full information on ingredients and quantities
Popular Substitutions and Variations
- This is really one of those “Well, what do we have in the fridge to work with here?” recipes. You can use whatever meat, beans, fillings, and toppings you have available to play with the many options for variety and flexibility with this one. I like a nice dollop of sour cream and scoop of pico de gallo on mine, but you just follow your heart here, okay?
How to Make Crunchy Chicken Tacos
Step #1. Preheat your oven and prepare your baking sheet.
Step #3. Place the taco shells on the baking sheet. Fill evenly with the chicken mixture, then top with the shredded cheese.
Step #2. Combine the chicken, beans, tomatoes, and taco seasoning in a medium bowl and stir.
Step #4. Bake for 14-18 minutes. Serve with the toppings of your choice.
Recipe FAQs
These will have a similar finished texture and flavor as a lot of types of taquitos, but the main difference is that you wrap the fillings in a soft tortilla for taquitos before either frying or baking them to make them crunchy. Think of these baked chicken tacos as the faster little sister of taquitos with a bit of a different shape!
Absolutely! I would recommend either using two baking dishes to scale up your batch, or take turns baking a batch in one baking dish so as not to crowd your dish and break any of the taco shells.
These actually don’t save very well. The inside filling can cause the taco shells to get mushy or soggy over time if they’re not eaten right away, so I’d recommend just making enough to serve in the moment. If you do end up having leftovers, store them in a paper towel-lined airtight container for up to 3 days, and always reheat them in the oven to re-crisp up that shell.
Expert Tips
- Put half the cheese in the bottom of the taco shell, add the chicken mixture, and then top with the remaining cheese. You’ll have melty goodness surrounding the chicken.
- For an extra boost of flavor, use leftover Chipotle Chicken Taco Meat.
- To keep your tacos from getting soggy, remove the seeds and juicy parts from the center of the tomatoes before adding to the chicken mixture.
What to Serve with Crunchy Chicken Tacos
- Homemade Hard Corn Taco Shells
- Homemade Taco Seasoning Mix
- Instant Pot Cilantro Lime Rice
- Easy Mexican Black Beans for Tacos
- Creamy Cilantro Lime Dressing (great on tacos)
- Easy Spanish Rice in the Rice Cooker
Crunchy Baked Chicken Tacos
Ingredients
- 2 cups cooked chicken
- 1 cup black beans
- 1 cup diced tomatoes
- 2 tablespoons taco seasoning
- 12 hard taco shells
- 6 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, shredded (about 1.5 cups)
- Cilantro, lettuce, salsa, olives, sour cream, hot sauce, etc. for serving, optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F., line a baking dish with foil or parchment paper, and spray the foil or parchment with a bit of cooking spray.
- In a medium bowl, combine the chicken, black beans, tomatoes, and taco seasoning, and stir to combine well.
- Place the taco shells in the prepared pan.
- Fill each taco shell with the chicken mixture, distributing it evenly between the shells.
- Top the filled taco shells with the grated cheese.
- Bake the tacos for 12 to 15 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and the filling is hot.
- Serve hot with optional cilantro, lettuce, olives, sour cream, hot sauce, etc.
Notes
- Don’t forget to spray the pan with cooking spray, or the taco shells stick badly (the cheese kind of glues them into place).
- I like to remove as much of the tomato guts/seeds as I can so that they don’t make my taco shells soggy while cooking.
- You can really use whatever meat, beans, or fillings you like here. It’s a very flexible recipe.
- Add some quick Tex-Mex sides like Easy Black Beans, and Cilantro Lime Rice to complete the meal.
Melissa, these baked tacos look fantastic! Love the melty cheese you get when baking them. My kids would devour them!