Tomorrow, October 4th, is National Taco Day! Okay, I’ll be honest, it’s not an official holiday, so no, you don’t get the day off work (sadly), but it is a great excuse to eat tacos. (I know, like we need an excuse?! Tacos are eaten by millions of people ever day!) Tacos, in fact, have been eaten since before the arrival of Europeans to Mexico. The first taco fest which took place in Coyoacan and was chronicled by Bernal Diaz del Castillo in his book “The True History of the Conquest of Mexico”. It was a festival for the Spanish conquistadors, arranged by Hernán Cortés for his captains. So people have been celebrating with tacos since around 1520.
For Cinco de Mayo, I made Mexican Braised Beef Tacos with Salsa Two Ways. I took advantage of fresh summer corn to make Tomato Corn Salsa. Celiac or gluten-free? My sister, Louise, has posted Inside Out Tacos That Rock. To celebrate National Taco Day, I decided to try something different. I had been at a Mexican spot a few weeks ago and had eaten Chicken Tinga tacos. The smokiness of the chipotles and the shredded chicken were delicious, so I thought I’d give them a try. Since I didn’t want to be in the kitchen all day, I decided to make a slow cooker version of Chicken Tinga Tacos and make this a dinner while you work.
Looking for yummy Margaritas to complete your National Taco Day celebration? Check out SashaDallasGirl for recipes. Sasha says she will Instagram some exciting Margarita recipes (yesterday and tomorrow) in honour of National Taco Day! (Thanks, Sasha!)
Prep time: 10 minutes; Cook time: 6+ hours; Serves: 4-6 people
What you need:
- 4 whole chicken legs (thighs and drumsticks), bone-in, skin on (you can also buy skinless)
- 1 large onion (I used 3 small onions), rough dice
- 4 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped
- 1 – 28 oz can of diced tomatoes
- 1 – 6.5 oz can of Chipotle Peppers in Adobo Sauce (you will need to use 2 tbsp of the chopped peppers and 2 tbsp of the sauce)
- 2 tsp dried oregano (Mexican oregano if you have it)
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1/2 tsp dried coriander
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 1/4 cup water (optional)
What you do:
- Remove the skin from the chicken legs and place in a slow cooker
- Sprinkle with salt, pepper, oregano, cumin and coriander
- Place chopped onions and garlic on top
- Add 1/2 can of diced tomatoes to the chicken
- Take approximately 2 – 6 Chipotle peppers from the can, depending on your heat preference (I used 4, which was not spicy, but did create a slight smokey heat) and chop. Remove remaining peppers from the can and place in another container. Use approximately 2 tbsp of the Adobo sauce. [ELIN’s TIP – section the remaining peppers into smaller packages of 2-3 then freeze them for later use in chilis, soups or stews]
- Add the chopped Chipotle peppers and adobo sauce to the remaining half can of diced tomatoes, stir to incorporate
- Add the Chipotle/tomato mix to the slow cooker
- Optional – Add 1/4 cup of water (I used it to swoosh out the Chipotle can to get the rest of the adobo sauce)
- Stir, cover and cook on low for at least 6 hours until the chicken is cooked.
- Remove the chicken and, in a separate bowl, shred the meat, discarding the bones (at this point, heat your tortillas or taco shells)
- Using an immersion blender, blend the sauce in the slow cooker
- Ladle the sauce on the shredded chicken until moist and stir
- Suggested serving – pickled red onions, fresh chopped cilantro, sour cream, crumbled feta cheese, and lime (and of course, Margaritas!)
Leftover sauce can be frozen. You can use it with chicken leftovers – heat the chicken up in the sauce to make a fast mid-week dinner.
Having people over for an impromptu party? Reboot your leftover chicken tinga and make mini Chicken Tinga tacos for hors d’oeuvres. Who doesn’t love mini anything? To make them, take mini pitas, toast slightly, cut in half and fill with reheated chicken mix, top with chopped feta and pickled onions.
Want to make this Whole30 compliant? Scrap the tortillas (and cheese) and serve on mini sweet potato slider!
