Discover the typical Mexican recipe to prepare a delicious and tasty chicken tinga, perfect on its own or as a filling for tacos or burritos.
If you like Mexican food, you surely know the tinga, a typical dish based on shredded chicken (although it can also be beef) and cooked with a sauce of red tomatoes (jitomates in Mexico) whose protagonist is the chipotle chili, which gives this dish its characteristic spicy flavor.
This preparation is generally used as a filling for quesadillas, tacos and tostadas, among other typical Mexican dishes. Below you will find all the ingredients, the steps and the recommendations to prepare a typical and full of flavor chicken tinga.
Recipe Detail
- Difficulty Intermediate
- Total time 50MIN
- Mexican Cuisine
Ingredients Table
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| Chicken breasts | 2 |
| Onions | 2 |
| Chipotle chili | 200 g (1 small can) |
| Tomato | 4, or 3 if they are very large |
| Garlic | 2 cloves |
| Bay leaf | 1 leaf |
| Cilantro | a few sprigs |
| Oregano | to taste |
| Ground black pepper | to taste |
| Salt | to taste |
Step-by-Step Guide:
- The first step consists of boiling the chicken breasts. For that, place in a pot the breasts, half a chopped onion, a clove of garlic, salt, pepper, bay leaf and cilantro. Cover with water and bring to a boil.
- Let the breasts boil with the covered pot over moderate heat for between 20 and 30 minutes. Check the cooking by making a small cut in the center of the breasts and, if they are cooked, remove from the heat.
- Drain the breasts and shred them, separating the meat from the breasts with two forks. Reserve in a container. Reserve the cooking broth, which will serve you for the preparation of the sauce.
- Peel the onion and cut it into julienne. Also peel the garlic and chop it.
- In a pan, place a tablespoon of oil and fry the onion and garlic over medium-low heat, so that they do not burn.
- Place the contents of the chipotle can with the washed tomatoes in a blender. Add salt and pepper to taste, a teaspoon of oregano and a cup and a half of chicken broth. Blend all the ingredients.
- Place the blended sauce in the pan where you previously fried the onion with the garlic and cook for approximately five minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent the sauce from sticking as the liquid evaporates.
- Add the shredded chicken to the sauce and continue cooking for another five minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Taste the sauce and adjust salt and pepper if necessary. At this point in the recipe, you can continue cooking the sauce if you want it to have more consistency (so that more liquid evaporates), or add water or, preferably, more chicken broth if you like it more brothy.
- Serve in a deep dish, accompanied with sauces and corn tortillas or with any of the accompaniments that we suggest below.
Video Guide 🎀
Nutritional Facts – Chicken Tinga (per 1 serving)
| Nutrient | Amount |
|---|---|
| Calories | 245 kcal |
| Total Fat | 11 g |
| Saturated Fat | 2.5 g |
| Cholesterol | 95 mg |
| Sodium | 680 mg |
| Total Carbohydrates | 7 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 2 g |
| Total Sugars | 4 g |
| Protein | 28 g |
Note: These values are estimates based on a traditional Chicken Tinga recipe using chicken breast or thigh, canned tomatoes, onion, garlic, chipotle peppers in adobo, and a small amount of oil. Actual nutrition will vary depending on the cut of chicken (thighs increase fat and calories), use of additional toppings (avocado, crema, cheese), and serving method (tacos, tostadas, or over rice). Sodium content can be higher depending on the brand of canned tomatoes and chipotle peppers.
Conclusion
Being a particularly tasty preparation, chicken tinga goes very well accompanied by more neutral foods, which balance the flavor. That is why, in general, this preparation is used as a filling for quesadillas, tacos, tostadas and molotes, depending on the region.
It can also be served with rice or quinoa, or accompanied by totopos (corn tortillas), along with shredded lettuce and fresh cheese as options to fill. If you choose this dish as an appetizer, you can try it accompanied by the michelada, a typical Mexican alcoholic drink based on beer, lemon juice and chili.
A whole experience! The tinga is a typical dish that was born in Puebla, but today it is prepared in all regions of Mexico, with its variations. That is why it is possible to find tinga not only of chicken, but also of beef, and even sardines or combinations of the different meats.
There are also vegetarian or vegan variants, in which the chicken (or meat) is replaced by mushrooms or vegetables such as carrot. In addition, there are those who include chorizo and potato in the sauce.
When serving, you can accompany the tinga with cream, cheese or even with the famous guacamole. Because the sauce contains chipotle chili, the degree of spiciness of the preparation will be given by the amount of sauce you put on the chicken (or the meat you choose to make your tinga).
Keep this in mind when mixing the ingredients: if you want a softer flavor result, put less sauce. We recommend that you try the tinga until you find the right balance. If you have any preparation left over, you can keep it for a few days in the refrigerator or freeze it, to have your chicken tinga ready at any time.