Quick & easy grilled chicken tacos with homemade taco seasoning, corn tortillas, Mexican-inspired grilled corn, queso blanco, pickled red onions and cilantro. Perfect easy dish for a backyard BBQ, summer party, or Mexican themed dinner party.
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I'm always on a Mexican-inspired food kick. I just finished the series - the Taco Chronicles - on Netflix and let me tell you, nothing will make you want to get in the kitchen quicker or dream about tacos a dozen different ways. Or maybe I'm just obsessed. Could be that.
These Quick and Easy Chicken Tacos are so easy to make with just a handful of ingredients. I live in Mexico for two months every year and get more than my share of fresh corn tortillas and different varieties of tacos. All those local ingredients - such a dream for cooking!
Ingredients
See the recipe card for exact amounts.
- chicken: you'll need a few boneless skinless chicken breasts. You can easily scale this recipe up for a crowd. Use one chicken breast for every 2 people.
- taco seasoning: I use my homemade seasoning, use whichever one is your favorite.
- corn tortillas: I prefer yellow corn tortillas, but you could use white corn tortillas or flour tortillas instead.
- toppings: I like chicken tacos which my Mexican-inspired street corn shaved off the cob onto them, pickled red onions, cilantro, and crumbled cheese.
Substitutions
- toppings: use your favorite toppings like avocado, tomatoes, lettuce or slaw.
Some more tacos I want to try:
- potato
- boiled egg
- carne asada
- buffalo shrimp
- something with mole sauce
- chicken with salsa verde
- beans and cheese
What's your favorite taco? What will you make for your next Taco Tuesday?
Customize the toppings to whatever you have on hand.
Instructions
Prep Tips
For this taco, we'll do a simple three ingredient grilled chicken. Drizzle a couple of chicken breasts with some oil and then sprinkle on some Taco Seasoning.
To make the corn squeeze lime juice onto 4 cobs and corn and grill them with the chicken.
Grill your chicken, about 9-10 minutes, flipping halfway or until 165°F internally.
Mix the topping for the corn:
- ¼ cup mayo
- ½ tablespoon lime juice
- ¼ teaspoon chipotle chili powder
- ¼ teaspoon Tajin Chile Lime Seasoning
- ¼ cup queso blanco (crumbled)
- salt and pepper (to taste)
Let the chicken sit for 10 minutes and then slice the chicken into strips and cut the corn off the cob.
Mix the corn with the sauce above, turning it into something like esquites.
Now fill your taco with the chicken, corn (and some extra sauce) pickled red onions, cilantro, some extra cheese, or whatever else you like.
Tips for making grilled chicken tacos
- Use whatever seasoning you prefer for the chicken.
- Switch up the toppings and use shredded lettuce or slaw instead.
What to serve with chicken tacos
For a get together, serve these easy chicken tacos with grilled corn, elote fries, southwest corn salad, or pico de gallo.
For drinks, make some margaritas! Try jalapeno watermelon margaritas, strawberry margaritas, mango margaritas, or dragon fruit margaritas.
Storage
Store leftover grilled chicken in the fridge in an airtight container for 4-5 days.
FAQs
Grilled chicken is cooked when the internal temperature reaches 165°F.
Recipe
Easy Chicken Tacos
Ingredients
For the Chicken:
- 2 chicken breasts
- 1 tablespoon
taco seasoning - 1 teaspoon cooking oil
- salt and pepper to taste
For the Tacos:
- 6 corn tortillas
- Toppings: lettuce corn (elote cut off the cob, plus extra sauce), pickled red onions, queso blanco or other cheese, cilantro, etc.
For the corn
- 4 ears of corn
- Lime juice from one or two limes or about 1 tbsp
For the sauce for the corn
- ¼ cup mayo
- ½ tablespoon lime juice
- ¼ teaspoon chipotle chili powder or less for less spicy
- ¼ teaspoon Tajin Chile Lime Seasoning instead of chipotle chile powder
- ¼ cup queso blanco crumbled
- salt and pepper to taste
- small handful of cilantro chopped
Instructions
For the Chicken:
- Coat the chicken in oil and then sprinkle with taco seasoning and salt and pepper. Roll around so it's completely and evenly coated. Let sit while you preheat the grill to medium.
- Squeeze fresh lime juice on the corn.
- Make the sauce for the corn by mixing all the ingredients in a bowl.
- Prepare any other toppings.
- Grill the chicken over medium, for about 9-10 minutes, flipping once until 165°F internally. Grill the corn with the chicken.
- Let sit 10 minutes, then cut into slices.
- Slice the corn off the cob and mix it with most of the sauce, saving some to drizzle on the tacos.
For the Tacos:
- Spread the sauce down the middle of each tortilla. Lay a few slices of the chicken on top, then the corn, pickled red onions and some cilantro. Or use other toppings if you like.
- Serve immediately.
Notes
- 2 tablespoons chili powder
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
Nutritional information is an estimate. Values vary based on products used. Read our full Nutrition Disclaimer.
Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to purchase through my link, at no extra cost to you.
This post was originally posted on July 25, 2019.
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