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Baked Chicken Tacos are an easy and flavorful weeknight dinner. Made with slow-cooked shredded chicken and tasty taco seasoning, this will become a family favorite and you’ll be wanting to make these tacos every Taco Tuesday!
We absolutely LOVE tacos at my house, so I’m always trying to come up with different taco recipes for our weekly taco nights. This recipe is so easy to make and absolutely delicious!
If you’re looking for a healthy taco recipe, check out my Blackened Shrimp Tacos. They’re wrapped in lettuce wraps, and just so refreshing!
Baked Chicken Tacos Recipe
The best part of this baked chicken tacos recipe is that these are perfect for busy individuals. They’re made with just a few ingredients and only take about 15 minutes to make.
The chicken is made in the slow cooker, so you can go about your business throughout the day without having to worry about watching your food while it’s cooking. Shredded chicken makes the perfect filling for the best tacos.
Want more easy recipes? Give one of these Simple 5 Ingredient Recipes a try!
Baked chicken tacos ingredients
Chicken: for this recipe, I used boneless, skinless chicken breasts. If you’re in a pinch, you can use a rotisserie chicken instead.
Onions: you will need a small white onion.
Taco seasoning: what’s a taco without taco seasoning? It’s the easiest way to season the chicken and really packs in the flavor.
Cheese: for this recipe, I used shredded Monterey jack cheese because it melts perfectly into the taco shells and provides a contrasting buttery flavor to the taco seasoning. Melty cheese is a great way to make sure your tacos don’t fall apart!
Tortillas: I made my baked chicken tacos with corn tortillas, but you can use flour tortillas if you prefer those.
*For a detailed list of ingredients and measurements, please reference the recipe card down below.
How to make baked tacos
Baked chicken tacos come together in 4 easy steps:
1. Cook the chicken. Place the chicken breast, sliced white onion, and taco seasoning in the slow cooker and cook for 4 hours on low.
2. Shred the chicken. Remove the chicken from the slow cooker and shred using two forks. Shredded chicken is the perfect filling for tacos.
3. Assemble the tacos. Preheat the oven to 425° F. You will need two baking sheets or work in batches. Lay 6 corn taco shells on a sheet pan or baking dish. Cover each taco shell with some shredded cheese, and place 2 Tbsp of the shredded chicken mixture on one side of each taco.
4. Bake the Tacos. Place the baking sheet in the oven and cook for 4 minutes or until the cheese is completely melted. Remove the tacos from the oven and fold each taco in half and press down lightly so the tacos stay folded. Place the baking sheet in the oven and cook for an additional 5 minutes for crispy taco shells.
5. Serve the tacos. Add mango pineapple salsa, chunky salsa, or avocado salsa to complete the tacos and serve!
How do you make tacos that don’t fall apart?
If you’ve made baked tacos before, you know it can be difficult to keep them from falling apart while baking in the oven. The best way to make sure the tacos don’t fall apart is to cover the taco shells with shredded cheese and bake them flat before adding the meat.
Melting the cheese before filling the tacos will help keep them together while they bake and after they’re finished.
What is chicken taco meat called?
Chicken taco meat is called pollo, which is a popular taco filling. The pollo filling is made by slow-cooking whole chicken breasts with vegetables of your choice and in a marinade and cutting or shredding the chicken once it’s cooked.
What goes well with tacos?
My favorite way to eat tacos is to serve them with chips and salsa. Other great side dishes are cilantro-lime rice, black beans, or traditional refried beans. A salad, like this Avocado Corn Salad would accompany these tacos perfectly, and so would my Jalapeño Creamed Corn.
Baked Tacos Variations
This chicken tacos recipe is completely customizable! Replace the chicken breast with your favorite fillings, such as ground beef, shrimp, beef, or thinly sliced steak, and use flour tortillas or lettuce wraps, instead of corn tortillas. You can use a Mexican cheese blend for a variation instead of Monterey jack cheese.
You can also use any leftover chicken you have in the fridge for these tacos. Just heat up the chicken on a skillet with olive oil and the taco seasoning before assembling the tacos.
Add your favorite toppings, like hot sauce, sour cream, cilantro lime crema, taco sauce, lettuce, cilantro, diced tomatoes, or jalapeños. Instead of serving beans on the side, you can add a tablespoon of beans into your taco before baking.
You can also add jalapeños, green chiles, or chipotle peppers in adobo sauce to the slow cooker with the chicken to maximize the spice and flavors while everything is getting cooked. Splash some lime juice on the meat once it’s done cooking for a tangy flavor to compliment the spice.
Check out these Cinco de Mayo recipes for more Mexican-inspired dishes.
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Baked Chicken Tacos
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 1 small white onion, thinly sliced
- 1 packet taco seasoning
- 24 ounces monterey jack cheese, shredded
- 15 corn tortillas
Optional toppings
Instructions
- Place the chicken, sliced white onion, and taco seasoning in the slow cooker. Cook for 4 hours on low.
- Remove the chicken from the slow cooker and shred using two forks.
- Preheat the oven to 425° F. Lay 6 corn taco shells on a baking sheet and cover with shredded cheese – you will need to use two baking sheets or work in batches. Place 2 tbsp of shredded chicken on one side of each taco.
- Place the baking sheet to the oven and cook for 4 minutes. The cheese should be completely melted.
- Remove the tacos from the oven and fold each in half and press down lightly to ensure the tacos stay folded. Place the tacos back in the oven and cook for 5 minutes.
- Serve with pineapple salsa or chunky salsa.
These were so satisfyingly delicious! Can’t wait to make again!
Made these tonight for taco Tuesday and they were perfect.
I really like how you bake the tacos so the cheese melts. Makes these marvelous tacos even better.
Your baked chicken taco recipe was quick and delicious! It’s a keeper for me. Thanks!
This recipe was great. My entire family loved it. It also made great leftovers.