Make a batch of mouth-watering fried chicken tacos by loading creamy shredded chicken and corn into warm corn tortillas, topped with shredded cheese, and baked until gooey and golden on all sides! Finish each taco with fresh lettuce, tomato salsa, and a homemade creamy avocado sauce.
Calling these chicken tacos “fried” is a little misleading. You won’t find any breaded and deep-fried chicken tenders here, so if that’s what you’re looking for, move on. But what you will find, is a nice crispy pan-fried tortilla filled with shredded chicken that gets baked until the edges of the chicken are crispy and golden and the cheese melted and gooey. It’s kind of like birria tacos with chicken and less juice.
I’m here for that. Are you?
If taco night is a big deal in your family, this may be one you’ll want to rotate into the mix. While you’re at it, don’t be shy to check out my lamb tacos, blackened salmon tacos, corned beef tacos, blackened shrimp tacos, and tuna tacos – there’s literally a taco for everyone!
With the combination of lean chicken (leftover rotisserie works great for this recipe), fresh salad ingredients, gluten-free corn tortillas and a homemade avocado crema, these fried chicken tacos are not only a healthy option for a regular old Taco Tuesday, but can also be enjoyed any time of the week. Feel free to dish them out with a side of mango black bean salad or this refreshing jicama salad to round out the meal.
Here’s The Scoop
- You can make these fried chicken tacos in just 30 minutes from start to finish. There’s no finicky taco condiments to deal with, this is a quick and easy meal perfect for a weeknight.
- The pan-fried and baked tortilla gives these tacos that perfect crunchy texture when you bite into them. If you fall somewhere between a soft tortilla and hard tortilla shell when it comes your tacos (like me!), you will love these.
- There’s just the right amount of subtle spicy flavor in this recipe that can easily be adjusted to suit your heat preference. Love heat? Add some more jalapeños or choose a spicy salsa.
- You can play around with the ingredients depending on what your family likes. Add things like beans, onions and peppers if you like. Swap out chives for cilantro. There are a lot of possibilities with these chicken tacos.
Ingredients For Fried Chicken Tacos
- Olive oil – Used to make the creamy chicken mixture and more to lightly grease the pan for warming the tortillas.
- Rotisserie chicken – Shredded. Feel free to use leftover cooked chicken from other meals made earlier in the week.
- Frozen corn – Using frozen corn means that you’ll still get a slightly crunchy texture in the creamy chicken mixture.
- Taco seasoning – Either homemade or store-bought.
- Corn tortillas – Flour tortillas can be used instead, if you prefer. Corn are both gluten-free and traditional.
- Cream cheese – This doesn’t need to be softened beforehand as it’s going to be heated in the pan alongside the corn and chicken.
- Mozzarella – Freshly shredded for best flavor.
- Monterey Jack cheese – Freshly shredded. You could also use cheddar cheese.
- Avocado dressing – This creamy dressing combines sour cream (or Greek yogurt), lime juice, avocado, garlic powder, chives, cilantro and jalapeño.
- To serve – Fill up each fried chicken taco with shredded romaine lettuce, chopped green onions and salsa.
How To Make Fried Chicken Tacos
Preheat the oven to 400° F degrees and line a baking tray with parchment paper.
Sauté the corn and chicken with taco seasoning for 2-3 minutes in a non-stick pan that’s been heated with olive oil.
Add the cream cheese and cook for another 1-2 minutes until combined. Add a splash of water if needed to thin out the mixture. Remove the pan from the heat and set aside.
Spray a clean pan with oil. Warm one tortilla at a time in the pan, heating them for 1 minute per side. Spray additional oil to lightly coat the pan between heating each tortilla. Transfer the heated tortillas to a warm plate and cover with a warm damp tea towel while you continue to heat the other tortillas. Heating the tortillas like this in the pan makes them more pliable for the next step.
Start assembling the fried chicken tacos by adding the chicken mix to one half of each taco and topping with a sprinkle of both shredded cheeses. Fold the tacos over in half and press them down to seal them closed.
Add the tacos to the oven for 15 minutes, flipping them halfway through the baking time to ensure that the cheese has fully melted and each taco is golden on each side.
While the tacos are baking, combine all of the avocado sauce ingredients into a small blender and blend until smooth.
Once baked, remove the tacos from the oven and fill each one with a selection of chopped avocado, romaine, green onions, salsa and a drizzle of the avocado cream sauce. Feel free to serve extra dressing on the side for your family and guests to use as they like.
My Pro Tips
Recipe Tips
- Each tortilla will absorb some of the oil in the pan while heated. To prevent the other tortillas from sticking to the surface of the pan, spray the pan lightly with additional oil between heating each tortilla.
- You are going to need to work quickly once the tortillas have been heated. As the tortillas start to cool, they will begin to lose the ability to bend without breaking or tearing.
- If you want to reduce post-cooking cleanup, transfer the chicken mixture to a bowl and wipe out the non-stick pan so that it is clean and ready to be used to heat the tortillas.
- If you don’t need as many as 10 tacos, only assemble the number desired and store any leftover chicken mixture in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days, ready to be reheated to make a new batch of fried chicken tacos later in the week or repurpose it and make a variation of this taco lasagna recipe. Keep any leftover taco ingredients and the avocado dressing in the fridge in separate airtight containers.
Variations
- Meat: Go ahead and use your favorite protein for these tacos. Shredded lamb, beef, pork or turkey would all be great alternatives to the shredded rotisserie chicken.
- Shredded cheese: I’ve used a mixture of shredded mozzarella cheese and Monterey Jack cheese for these tacos, but you can also use a Mexican shredded cheese blend or Pepper Jack. Anything that melts well is great!
- Other add-ins: Black beans, red onion and bell peppers will help to add volume to the chicken mixture should you want to divide it between extra tortillas.
- Tortillas: While the corn tortillas are commonly used when making traditional tacos and will also make this dish gluten-free, you could use flour tortillas instead, if you prefer.
- Spice: Additional cayenne pepper could be added to the taco seasoning for an extra kick of heat. You can also use a spicy brand of salsa and increase the amount of blended jalapeños in the dressing.
Storage
Store leftover fried chicken tacos in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 day. I recommend removing any of the fresh salad ingredients that could spoil in the fridge, such as the avocado or the crisp lettuce.
Leftover dressing must be stored in a separate airtight container or sealable jar and will last for up to 2 weeks in the fridge. Give the dressing a good stir or shake before use.
What To Serve With The Tacos
Most people love something tangy and pickled with their tacos. Fermented red cabbage is perfect if that’s your thing. Fermented cabbage goes a step beyond pickled but the result is even more tangy flavor and some healthy gut benefits too!
Homemade white refried beans are way easier than you think and accompany a taco dinner perfectly. They’re basically the Mexican version of mashed potatoes and I might even love them more.
Lighten the meal up with a fruity salsa like this mango habanero salsa or the pineapple version. You can serve this on top of the tacos or inside each one so you get that refreshing salsa flavor in each bite.
Fried Chicken Tacos
Ingredients
Tacos
- 1 tablespoon olive oil, plus more to fry
- 3 cups shredded rotisserie chicken
- 1 cup frozen corn
- 2 tablespoons taco seasoning
- 10 corn tortillas
- 1/4 cup cream cheese
- 3/4 cup grated mozzarella
- 3/4 cup Monterey Jack cheese, shredded or cheddar
Avocado Sauce
- 1/2 cup sour cream or Greek yogurt
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- 1/2 large avocado
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon chives, finely chopped
- 2 tablespoon cilantro, finely chopped
- 1/2 jalapeno, chopped
For Serving
- 1 cup romaine, finely shredded
- 2 green onions, finely chopped
- 1 cup salsa
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Heat the olive oil in a non-stick pan. Add the corn, chicken and taco seasoning and sauté for 2 – 3 minutes until warm. Add the cream cheese and cook for 1 – 2 more minutes until combined, adding a touch of water as needed to loosen up.
- Spray a clean, non-stick pan with oil. Add the tortillas, one by one, warming them for 1 minute per side, spraying with more oil in between each one. Keep warm under a warm damp tea towel or kitchen roll while you fry them all.
- Add the chicken mix to one half of each taco and top with a sprinkle of both grated cheeses. Fold the tacos in half and press down to close. Bake in the oven for about 15 minutes, flipping half way through until golden and the cheese is melted.
- Meanwhile, add all the avocado sauce ingredients to a small blender and blitz to combine until smooth.
- Fill each taco with chopped avocado, romaine, green onions, salsa and dressing. Serve extra avocado cream sauce on the side.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Gina Matsoukas is an AP syndicated writer. She is the founder, photographer and recipe developer of Running to the Kitchen — a food website focused on providing healthy, wholesome recipes using fresh and seasonal ingredients. Her work has been featured in numerous media outlets both digital and print, including MSN, Huffington post, Buzzfeed, Women’s Health and Food Network.
Hot grease is super painful! I would have freaked out too. Gorgeous pictures, looks like it turned out great in the end!
Weirdly I have never had a taco, let alone a fried one. These look so yummy!
oh my yum, tastiness!!! everything fried always tastes better!!!
looks great! thanks for sharing
I’m not really into frying things but I love how fresh and colorful the pictures look!!! Sorry about the kitchen mishap- I’ve had many of those, most of them coming from the fact that I neglect to carefully read recipes. Oops!
These look so good…but I’d definitely skip the frying trick or leave that step to my husband :)
omg I’m in luv (not the creepy kind, but the one where I want her to come over and feed me every day) with p-dubs! So excited that you’re doing this.
YUM! These look fabulous.