How to Make Ground Chicken Tacos
Learn how to make ground chicken tacos with your own (easy) homemade taco seasoning blend! This ground chicken taco recipe comes together quickly and is made with pantry staples that you probably already have on hand. The meat is cooked with onions, garlic and red pepper and seasoned with pantry-staple spices (just like my ground beef quesadillas). It’s fresh and tasty, and you control how spicy you want it to be. Then it’s the fun part…the taco meat can obviously be used in tacos, but there are SO many other ways to use it. I’m sharing a whole list of ideas below. You might just want to double – or even triple – the batch, it’s perfect for freezing.
And if you love tacos as much as we do, be sure to try my easy fish tacos, fish tacos with mango salsa, turkey taco skillet, slow cooker salsa chicken tacos, and breakfast tacos next time.
I personally love these tacos with cool guacamole and freshly grated sharp cheddar cheese served up in crispy corn tortillas, but the best part of taco night is that everyone makes their own creations, so I always serve with a variety of toppings and refrain from sharing my own opinion too much. 😉
Estimated reading time: 10 minutes
What You’ll Love About Ground Chicken Tacos
- Complex flavors without a lot of work
- Made with pantry staples
- Fresh and delicious flavors
- Nutritious and balanced meal
- Quick and easy dinner
- Just 20 minutes cook time
- So many ways to serve it
Ingredients
- Olive oil – Use a high quality olive oil for best flavor, or any vegetable oil like avocado oil or canola oil.
- Onion – I’ve used white onion, but you could also use yellow or even red onion.
- Bell pepper – I’ve used red for a pop of color, but yellow or orange would also work.
- Garlic – Use fresh garlic for best flavor or frozen garlic for a convenient shortcut.
- Ground chicken – You want to look for ground chicken that is about 93% lean and NOT 99% lean unless you like dry chicken. You can also use ground turkey, ground beef, or even ground pork.
- Spices – Garlic powder, ground cumin, smoked paprika (or regular), dried oregano, chili powder, sea salt. You could also use a taco seasoning packet if you prefer.
- Corn starch – This is used to help thicken the homemade taco seasoning and sauce. You can omit it if you prefer, but you’ll need to simmer the mixture a bit longer. And if you use a packet, you won’t need the corn starch!
- Chicken broth – This is used to give the taco meat a saucy flavor and keep it nice and juicy. You can use water if you prefer, or grab some bouillon cubes so you can easily mix up small amounts of broth.
- Tortillas – You can use your favorite tortilla. Use crunchy or soft corn tortillas or flour tortillas. I recommend lightly charring the tortillas if you’re using a soft shell tortilla.
- Taco toppings – Add your favorite toppings like guacamole, diced or smashed avocado, copycat Chipotle corn salsa, shredded sharp cheddar, sour cream, salsa or pico de gallo, lettuce, fresh cilantro, diced onions, sliced jalapeno, and diced tomatoes.
How to Make Ground Chicken Tacos
This is an overview on how to make ground chicken tacos, the detailed instructions can be found below in the recipe card.
How to Serve Ground Chicken Taco Meat
Tacos with ground chicken are an obvious choice, but there is also so many other ways you can use this taco meat:
- Tacos – Serve with crunchy taco shells or flour tortillas, along with your favorite taco toppings. I like to put out a traditional taco spread of guacamole or avocado, copycat Chipotle corn salsa, shredded sharp cheddar, sour cream, salsa or pico de gallo, shredded lettuce, fresh cilantro, and diced tomatoes.
- Tostadas – Layer refried beans, chicken, and fresh toppings over a crispy tostada shell. (Swap out chicken for beef in this ground beef tostada recipe.)
- Burrito bowls – Serve over rice or black bean quinoa salad and traditional taco fixings and let everyone make their own bowl.
- Lettuce wraps – Scoop the meat into bibb lettuce leaves and add additional taco toppings.
- Ground chicken taco salad – Serve over chopped romaine lettuce, along with black beans, taco meat, sour cream, salsa, and crushed tortilla chips. (Swap out the ground chicken for ground beef in this taco salad recipe.)
- Stuffed into quesadillas – Stuff the chicken taco meat into a tortilla with cheese or swap for the steak in these steak quesadillas. Don’t forget the quesadilla sauce!
FAQs
Can you use ground chicken for tacos?
Yes, you can use ground chicken for tacos and it’s a delicious and nutritious protein to use.
Is ground chicken or turkey better for tacos?
You can really use either chicken or turkey, but please do not use 99% fat free chicken OR turkey. A little fat will help keep this chicken taco meat nice and juicy and flavorful.
Are ground chicken tacos healthy?
I love looking at this question in a bit of a different way – using my background in Nutrition and Intuitive Eating. Instead of jumping to negative conclusions, I tend to look at the food in a bigger view, so here’s what I see in this meal.
I see lean protein, I see an opportunity to add vegetables, I see energy (carbs) in the form of the tortillas and shells, and I see lots of delicious flavor! So the components for what I consider healthy are all there.
Storage Instructions
Store leftover ground chicken taco meat in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3-4 days.
How to reheat
Reheat taco meat in a hot skillet or in the microwave until heated through.
Can you freeze chicken taco meat?
Yes, you can store the chicken in an airtight container in the freezer for 2-3 months.
How to prep ahead
Make the chicken taco meat, and store in the fridge. Reheat and serve with the taco shells and toppings for a meal that you can pull together super quickly.
What to Serve with Ground Chicken Tacos
You can go simple or complex with sides for these tacos:
How to Feed Chicken Tacos to the Whole Family
I get it, feeding kids can be tough! But following the Division of Responsibility and knowing your job and your child’s job makes it SO much more enjoyable. You’ll be able to feed your kids any meal, which will help ensure that they are eating a variety of nutritious foods – with plenty of play food sprinkled in.
I would recommend serving the ground chicken in a pinch bowl (taster bowl) if it’s a new or learning-to-like it food and let everyone build their own tacos.
This is a time when my kids often make creations that don’t appeal to me – but it’s a great way to let them experiment and make their own creation – and I just keep my mouth shut and my opinions to myself! 🙂
Serve the meal with a few items you know your kids will eat, like fruit, milk, and/or bread and butter if they don’t do tortillas.
More Taco-Ish Recipes
If you like this ground chicken taco recipe, you might also like some of these other easy taco recipes:
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Ground Chicken Tacos Recipe
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Skillet
- Cuisine: Tex Mex
Description
Learn how to make ground chicken tacos with homemade taco seasoning that’s made with pantry staples. You can use this meat in so many ways.
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp. olive oil
- 1/2 white onion, finely chopped
- 1 red bell pepper, seeded and finely chopped
- 1/2 tsp. sea salt
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 lb. ground chicken (don’t use 99% fat free)
- 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp. ground cumin
- 1/2 tsp. smoked paprika
- 1/4 tsp. dried oregano
- 1/8 tsp. chili powder
- 1 Tbsp. corn starch
- 1/2 cup chicken broth
- 12 taco shells
- toppings: guacamole, shredded sharp cheddar cheese, sour cream, salsa, pico de gallo, hot sauce, shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, cilantro, diced onion, lime wedges
Instructions
- Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
- Add onion and red pepper to skillet and cook for 4-5 minutes until just soft. Add garlic and cook for 30 seconds, or until fragrant.
- Add ground chicken and cook 3-4 minutes.
- While chicken is cooking, in a small bowl, whisk together corn starch and chicken broth until smooth.
- Add dry spices to skillet and mix everything well, then add the chicken broth mixture and bring to a boil.
- Turn the heat down to low, cover and simmer for 3-4 minutes, stirring frequently, until the liquid has evaporated and mixture has thickened.
- While the chicken is cooking, prep toppings.
- Serve tacos with a variety toppings.
Notes
- Nutrition facts are for ground chicken taco meat only.
- I’ve used hard crunchy corn shells, but you can use any type of shells.
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Food styling and photography by Loren Runion.
I need to have more taco tuesdays in my life…this looks like a solid recipe too!
Me too! I might make that a 2015 goal. 😉
i love how fresh & flavorful these tacos look! mmm!
yum, these look amazing.