This is the Chicken Tinga recipe you’re looking for! It’s rich and smoky, ready in under 35 minutes, and it’s super-easy to make. Serve it on tostadas, in tacos, burritos, or in many other tasty dinners.
For this easy and delicious Chicken Tinga recipe you mix shredded chicken with a tomato sauce flavored with smoky chipotle peppers for a super-satisfying dish. If you’ve already got your chicken cooked, it’s ready in about half an hour. If not, I’ve got a few easy ways you can cook the chicken too, so don’t worry.
Scroll down to read more about how it all comes together or click here to jump straight down to the recipe.
What Is Chicken Tinga?
Originating in the city of Pueblo, Mexico, Chicken Tinga is a dish made with shredded chicken simmered in a rich, smoky tomato chipotle sauce. It can be served over rice, on tostadas, or as a taco filling.
The ingredients for this dish are pretty simple and I bet you’ll have most of them in your pantry.
Type Of Chicken For Chicken Tinga
The chicken we’re going to use is already cooked, shredded chicken. You can grab a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store and shred it or you can cook your own. If cooking your own, you can use a whole chicken, but truly, my preference is to use boneless skinless chicken thighs. They’re really flavorful and juicy and hold up better to the simmering in this recipe.
To make your own pulled chicken, have a look at my Juicy Pulled Chicken recipe. It uses chicken thighs or a combo of chicken breasts and thighs. There are instructions there for making pulled chicken in the oven, slow cooker, and Instant Pot. It’s a great meal-prep recipe and I make it all the time to have on hand for various dishes like this one.
What’s In The Chicken Tinga Sauce?
For the sauce, we’re combining crushed tomatoes, chipotle peppers, garlic, onion, herbs, and chicken broth. The one ingredient that you may need to run to the grocery store for is the chipotle peppers in adobo sauce. This is the ingredient that gives the sauce its deep, rich, smoky flavor and it really can’t be eliminated.
I often don’t need the whole can for my recipes, but you can absolutely freeze the leftovers and save it to have on hand for another recipe, like my easy Turkey Chili recipe. The chipotle is so good in there, and everywhere, really. If you haven’t had it before, you’re going to be hooked!
What Is Chipotle In Adobo?
Chipotle peppers in adobo are jalapeño peppers that have been smoked and dried and then packed in a tangy sauce of tomatoes, vinegar, garlic, and spices. The smoky flavor combined with the heat and aromatics is really an incredible flavor-booster to recipes. Note that these peppers do bring some heat, so you can add only one or up to three to the recipe to suit your tastes. And, note that the sauce in the can has a lot of flavor too. So I will often use one of the peppers minced up, and then a teaspoon or two of the sauce.
If you can’t find these Matt Bray of Pepperscale suggests this mixture as a substitute:
Chipotle in Adobo Substitute: Mix 1 tablespoon tomato paste (or if you really must – ketchup), 1 tablespoon cider vinegar, 1 teaspoon chipotle powder (or a smoked paprika/cayenne powder mix), 1/2 teaspoon cumin, a pinch of oregano, a pinch of garlic powder, and a pinch of salt.
He does, however note that, “it won’t have anywhere near the richness of flavor due to no simmering of the ingredients. But when you’re in a pinch, a little adventurous mixing can do wonders.”
How To Make Chicken Tinga
I know you’re going to return to this dish again and again for your weeknight meals because it’s so easy to prepare.
To start, the onions and garlic are sautéed in a bit of oil. The herbs and spices are added and toasted for a couple of minutes. This gives the spices some moisture so they can bloom and have more flavor.
Once you smell the aromas of the herbs and spices, add the tomatoes and chipotles along with the chicken broth. The sauce is then simmered for about 10 minutes.
After the sauce has simmered it needs to be pureed. You can accomplish this by transferring the sauce to a blender (I love my Blendtec blender). Because the sauce is hot, there are a couple of precautions you need to take when putting it into a blender:
- Only fill the blender halfway;
- Remove the center cap of the blender lid;
- Cover the lid with a kitchen towel.
Alternatively, you can use an immersion blender.
Return the pureed sauce to the skillet and add the shredded chicken. Simmer the mixture for several minutes and you’re ready to serve.
Serving Chicken Tinga
My favorite way to enjoy this recipe is as Chicken Tinga Tacos. I like to serve mine in warm tortillas with onion, cilantro, cotija cheese, and wedges of lime. You could also use sliced avocado, sour cream, or whatever your favorite toppings are.
But you could also serve it over Mexican rice to make a burrito bowl, or on crispy corn tortillas to make chicken tinga tostadas. You could even put it on some tortilla chips and melt cheese on top for amazing nachos. Let me know in the comments how you like to serve this easy chicken tinga recipe.
More Chicken Recipes
You can browse our full collection of 70+ amazing chicken recipes or try one of these great recipes next:
- Instant Pot Honey Bourbon Chicken
- Szechuan Chicken Recipe
- Nashville Style Hot Chicken
- Grilled Chicken Kebobs
- Instant Pot Chicken Parmesan
- Chicken Thigh Curry Recipe
Podcast Episode: Making Chicken Tinga
Listen to me explain briefly about how to make this recipe, with some great tips along the way, by clicking the play button below:
Listen to more Recipe of the Day episodes here.
Print
Chicken Tinga Recipe
Rich, smoky, full-flavored and satisfying. That about sums it up for this Chicken Tinga recipe.
I suggest serving on your favorite tortillas and ¼ cup chopped cilantro, ¼ cup chopped onion, crumbled cotija, and limes, cut into wedges.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Entrée
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Mexican
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, sliced
- 1 tsp. dried oregano
- 1 tsp. dried thyme
- 1 tsp. ground cumin
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1 (15 oz.) can crushed tomatoes
- 1–3 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, minced
- 1/2 cup unsalted chicken broth
- 3 cups cooked, shredded chicken*
Instructions
- Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and sauté until softened, 4-5 minutes.
- Add the garlic and cook while stirring for 30 seconds.
- Add the oregano, thyme, cumin, and salt. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring often.
- Add the tomatoes, chipotles in adobo, and broth. Increase heat to medium-high and stir often until it comes to a boil. Reduce to a low simmer and cook stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes.
- Transfer the tomato mixture to a blender and blend until smooth. Make sure the blender is vented so that the mixture doesn’t explode – see my tips in the notes** below.
- Return the blended mixture to the skillet and add the shredded chicken. Simmer for 3-4 minutes to warm it through. Taste and add more salt if desired.
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Notes
*If your chicken is not already cooked, here’s my recipe for Pulled Chicken. It uses chicken thighs or a combo of chicken breasts and thighs. There are instructions there for making pulled chicken in the oven, slow cooker, and Instant Pot.
**To prevent injury or mess when blending hot ingredients: Only fill the blender halfway; Remove the center cap of the blender lid; Cover the lid with a kitchen towel.
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