My super quick and easy homemade chicken tinga recipe is inspired by the smoky, peppery flavors that I love about chicken tinga tacos, but built for busy weeknights. This flavorful recipe takes every shortcut in the book, because when the tinga tacos craving hits, it hits hard. If you need a yummy Mexican-inspired dinner in 30 minutes, make these chicken tinga tacos!

What readers say about this recipe
I made these tonight and WHOA - what a return on investment! Flavor power punch in every bite and SO easy to throw together. Love love love! - Hayley
Use a rotisserie chicken to make it ultra speedy, or use our easy shredded chicken recipe. Check out our round up of shredded chicken recipes, for even more easy chicken dinner ideas. You might also love our easy Tostada recipe.

What is Chicken Tinga?
Chicken tinga is a richly savory Mexican chicken stew made of shredded chicken with smoky chipotle peppers, tomatoes and onions. Beyond that, chicken tinga recipes vary. Often, chorizo is added for more spicy, smoky flavor. My one-pot chicken tinga recipe is focused on ease, so I skip the chorizo. With deeply flavorful ingredients like chipotle peppers in adobo sauce and taco seasoning, you’ll end up with chicken tinga that’s bursting with boldness, despite the short cook time!


Easy & Quick Chicken Tinga Ingredients
- Shredded chicken. Use leftover shredded chicken, or use the meat from a grocery store rotisserie chicken. You can use thigh meat or breast meat, or a mixture of both.
- Chipotles in adobo sauce. You can decide how spicy it is based on how much of the adobo sauce you add to your chicken tinga. More adobo sauce = more spicy. Store any leftover chipotle peppers in adobo in a small sealed jar or container. They'll keep in the refrigerator for months.
- Fire-roasted canned tomatoes. They really need to be fire-roasted, so that you get even more smokey flavor into your tinga!
- Onion & garlic. Of course!
- Taco Seasoning. We make huge batches of our taco seasoning and use it year round, but it’s totally fine to use store-bought if you need to.
- Chicken bouillon. Even more savory richness. Using a cubed bouillon is fine, or you can use a jarred version, I like Better Than Bouillon.


How To Make Chicken Tinga
- Sauté the onions and garlic.
- Make tinga sauce! Blend the onions, garlic, chipotles in adobo, taco seasoning, tomatoes and bouillon.
- Combine the tinga sauce with the shredded chicken.
- Simmer the chicken in the tinga sauce.
- Dinner is served!

How To Use Chicken Tinga
- Make chicken tinga tacos: Lay out some little tortillas, avocado, and shredded cabbage, and dig in.
- Chicken tinga tostadas are maybe my favorite way to enjoy chicken tinga! Just grab some store-bought tostada shells, load them up with your chicken tinga and garnish as you please!
- Make chicken tinga quesadillas with tortillas and your favorite cheese (Jack cheese works well).
- Use the tinga on nachos
- Make tinga bowls with rice (try cilantro-lime rice), chicken tinga and other toppings like beans, guacamole, and salsa.
- However you want! Chicken tinga is so juicy and flavorful, it’s great on just about anything. Top a salad with tinga, or mound it into a chicken tinga burrito with beans and rice for an ultra-filling dinner.

How To Store + Freeze
You can store any leftover chicken tinga in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Freeze in a freezer safe container that’s well-labeled for up to 3 months. Store sauce and chicken separately if making ahead. Warm the chicken tinga gently in a skillet over medium-low heat for the best results.
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