Baked Chicken Tacos

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Make these nostalgic soft shell baked chicken tacos for an easy dinner for two with leftovers or scale up the recipe for hosting a crowd.

We’re bringing a little nostalgia to February’s Taco of the Month with our recipe for easy baked chicken tacos! Made with flour tortillas for that soft shell texture we all know and love, every bite of these simple oven baked chicken tacos will make you feel like a kid again. They’re super soft, super cheesy, and super saucy – and perfect for an easy taco dinner!

What This Recipe Entails

We love oven baked recipes because it means you can do something else with that time, even if it’s just pouring yourself a drink to enjoy with your dinner! This recipe takes about 50 minutes to put together, with 30-ish minutes of baking “free time.”

• Prep time: 20 minutes
• Cook time: 30 minutes

To simplify the recipe, you can skip baking the chicken by using leftovers or a rotisserie chicken from the store. See the Ingredients section below for more details on this.

Baked Chicken Tacos Ingredients

• Flour tortillas – We make our oven baked chicken tacos with flour tortillas for a delicious, soft shell texture that has a little bit of crisp around the edges. 4-inch tortillas are the perfect size here.
• Shredded chicken – Marinated in oil, lime juice, and flavorful spices and then baked in the oven. Alternatively, use a rotisserie chicken from the store or leftover grilled chicken to save yourself some time. You can also prep the chicken earlier in the day to break up the cooking.
• Refried beans – Creamy refried beans give some moisture to baked tacos. Use canned beans from the store for ease.
• Enchilada sauce – Store-bought enchilada sauce works great. Sometimes we like to use homemade ranchero sauce instead for a spicy kick (we like to prep this in big batches and freeze portions in our Souper Cubes for easy use in recipes like this one!)
• Cheese – Classic shredded Mexican cheese melts beautifully over the tacos and adds extra comfort to this dish! Sub with cheddar jack, Monterey jack, or even pepper jack for a spicy alternative.

How To Make Baked Chicken Tacos

All it takes to make this recipe is 3 simple steps – and you can even prepare the chicken ahead of time if you want to simplify day-of prep.

1. Make the chicken. Combine the chicken, oil, lime juice, and seasonings in a bowl and marinate at room temperature. Then, bake the chicken until it’s fully cooked through. Transfer to a cutting board, shred, and set aside.
2. Assemble the tacos. Next, lightly grease a baking dish with cooking spray and line it with the flour tortillas, snuggling them into the pan so they’re standing upright. Fill each tortilla with refried beans and shredded chicken, then top with the enchilada sauce and shredded cheese.
3. Bake and serve. Bake the tacos until the cheese is melted and the tortillas are lightly crisped around the edges. Optionally garnish with chopped cilantro and serve with a side of chips, salsa, and guac!

Make-Ahead Tips

You can easily prepare the shredded chicken for these baked tacos ahead of time. This works great if you’re planning on making a large batch of tacos (like for a party) and want to simplify the prep work that goes into them before they go in the oven. 

• Simply follow the recipe instructions for marinating, baking, and shredding the chicken, then store in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
• When baking the chicken tacos, we recommend increasing the cooking time by about 5 minutes or so to ensure the chicken is fully warmed through – it’ll be cold from the fridge.
• Alternatively, you can quickly warm the chicken in a frying pan over medium-low heat before adding to the tacos and baking.

Serving Suggestions

These oven baked chicken tacos are perfect for an easy taco night whether you’re eating for 2 or 12! You can easily scale it up to make a big batch for parties – just use a larger baking dish or one of those grocery store foil trays to fill up.

Here are some of our favorite things to serve with baked tacos:

• Tortilla chips and dips – salsa, guacamole, or cottage cheese queso
• Appetizers like Mexican bean dip or sheet pan nachos
• A side of cilantro lime rice
• Margaritas, of course! (like our spicy mezcal margarita)

FAQs

Love this recipe? You may enjoy these recipes, too:

• Hawaiian Pulled Pork Tacos
• Shredded Chicken Street Tacos
• Carne Asada Tacos with Avocado Lime Crema
• Easy Chicken Enchilada Casserole
• Sweet Potato Black Bean Enchiladas