Baked Chicken Tacos (Taco of the Month, February 2023)

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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.

A baking dish full of cheesy oven baked chicken tacos

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 or family gathering.

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 lovely dinner. This recipe takes about 50 minutes to put together with 30ish minutes of baking.

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

If you want to make this recipe easier and cut down on the cooking time, you can make the chicken ahead of time (more on that later), use leftover chicken, or use a rotisserie chicken. If you do decide to go that route, we recommend tossing the leftover or rotisserie chicken in a little bit of the spices and lime juices we use for the marinade to add some extra Mexican flavor. By using pre-cooked chicken you can cut out the time it takes to marinate and cook the chicken which totals about 30 minutes meaning this recipe would only take about 20 minutes to make.

A Staub casserole dish full of baked chicken tacos with flour tortillas and cheese garnished with cilantro

Baked Chicken Tacos Ingredients

These baked chicken tacos are filled with shredded chicken marinated in lime juice and spices, refried beans, enchilada sauce, and cheese. 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. Compared to using corn tortillas, the soft shells won’t shatter when you bite into them. Meaning less taco filling on your plate, and more in your mouth!

Here’s the full list of ingredients you’ll need to make soft shell baked chicken tacos:

  • 4-inch flour tortillas
  • Chicken breast
  • Avocado oil or vegetable oil
  • Lime juice
  • Paprika
  • Ground red cayenne pepper
  • Cumin
  • Salt
  • Refried beans
  • Enchilada sauce
  • Shredded Mexican-blend cheese
  • Fresh cilantro

To make things easy, use canned refried beans and enchilada sauce from the grocery store. Or, you can use our homemade ranchero sauce (recipe here) instead of enchilada sauce for a spicy kick to these baked tacos if you have some extra time on your hands!

A baking dish full of cheesy oven baked chicken tacos

How To Make Baked Chicken Tacos

All it takes to make this recipe is 3 simple steps: make some flavorful, juicy chicken; assemble the tacos; and bake! That’s it! You can even prepare the chicken ahead of time to simplify day-of prep (more on this below).

Here’s a full breakdown of how to make these easy baked chicken tacos:

  1. Marinate, bake, and shred the chicken. Combine the chicken, oil, lime juice, and seasonings in a bowl and marinate at room temperature for about 15 minutes. Then bake in the oven at 400 degrees F until cooked to an internal temperature of about 155 degrees F. Transfer the chicken to a cutting board and shred, then 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 about a spoonful of refried beans. Then, fill each taco with the shredded chicken, evenly distributing it among the tortillas. Finally, drizzle each taco with a spoonful or two of enchilada sauce and then top with shredded cheese.
  3. Bake the tacos. Bake at 350 degrees F for about 10 to 12 minutes, until the cheese is melted and the tortillas are lightly crisped around the edges. Garnish with freshly 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 baked 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 since 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.

A soft shell chicken taco on a plate with an oven baked dish of tacos in the background

Storing & Reheating Leftovers

If you happen to have any leftover baked tacos, you can store them in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. To reheat, warm in the oven at 350 degrees F for about 15 to 20 minutes. Tip: These oven-safe taco holders make it easy to reheat individual tacos in the oven without making a mess! Put the tacos in the slots and put the taco holder on a baking sheet for easy transport. Just be careful when you take it out of the oven – the metal taco holder will be hot.

Serving Suggestions

These oven baked chicken tacos are perfect for an easy taco night with your loved one when you want leftovers, or for when you are hosting a crowd! The recipe is super easy to scale if you want to make a big batch for parties. Just grab a few of those large foil trays, fill them up, and enjoy a tasty taco Tuesday with your whole crew.

We recommend serving baked tacos with tortilla chips, salsa, and guacamole (get our easy recipe here!). For larger parties, make a batch of our restaurant-style Mexican bean dip as an appetizer or side dish.

A dish of baked chicken tacos made with flour tortillas, shredded chicken, and cheese

Try our easy recipe for oven baked chicken tacos and leave a rating and comment to let us know what you think! We hope you love this family-style Taco Tuesday recipe as much as we do. Don’t forget to sign up for our email list here to stay up to date on all our latest recipes!


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A baking dish full of cheesy oven baked chicken tacos

Baked Chicken Tacos

Nicole
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.
5 from 1 vote
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes
Course Dinner, Main, Main Course
Cuisine American, Mexican
Servings 10 tacos
Calories 112 kcal

Ingredients
 
 

Shredded Chicken

  • ¾ pound chicken breast
  • 1 tablespoon avocado oil or vegetable oil
  • 1 tablespoon lime juice
  • ½ teaspoon paprika
  • ¼ teaspoon ground red cayenne pepper
  • ¼ teaspoon cumin
  • 1 pinch salt

Taco Ingredients

  • 10 4-inch flour tortillas
  • cup refried beans
  • cup enchilada sauce
  • 1 cup shredded Mexican-blend cheese
  • Fresh cilantro chopped (optional garnish)

Instructions
 

  • First, prepare the shredded chicken. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F and line a baking sheet with foil. In the meantime, combine chicken, oil, lime juice, paprika, cayenne pepper, cumin, and salt in a bowl and marinate for 15 minutes at room temperature.
  • Transfer the chicken to the baking sheet and bake to an internal temperature of 155 degrees F, about 12 to 18 minutes. Transfer cooked chicken to a cutting board and shred.
  • Next, prepare to bake the tacos. Lightly grease a baking dish with cooking spray, then fill it with the flour tortillas, snuggling them into the pan so they stand upright in the classic "taco shell" shape. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
  • Assemble the tacos: First, fill each tortilla with about 1 tablespoon of refried beans. Next, evenly distribute the shredded chicken amongst the tortillas. Next, drizzle about 1 tablespoon of enchilada sauce over each taco. Finally, sprinkle the tacos evenly with shredded cheese.
  • Bake the tacos in the oven at 350 degrees F for about 10 to 12 minutes, until warmed through and the cheese is melted.
  • Optionally garnish tacos with freshly chopped cilantro and serve immediately.

Nutrition

Serving: 1tacoCalories: 112kcalCarbohydrates: 4gProtein: 11gFat: 6gSaturated Fat: 2gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.5gMonounsaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0.004gCholesterol: 32mgSodium: 350mgPotassium: 141mgFiber: 1gSugar: 2gVitamin A: 234IUVitamin C: 2mgCalcium: 83mgIron: 1mg
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Keyword cayenne, chicken breast, cilantro, cinco de mayo, cumin, enchilada sauce, flour tortillas, lime juice, mexican cheese, paprika, party, refried beans
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5 from 1 vote (1 rating without comment)

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