Chicken Tinga Tostadas

 Shredded Chicken mixed in a tomato chipotle sauce, piled on top a crispy tostada and topped with pickled red onions.

Chicken tinga is meant to be spicy from the chipotles, and most of the time the version at restaurants don’t deliver on the spice. You can adjust the spice level to your preference, but I definitely prefer the spicer version. The sauce is actually pretty simple to make and the other components of the tostada are store bought.  However if you have the time, then homemade re fried beans will taste even better.

The part you don’t want to skip are the lime pickled red onions. I actually don’t eat a lot of onions, but these were so good, that couldn’t stop! They need a couple hours to pickle in the lime juice, so just be sure to give your self some time. The chicken tinga tastes even better the next day once it’s had time to sit in the sauce. You can use the leftovers for tacos, burritos, or a healthy taco salad.

I layered the tostadas with re-fried beans, the chicken tinga, shredded lettuce, pickled red onions, avocado slices, and cheese crumbles (cotija or Feta).  My husband actually had never had it this way, and instead would just eat the chicken tinga on tostadas and pickled red onions. According to my mother in law this is how the family grew up eating it, but in other parts of Mexico they add shredded lettuce and cheese. I introduced my hubby to a new way of eating a childhood dish and he loved it!

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Chicken Tinga Tostadas

Shredded Chicken mixed in a tomato chipotle sauce, piled on top a crispy tostada and topped with pickled red onions.

Author Renee Fuentes

Ingredients

• 1 Package of Tostadas
• 4 Cups Shredded Chicken Rotisserie or chicken breast cooked in IP or Slow Cooker then shredded
• 1 Tbsp Oil
• 1 Yellow Onion sliced thin
• Salt and Pepper

Sauce:

• 4 Roma Tomatoes cut in half
• 1 Can Chipotles in Adobo Sauce I used half the can, but adjust to your spice preference
• 1/2 Cup Chicken Stock
• 2 Garlic Cloves
• Salt to taste

Toppings:

• 1 Cup Shredded Iceberg Lettuce
• 1/4 Cup Cotija cheese or Feta cheese crumbles
• 1 Avocado sliced
• 1 Can Refried Beans or homeade
• 1 Red Onion sliced Thin
• 1 Lime squeezed have more if needed
• 1/2 tsp Salt

Instructions

1. Slice the red onion thin and place in a glass dish with the juice of 1 lime and salt. if lime is small then juice one more. Mix well, cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. This can sit in the fridge up to 3 days.

2. For the sauce, add the tomatoes, chipotles in adobo, garlic, chicken stock, and salt. Blend in a blender or food processor to a puree.

3. In a large pan with a lid, add oil over medium heat. Cook sliced yellow onions till translucent and they have browned a bit. This takes about 10 minutes.

4. Add cooked shredded chicken then pour tomato chipotle sauce. Mix well and bring to a low boil, cover, and simmer for about 10 minutes.

5. To assemble tostadas, spread re fried beans on the bottom, top with chicken tinga, shredded lettuce, pickled red onions, crumbled cheese, and sliced avocado.