I’ve been obsessed with the idea of cheesy chicken tacos in chewy corn shells.
This is actually a staple meal around here, and requested constantly, but I hate making it because it means I’ll be standing at the stove for an hour hand frying the shells in oil. It’s delicious but time consuming.
Enter: my oven.
I’ve seen oven tacos go down before, but it’s mostly done with hard taco shells. Looks amazing, just not what I wanted.
So I found the perfect way to bypass the stove and pans full of oil, and still get the chewy, gooey soft corn shelled taco I wanted.
First, let’s talk chicken.
I make my chicken in the crockpot, just tossing in 4-6 breasts with a bit of water, and letting them cook all day.
When the time comes, I simply shred them with a hand mixer (best life hack ever), and season the meat with Chili Powder and BBQ sauce.
Then, it’s time to assemble.
The key here is to soften the shells before stuffing them, otherwise when you fold them over, they will tear and crack.
Soften the shells by sticking them in the microwave between two damp paper towels. I do around 8 shells at a time for about a minute.
It’s best to make quick work of prepping these shells, so they stay pliable.
On one side, I lightly brush a layer of vegetable oil. This is necessary to allow the tortilla to “fry” in the oven.
Then, I flip it over. The oiled side of the tortilla now becomes the outer shell.
Fill half the shell with chicken and shredded cheese, then fold it over.
Once I have all the tacos assembled, I like to sprinkle them with a tiny bit of course salt. Makes ’em extra yummy.
Put them in the oven to melt and get crispy around the edges.
Nothing tops a chicken taco like cool avocado sauce, and this quick trick gives you crazy tasty guacamole-inspired dipping sauce with almost no effort.
It’s simply mashing sour cream with avocado, adding in some salsa, salt and pepper, and half a lime, and boom, most addicting dip ever.
I just dip the whole ass taco right in that bowl of avocado sauce and let the cheese stretch from the taco to my lips.
Pure heaven.
Oven Tacos & Avocado Sauce
These easy cheesy chicken tacos come perfectly crisp and gooey right out of the oven, and they are perfect dipped in this simple avocado sauce.
Ingredients
- Chicken Taco Ingredients:
- 4-6 Chicken Breasts
- Yellow Corn Tortilla Shells
- Shredded Cheddar Cheese
- 1/2 cup BBQ Sauce
- 3 tbsp Chili Powder
- 4 tbsp Vegetable Oil
- Coarse salt
- Avocado Dip Ingredients:
- 3 ripe Avocados
- 1 cup Sour Cream
- 1/4 cup chunky Salsa
- Juice from 1/2 Lime
- Salt & Pepper
Instructions
Oven Tacos:
- First prepare the chicken. I place 4-6 chicken breasts in a crockpot with 1/2 cup of water, and cook low for 8 hours, or on high for 4-6 hours. Cook until chicken can be easily shredded.
- Once chicken is ready, shred with a hand mixer or fork, and then season with chili powder and BBQ sauce.
- Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
- To assemble the tacos, first warm the shells so that hey can bend without breaking. Place 6-8 shells at a time between two damp paper towels, and heat in the microwave for 1 minute.
- Lightly brush one side of the corn shell with vegetable oil.
- Flip the shell over, and fill half the tortilla with chicken and shredded cheese, fold over and place on cookie sheet. Once all the tacos are filled and folded, lightly sprinkle shells with coarse salt.
- Bake in the oven at 450 degrees for 7 minutes, and then cook under broiler for 1-2 additional minutes until shells look fried and slightly crisp around the edges.
Avocado Sauce:
- Combine peeled avocado and sour cream in a mixing bowl, and mash to combine.
- Then add the salsa, stir to mix, and add the juice of half a lime and combine.
- Season with salt and pepper if needed.
- This sauce is perfect for dipping your tacos in, or using as a dip for tortilla chips.