Blackened Chicken Tacos
May 3, 2022
These Blackened Chicken Tacos are the perfect summer staple. They’re spicy and sweet, easy to make and the entire family is going to love them. Make the pineapple salsa to wow your friends at your next barbecue.
Why you'll love this recipe
- These blackened chicken tacos take under 30 minutes start to finish. Even less if you make your salsa ahead of time.
- This recipe uses minimal ingredients and fresh in season fruit.
- Dairy free and easily made gluten free.
- Substitute out chicken for flank steak and you’ve got blackened beef tacos.
- This meal is extremely macro friendly and meal prep friendly.
- Great for leftovers and reheat wonderfully.
- You can use the salsa in many ways outside of tacos.
Can you make this ahead of time?
Yes! Prep your pineapple salsa and chicken the day before and come home to easily reheated blackened chicken tacos. Just simply warm your chicken and build your tacos.
How to make this gluten free
To make these blackened chicken tacos gluten free swap out the La Banderita tortillas with your favorite gluten free tortillas or make into a salad. My favorite gluten free tortillas are the Almond Flour tortillas from my friends at Siete Family Foods.
Do I have to have a air fryer to make this?
Definitely not, there are many alternative for cooking the chicken for blackened chicken tacos. You can bake the chicken at 375 for approx. 20 minutes until cooked through or barbecue for even easier clean up. You can also add to a pan or cast iron and stovetop sear until cooked through and no longer pink.
Ingredients and Substitutes:
Blackened Chicken: these blackened chicken tacos use my Air Fryer Blackened Chicken recipe which is a reader favorite! You can swap the meat with flank steak strips, ground beef, ground chicken or group turkey. If using ground add all seasonings to a bowl and mix with 4 tbsp. of water before adding to the cooked ground meat. Let simmer for approximately 5 minutes to let the flavors soak into the meat.
If using flank steak I would suggest rubbing the seasoning the outside of the steak, barbequing until cooked to your desired doneness and slicing into thin strips.
Pineapple Salsa: while this recipe is amazing with pineapple you can swap with any sweet fruit like mangoes or cautelope.
Tortillas: we love La Banderita Carb Counter Snack Size Tortillas for taco night but here are some of our other favorite:
Missions Street Tacos Flour Tortillas,
Gluten Free: Siete Family Foods, Mission Gluten Free Tortillas, Jicama Tortillas
Chicken Adobo Pitas with Chili Lime CremaLa Crema: we topped these tacos with our favorite Don Panco Cilantro Lime Crema from Costco but you can leave off or make your own! Simply add mayonnaise, sour cream or Greek yogurt, lime juice, lime zest, cilantro and chili powder. Checkout a crema recipe here on these Adobo Pitas.
Toppings: top with optional la crema and extra cilantro. Crema not included in macros.
How to make blackened chicken tacos
Step 1
Prep the salsa: You will want to prep your salsa first and let it set in the fridge for at least 30 minutes before serving. Chop pineapple and tomatoes into small bite size pieces, finely dice cilantro and add to a bowl. Slice the red onion as thin as you can and chop in half, add the the bowl. Top with salt and lime. Cover, shake together well and place in the fridge to marinate.
Step 2
Cook the chicken: For the chicken. Preheat the air fryer and prep your chicken and cut into strips. For instructions on how to cook in the oven or BBQ see blog post. Add all seasonings to a bowl and combine with the chicken. Add in a single layer to the air fryer pan and cook at 380 degrees Fahrenheit for 8 minutes.
Step 3
While the chicken cooks finely slice your cabbage and any other toppings desired like cilantro and la crema.
Step 4
Assemble tacos: Brown your tortillas, we like to throw directly onto the stovetop flame. You can also broil in the oven or toss on the BBQ. Top tortillas with cabbage, Air Fryer Blackened Chicken, pineapple salsa and creama.
Step 5
Serve: this recipe makes 12 snack size tacos using La Banderita Snack Size tortillas. 1 tortilla, pinch of cabbage, approximately 1.5 oz. cooked chicken and approximately 30 grams of salsa.
What to serve with these tacos
These blackened chicken tacos are great as a stand alone meal, however you can add traditional side dishes like beans and rice or my Easy Spanish Rice.
If you like this recipe be sure to check out some of our other easy meals!
Yields
12 tacos
MyFitnessPal
“ohsnapmacros Blackened Chicken Tacos”
Ingredients
Adjust Servings
| 1.5 lbs. chicken breast, raw | |
| 1 tbsp smoked paprika | |
| 1 tbsp garlic powder | |
| 1 tsp salt | |
| 1 tsp black pepper | |
| 1/4 to 1 tsp cayenne pepper | |
| thinly sliced cabbage | |
| La Banderita Carb Counter Snack Size Tortillas |
Pineapple Salsa
| 1 cup (150g) chopped pineapple | |
| 2 medium vine tomatoes (200g) | |
| 1/2 cup (50g) thinly sliced red onion | |
| 1/4 cup chopped cilantro (loosely packed) | |
| 1/2 Tbsp. lime juice | |
| 1/4 tsp. salt |
OMG. No words. So delish! Don’t change a thing. I made mine with coconut rice and black beans.