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Home » Spice Up Grilled Chicken with this Pollo Asado Taco Recipe

Spice Up Grilled Chicken with this Pollo Asado Taco Recipe

Me?  Grill outside in Arizona… in June?  Well, O.K.  Just for you.  These Pollo Asado Tacos are actually one of my brother’s BBQ specialties.  He was nice enough to fight the Arizona heat and  fire up the grill to cook his famous grilled chicken tacos and show us how Southwest grilling is really done.  His marinade adds just the right amount of citrus and chile to turn the chicken into a light and summery dish with just a little kick.

He even introduced me to a new chile that I didn’t even know existed.  While making a batch of quacamole, we realized that there was only one jalapeno!  How is that possible? Not to worry, my sister-in-law pulled out a packet of tiny little chiles from her pantry.  Chile Tepin or Chiltepin. These cute, little chiles have just become my favorite pantry item.  The chiles are dried and easy to keep on hand.  They are tiny so that you can choose just the right amount of heat to add to your dish.  You won’t have half of a chile leftover to liquify in your refrigerator.  And, more importantly, they are one of the official chiles of Yucatan.  These chiles are like keeping a Cancun vacation in your cupboard!  O.K.  Maybe not.  But I can dream, can’t I?

Try this recipe then head over to the “Get Grillin’ with Family Fresh Cooking and Cookin’ Canuck, sponsored by Ile de France Cheese, Rösle, Emile Henry, Rouxbe and ManPans“ event for more fantastic recipes that are perfect for your next BBQ.

Place garlic, salt, pepper and cilantro in food processor and pulse until it makes a loose paste.

Place chiltepin in a mortar and crush until fine.  Add to paste.

Scrape into a bowl.  Add lime juice, orange juice, vinegar and olive oil.  Stir.

Add the chicken to the mixture and marinade in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.

Start the charcoal and grill the chicken when the flames have gone down.

Grill until chicken is cooked through.  No rare chicken,  please!

TACOS POLLO ASADO

4 cloves garlic

1 large handful fresh cilantro

kosher salt

fresh black pepper

2 limes, juice only

1 orange, juice only

2 tablespoons white vinegar

1/2 cup olive oil

2 tablespoons chiltepin

2 pounds chicken breasts

corn tortillas (2 tortillas for each taco)

Garnishes

quacamole

cotija cheese

salsa or pico de gallo

1/2 head cabbage, shredded

Directions

Place garlic, cilantro, salt, pepper and pulse to make a paste.  Scrape paste into a bowl.  Add lime juice, orange juice, vinegar and olive oil. Stir until well mixed. Crush chiltepin with a mortar and pestle then stir into the marinade.  Add chicken and marinate in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.  Not too long or  the citrus will cook the outside of the chicken similar to ceviche.

Start charcoal while chicken is marinating.  Grill chicken until cooked through.  Rest chicken for  about 15 minutes.  Slice chicken into 1/2 inch thick strips.  Heat tortillas to soften.

To make tacos, stack two warm tortillas together.  Add two strips of chicken and garnish with cheese, salsa, guacamole and shredded cabbage on each stack of tortillas.  Serve.

posted by Sandy

Filed Under: Light and Healthy, Main Dishes, Southwest Pantry, Uncategorized Tagged With: chicken marinades, chicken taco recipe, chile tepin, chiltepin, grill recipe, grilled chicken recipe, lime juice, orange juice, pollo asado recipe, southwest recipe, taco recipe

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Donna

    August 4, 2010 at 10:51 pm

    Beeeeeeeeeee-ooootiful photos, Sandy! Great post. Makes me anxious to get grilling!

    Reply
  2. Donna

    September 5, 2010 at 10:15 pm

    Lisa – Arigato! And please come back often – I love the idea of connecting with someone from halfway across the world!

    Reply
  3. Marla

    June 20, 2011 at 7:37 pm

    Thanks so much for linking up this fabulous grilled chicken into Get Grillin’. I must try it 🙂

    Reply
    • Sandy

      June 20, 2011 at 8:20 pm

      Thanks Marla, Your “Get Grilin’ Summer Event” has been a lot of fun. Thanks for hosting!

      Reply
  4. Joshua

    November 13, 2011 at 4:17 pm

    These pictures look wonderful. I’m excited to try this recipe… Maybe make some pico de gallo with it!

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Everyday Southwest » Grilled Shrimp Taco with BBQ Dry Rub Recipe: Fast, Light and You Can Grill Them Indoors! Plus A Cool Give Away says:
    July 27, 2011 at 7:11 pm

    […] Pollo Asado Tacos from Everyday Southwest […]

    Reply
  2. Pollo Asado Pizza Recipe or Pizza with Grilled Chicken | Every Day Southwest says:
    September 25, 2011 at 10:25 pm

    […] use the same Pollo Asado Recipe that I used for the Pollo Asado Tacos. The chicken is a little spicy so, the packaged Hot Roll Mix works really well as the dough’ […]

    Reply
  3. Korean Chicken Taco Recipe says:
    December 4, 2011 at 12:29 pm

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  4. A Collection of Chiltepin Recipes From Around the Web - Tucson Foodie says:
    July 8, 2014 at 10:03 am

    […] From Everyday Southwest. […]

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Sandy is a former elementary educator whose love for cooking has gone out of control. She has completed a degree in culinary arts and is now a food writer, photographer, cookbook author and co-creator of the popular website Everyday Southwest. Read More…

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