Chicken Tacos are the perfect easy weeknight dinner. This quick and easy baked chicken tacos recipe has lots of flavor and none of the stress. Made in less than 30 minutes, the spicy shredded chicken filling bakes up in the crispy taco shells so fast. It’s the ultimate recipe for serving a crowd on game day, Cinco de Mayo, or taco night.
This is the most popular recipe on The Cookie Rookie, being pinned over 2 million times and viewed over 6 million times. So make the best tacos ever for dinner tonight!
What’s in this Chicken Taco recipe?
A deliciously spicy, shredded chicken taco filling is whipped up and layered into crispy taco shells with beans, then baked in the oven until hot and tasty. Dinner will be ready in about 25 minutes, and the whole family will be happy!
- Shredded Chicken: Use fully-cooked, shredded chicken for the taco filling. I often use rotisserie chicken for a quick and easy option!
- Taco Seasoning: This blend of spices (chili powder, paprika, garlic and onion powder, cumin, and red pepper flakes) is perfect for any taco recipe.
- Taco Shells: Use hard taco shells. They bake up nice and crispy in the oven!
- Shredded Cheese: Use a Mexican blend shredded cheese, or your favorite variety. Freshly grated cheese gets beautifully melt-y!
- Green Chiles: Use a can of chopped green chiles for the chicken mixture. It adds a little bit of heat and it’s really delicious. Be sure to fully drain them.
- Refried Beans: The creamy texture of refried beans adds a nice layer of texture and flavor beneath the chicken. Use about ½ a can.
- Tomatoes: A can of diced tomatoes adds more texture into the mix. Again, be sure to fully drain these so you don’t end up with too much liquid in the chicken taco filling.
- Onion: Diced onions are sauteed to add more texture and some aromatics. You can use white, sweet, or red onions depending on your flavor preference.
- Toppings: Add jalapeno slices, sour cream, shredded lettuce, Pico de Gallo, cilantro, salsa, taco sauce, or any of your favorite taco toppings.
Pro Tip: To keep your chicken tacos crispy when baking, start by baking the shells alone before filling them. I also recommend layering the beans on the bottom when assembling, and placing the chicken filling on top.
Are these shredded chicken tacos spicy?
Between the taco seasoning, green chiles, and jalapenos (my favorite topping, though it’s completely optional), this baked chicken tacos recipe is relatively spicy, but not overwhelmingly hot.
To make them less spicy, skip the jalapenos on top, and you can skip the green chiles as well. These can be quite mild, but if you or the kids are sensitive to spice, simply skip over them when making the chicken filling.
I use a 9×13 baking dish when making these chicken tacos. This fits about 10 taco shells. Other sized of square or rectangular dishes will work as well, but you might need to find the best way to arrange the shells, or use multiple baking dishes.
You can make shredded chicken with either boneless chicken breasts or boneless chicken thighs. Cook it with whatever method you prefer, just make sure it’s fully cooked before baking the tacos (it’s just being reheated in the oven). You can also start with rotisserie chicken for the easiest option.
If you’re making these for a crowd or a party, you can keep them warm in the oven as you serve. I usually turn the oven down to about 250F, and keep them in a baking dish covered with foil.
There are a few things I do to make sure the shells don’t get soggy. 1.) Fully drain all canned ingredients so that there isn’t extra liquid in the filling. 2.) Bake the shells by themselves for about 5 minutes before filling them. 3.) Layer the refried beans on the bottom, and place the chicken taco meat on top. This helps them hold up better.
Yes! The same taco seasoning blend you use with beef works deliciously with chicken tacos too.
How to Store and Reheat Baked Chicken Tacos
I generally recommend storing these baked chicken tacos separately, rather than as whole tacos. Store the shredded chicken mixture in an airtight container, and keep it in the refrigerator up to 4 days. Taco shells can be stored as you normally would, usually in the pantry. The refried beans and toppings can all be stored separately in the fridge as well.
If you have leftover tacos after baking everything together, you can wrap individual tacos in aluminum foil, and place them in a resealable bag. Keep in mind that the shells might get soggy if stored this way.
To reheat, assemble tacos and bake as instructed in the recipe card, or until the chicken is fully heated through (165F).
How to Freeze Rotisserie Chicken Taco Meat
If you have leftovers, or want to do some freezer meal prep, you can freeze the shredded chicken meat. Store the taco filling in a freezer-safe container or resealable bag, and freeze for up to 3 months. Defrost in the fridge before reheating.
I don’t recommend freezing these baked chicken tacos whole, because hard taco shells will end up soggy as they thaw. But soft taco shells, especially flour tortillas, are usually fine to freeze.
What to Serve with the Best Chicken Tacos
These easy chicken tacos are the best recipe for Taco Tuesday, a Cinco de Mayo party, or game day food. My favorite side dishes for these are Mexican grilled corn, Mexican rice, cilantro lime rice, or Esquites.
You can’t go wrong with fresh tortilla chips with simple guacamole and salsa (try avocado corn salsa or tomatillo avocado salsa). And don’t forget your favorite margarita recipes (I love a skinny margarita).
If you make this recipe be sure to upload a photo in the comment section below or leave a rating. Enjoy! You can also jump to recipe.
Baked Chicken Tacos Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 pound cooked chicken shredded (I used cooked Rotisserie chicken)
- 1 ounce Taco Seasoning click for homemade recipe!
- 1/2 cup onion diced
- 1 can diced tomato 14.5 ounce, fully drained
- 1 can Chopped Green Chiles 4.5 ounce, fully drained
- 10 Stand and Stuff Taco Shells I used Old El Paso
- 8 ounces Refried Beans 1/2 can
- 2 cups Mexican Blend Cheese shredded
- Toppings such as Old El Paso sliced Jalapenos, sour cream, salsa, chopped cilantro, shredded lettuce, or any of your favorite taco toppings!
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400F. Spray a 9×13 baking dish with nonstick spray.
- Heat olive oil over medium heat in a medium skillet.1 tablespoon olive oil
- Add onion to skillet and cook for 2-3 minutes, or until the onion is translucent and fragrant.1/2 cup onion
- Stir in the chicken, taco seasoning, tomatoes (fully drained), and green chiles (fully drained) *see note. Stir to combine fully. Reduce to simmer and allow to cook for 5-8 minutes.1/2 pound cooked chicken, 1 ounce Taco Seasoning, 1 can diced tomato, 1 can Chopped Green Chiles
- Place the taco shells in the baking dish, standing up. I was able to fit 10 taco shells in the dish by adding 2 on each side.10 Stand and Stuff Taco Shells
- Bake the taco shells for 5 minutes by themselves to allow them to crisp up. Remove from the oven.
- Spoon 1 tablespoon of beans into the bottom of each taco shell. Top with the chicken mixture, almost to the top of each shell.8 ounces Refried Beans
- Sprinkle each shell generously with shredded cheese, the more the better!2 cups Mexican Blend Cheese
- Bake for 7-10 minutes or until cheese is fully melted and the edges of the shells are browned.
- Remove from the oven and top with your favorite items such as jalapenos, sour cream, cilantro, and salsa.Toppings such as Old El Paso sliced Jalapenos, sour cream, salsa, chopped cilantro, shredded lettuce, or any of your favorite taco toppings!
Last step! Don’t forget to show me a pic of what you made! Upload an image or tag me @thecookierookie on Instagram!
Becky’s tips
- Be sure to drain the tomatoes completely, this will help the taco shells to not get soggy while baking!
- If you prefer your tacos not spicy, just omit the green chilis and use regular Old El Paso Taco Seasoning. Just as delicious!
Nutrition Information
Making this tonight! Random question, if I bought a fresh rotisserie chicken (hot) that I put in the fridge, can I shred it when it’s cold or do I need to reheat in the oven prior??
You can shred it cold!
These were a hit! I made these for my moms birthday. The only differences were; I boiled chicken breast with taco seasoning and spices, sub refried black beans and used the nacho cheese stand and stuff shells! Delicious and quick!!
So happy to hear you loved them, Lakeisha!
Awesome!!! Easiest chicken tacos I’ve ever made!!! I critiqued mine a little, but this got me started!!!
I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe, Chanitha!
These were a huge hit in a house with very diverse taste, which tends to limit our menu. We substituted black beans and added fresh pico de gallo after they came out of the oven, omitting the tomatoes while baking. Thank you for this delicious recipe!
I’m so happy to hear you loved this recipe, Christin!
Oh so good – they are gone before I can take a picture
Omg delicious. And I never eat refried beans.
Look delish! Thanks so much for sharing, Kara!
I rarely leave reviews for recipes, but this was SO good and so simple, I had to say thank you! So thanks for the great recipe, it’s going in the regular rotation!
I’m so happy to hear that, Christy!
I had family over for dinner tonight. There were 7 adults and 5 kids. Two of the adults are gluten intolerant. This meal was a huge success! Followed recipe exactly!
I’m so glad it was a hit, LeeAnn!
This sounds delicious! Just a couple of questions. Can the refried beans be omitted or are they necessary to keep the chicken filling from falling out? And, can Rotel (with diced tomatoes and chilies) be substituted for the separate cans of diced tomatoes and chiles?
Hi Donna, the beans help prevent the taco shells from getting soggy! You can swap the individual cans of diced tomatoes and chiles for Rotel, though!
delicious recipes
Thanks so much, Alexa!