Easy Oven Baked Spicy Chicken Tacos – $10 or Less Meal

I found this delicious recipe on a friend’s FB page and the tacos looked so good but easy and inexpensive, I just had to try making them. And they were even better than I thought they would be. Becky Hardin, from The Cookie Rookie, is the author of this recipe and she uses Old El Paso products. There were a couple of ingredients I personally used that were a different brand just because I have to use gluten-free ingredients.

This recipe makes 10 tacos and cost me approximately $9.50 without the toppings. You can also make your own taco seasoning which will save you some money if you want…I’ll post my own taco seasoning recipe. You use shredded cooked chicken, which I made in the crock pot or you can use rotisserie chicken.

Once your chicken is cooked, this recipe takes about 30 minutes, which makes it perfect for a busy weeknight meal. And of course you can alter the ingredients a bit, depending on your own personal likes or dietary needs. I followed it exactly as Becky wrote and didn’t need to change-up anything except for my gluten-free items. But to keep this under $10, I did use brands on sale if they cost less.

I doubled this recipe and used half the chicken mixture later for nachos…excellent!

For pricing…I found chicken breasts on sale for $1.99 and the cheese I bought was on sale for $1.50.

 

EASY OVEN BAKED SPICY CHICKEN TACOS (by Becky Hardin – The Cookie Rookie)

Prep Time: 15 minutes         Cook Time: 15 minutes         Makes: 10 tacos for approx. $9.50

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 pound cooked chicken, shredded

1 (1 ounce) packet Old El Paso Hot & Spicy Taco Seasoning

1/2 cup onion, diced

1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomato, drained

1 (4.5 ounce) can Old El Paso Chopped Green Chiles

10 Old El Paso Stand and Stuff Taco Shells

1/2 (16 ounce) can of Old El Paso Refried Beans

2 cups Mexican Blend Cheese, shredded

Optional Toppings – Old El Paso sliced jalapeno, fresh chopped jalapeno, sour cream, salsa, hot sauce, chopped cilantro, shredded lettuce, or any of your fave taco toppings

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a 9×13 baking dish with nonstick spray and set aside.

Heat olive oil over medium heat in a medium skillet.

Add onion to skillet and cook for 2 – 3 minutes or until the onion is translucent and fragrant.

Stir in the chicken, taco seasoning, tomatoes, and green chiles. Stir to combine fully. Reduce to simmer and allow to cook for 5 to 8 minutes.

Place the taco shells in the baking dish, standing up. (Becky was able to fit 10 taco shells in the dish by adding 2 on each side.)

Spoon 1 tablespoon of beans into the bottoms of each taco shell. Top with the chicken mixture, almost to the top of each shell.

Sprinkle each shell generously with shredded cheese, the more the better!

Bake for 12 to 14 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.

Tip – Drain tomatoes completely so tacos don’t get soggy.

 

HOMEMADE TACO SEASONING:

1 tablespoon chili powder

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon onion powder

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1/4 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon Kosher or Sea salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

 

I only posted a picture of the finished recipe but you can check out the recipe step-by-step on The Cookie Rookie (and check out some of her other amazing recipes.)

http://www.thecookierookie.com/baked-spicy-chicken-tacos/