These Baked Chicken Tacos 🌮 are filled with seasoned shredded chicken and melted cheese, then baked until crispy and golden. Made with cooked chicken and your favorite salsa, they’re an easy dinner ready in about 30 minutes.
Serve them with your favorite toppings and these side dishes to serve with tacos for a simple weeknight meal.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe ❤️
- Easy weeknight dinner: These tacos come together in about 30 minutes with simple ingredients.
- Crispy and cheesy: Baking the tacos gives the corn tortillas a golden crunch with melted cheese inside.
- A great way to use leftover chicken: Rotisserie chicken or any cooked, shredded chicken works well in this recipe.
-Maggie
🐓 Ingredients
- Cooked and shredded chicken
- Olive oil
- Salt
- Black pepper
- White onion
- Salsa
- Chicken Taco Seasoning
- Corn tortillas
- Cheese
- Lime juice
Substitutions
🍗 Rotisserie chicken is perfect for this recipe. Simply shred and use as instructed.
🥣 Use your favorite salsa. Or Guajillo sauce and roasted tomato salsa also work great!
🧀 Opt for a cheese that melts well. Colby Jack cheese is what’s used in the pictures, but mozzarella and Monterey jack are good too.
👩🏼🍳 Step by Step Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 425°F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Cook the chopped onion until softened.
- Stir in the shredded chicken, salsa, taco seasoning, salt, and pepper.
- Cook for 2–3 minutes, then remove from heat and add lime juice.
More taco recipes to try Instant Pot Birria Tacos, Tacos de Camaron, Carne Asada Street Tacos.
- Warm the tortillas in the microwave for 30 seconds to make them easier to fold.
- Spoon the chicken mixture onto one half of each tortilla, sprinkle with cheese, fold over, and arrange on the baking sheet.
- Lightly brush the tortillas with olive oil.
- Bake for 12–15 minutes until crispy and golden.
- Serve with toppings like sour cream, shredded lettuce, cilantro, or extra salsa.
🫙 Storing Instructions
Any leftover baked chicken tacos can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. For the best texture, store the toppings separately and add them fresh before serving.
🔥 Reheating Instructions
To keep the tacos crispy, reheat them in the oven at 350°F for about 8–10 minutes. You can also use an air fryer for 4–5 minutes. If you’re short on time, the microwave works too, but the tortillas may soften.
🙋🏻♀️ Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Yes. Prepare the chicken filling ahead of time and refrigerate it. Assemble the tacos and bake just before serving for the crispiest results.
Serve them with sour cream, shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, guacamole, chopped cilantro, or your favorite salsa.
Yes, you can use flour tortillas, but the texture will be different. Corn tortillas are my choice for these tacos because they get crispy around the edges when baked.
Lightly brush the tortillas with olive oil and bake them in a single layer until golden and crisp. Avoid stacking the tacos, and serve them soon after baking.
More Mexican Chicken Recipes You’d Like
These Baked Chicken Tacos are an easy way to turn cooked chicken into a crispy, cheesy dinner. Serve them with fresh toppings and a Spicy Pineapple Margarita for a fun Taco Tuesday meal.
Crispy Baked Chicken Tacos
Ingredients
- 2 cups cooked and shredded chicken
- 3 tbsps olive oil divided
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 medium white onion finely chopped
- 1 16-ounce salsa (about 2 cups)
- 2 tablespoon taco seasoning packet or homemade
- 10 corn tortillas (use 12 if street taco size)
- 1 ½ cups shredded cheese Colby Jack, Monterey Jack, or mozzarella
- 1 lime (juice only)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425°F. Line a 9×13-inch (or larger) baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
- Add onion and cook until softened, about 3 minutes.
- Stir in chicken, salsa, taco seasoning, salt, and pepper.
- Cook for 2 to 3 minutes, then remove from heat and stir in lime juice.
- Wrap tortillas in a damp paper towel, then warm tortillas in the microwave for 30 seconds to make them pliable.
- Spoon the chicken mixture onto one half of each tortilla.
- Sprinkle with cheese, fold over, and arrange them on the prepared baking sheet. (Use two baking sheets if needed.)
- Lightly brush the tops of the tortillas with the remaining olive oil.
- Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until tacos are golden brown and crispy.
- Serve warm with your favorite toppings such as sour cream, cilantro, shredded lettuce, or extra salsa.
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