Delicious homemade chicken tacos with fresh ingredients and homemade flour tortillas.
Ingredients
Flour Tortillas
- 2cupsall-purpose flour
- 2tbspolive oil blend
- 1tspbaking powder
- 1/2cupwarm tap water
Taco Filling
- 2cupschicken breast fillet (strips)
- 1cupchopped tomatoes (canned)
- 1tbspred chillies (finely sliced)
- 1tspgarlic (minced)
- 1tbspcumin powder
- 1tbspsmoked paprika
- 2cupscocktail tomatoes (quartered)
- 2cupsbutter lettuce (shredded)
- 2cupscucumber (deseeded & diced)
- 1/2cupred onion (julienned)
- 2cupscheddar cheese (grated)
- 2cupsavocado (cubed)
- 3tbsplemon juice (freshly squeezed)
- 3tbspsunflower oil
- salt & pepper to taste
- coriander leaves (roughly chopped)
How to make Chicken Tacos
Flour Tortillas
In a bowl, combine all the ingredients. Mix well with a spoon, then start mixing with your hands until the flour comes together into a ball. If the dough is too dry, add a little more water. If too sticky, add a little more flour.
Place the dough onto a lightly floured surface, then knead with the palms of your hands. The more you work the dough, the softer it becomes.
Once your dough is smooth, divide it into equal round balls. On a lightly floured surface, roll out your dough with a rolling pin, from the center outwards, rotating the dough on each roll to help create a round wrap. Roll each wrap very thin, about 2mm thick. If you would like a perfectly round wrap, use a round plate to cut a perfectly round wrap.
Heat a griddle pan on very low heat. Add a tiny bit of oil and tilt your pan to spread the oil. When warm, add one wrap and cook for about 3 minutes on one side. You will see bubbles appear on the top of the wrap, then flip the wrap to cook the other side. You want both sides to have golden brown markings.
Once cooked, place the wraps onto a plate and cover to keep them moist so they don't dry out. Wraps can be used immediately or frozen in an airtight container with greaseproof sheets in between wraps to prevent them from sticking to each other.
Taco Filling
Heat a pan to high heat, add the vegetable oil, then add the chicken strips. Sauté until golden brown, then turn down the heat to medium.
Add the cumin powder, smoked paprika, and sauté for 2 minutes. Add the chopped tomatoes, garlic, and chillies. Turn down to low heat and simmer for about 5 minutes. You should smell the Mexican aroma.
In the meantime, have your salad and cheese ingredients ready.
Place the avocado cubes into a bowl and pour the freshly squeezed lemon juice over. Mix well but gently so the avocado does not turn brown.
Now build your tacos, starting with lettuce in the center, topped with chicken, tomatoes, cucumber, red onions, cheddar cheese, and avocado. Make sure the tacos are not overfilled as they will be eaten by hand. The tacos must be able to be folded, resembling a sandwich.
Tips & Tricks
If the dough is too dry, add a little more water. If too sticky, add a little more flour.
To keep the tortillas moist, cover them with a cloth after cooking.
For a perfectly round tortilla, use a round plate to cut the dough.
Recipe by
Anna Middleton
(@chefanna)
I have been a professional South African chef for 18 years, now teaching kids & adults how to cook by using their instincts. I...