Smoked Chicken Tacos

Jump to Recipe

Smoked Whole Chicken Tacos

This is my favorite smoked chicken tacos recipe ever!  What makes it really special is the unique combination of the main components. 

If you are looking for a smoked chicken recipe and also love yourself some tacos, this is where you want to be.  These authentic smoked chicken tacos feature perfectly moist and smoky chicken with subtly sweet roasted chayote, flavorful salsa roja and strips of roasted poblano peppers.  The combination of flavors between these ingredients knocks it out of the park.

Chayote is a Mexican squash, light green in color and when roasted has a subtly sweet flavor.  The salsa roja(red salsa) boasts a bright tomato, garlic, onion flavor and is punctuated by cilantro, lime and jalapeño.  The salsa roja also has a subtly sweet flavor as well that carries the salty and oily chicken really well.  Wrap these ingredients up in a perfectly warmed or even homemade tortilla wrap and you have a perfect meal!  

Listed below are the links to accompanying recipes: Salsa roja, homemade tortillas.

Read on to learn how to blend this perfect trio of smoked chicken, chayote and salsa roja in to the best smoked chicken tacos!

The Best Smoked Chicken Tacos

Ingredients for smoked whole chicken tacos:

• Smoked chicken
• Tortilla wraps
• Chayote squash (oven roasted)
• Poblano peppers
• Roja salsa (full recipe here)
• Cotija cheese or vegan feta from Violife

Optional: Hot sauce or habanero peppers for extra spice

Smoked chicken tacos brine:

• 1 gal water
• 1 cup kosher salt
• 1 cup brown sugar

It is helpful to use a plastic 4 gallon bucket

Instructions:

The best smoked chicken taco marinade: Achiote Chicken Marinade

How to smoke the chicken:

Preparation and seasoning:

Season the chicken simply with sea salt or use your favorite rub, Mexican marinade or brine the chicken for 24 hours.   If you want to make smoked jerk chicken tacos use a jerk chicken rub and coat the chicken in it before putting it in the smoker.  For a smoked Mexican chicken breast use a marinade with achiote such as the one listed above.

For breasts only: place in smoker grill and cook at 225 degrees Fahrenheit for 1 hour.  Check the temperature and make sure the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees. 

For 1/2 chicken: cook at 250 degrees for around 2 hours. This time does vary depending on the size of the chicken.  The more pounds, the longer it will take to cook. Check internal temperature and remove when it has reached 165 degrees. Make sure not to touch the thermometer to a bone or joint as it will read much higher and give an inaccurate depiction of the doneness of the meat. A general rule is that it takes about 45 minutes per pound.  So generally it will take between 2-4 hours.

Smoked chicken thigh tacos: Using thighs only takes about 1 hour to smoke at 225 degrees.  You can prepare the chicken for seasoning by brining it, marinading, using a rub or simply seasoning with sea salt. 

You may pull the chick apart to make classic smoked pulled chicken tacos, the appearance is shredded rather than neatly sliced. Or cut the chicken into cubes or thin slices. 

Tip for moist chicken: brine the chicken. Heat 1 gallon of water on the stove top and add 1 cup of kosher salt and 1 cup of brown sugar.  When the mixture is fully dissolved, remove it and allow it to cool completely before placing the chicken in it.  Cover and refrigerate for 24 hours. 

How to roast chayote squash:

Wash the outside of the chayote squash well with water and soap.  Cut into small cubes and spread out over a baking sheet.  Drizzle a little olive oil and season with sea salt then toss to coat evenly.  Place int he oven and cook for 20-30 minutes.  Look for them to be tender but not too soft or they will get shrunken and sad looking.  Some subtle golden brown on edges is okay.

How to roast the poblano peppers:

Place the whole peppers on a baking sheet and cook in the oven for 30-45 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  When the peppers are done remove them from the oven and cover them with tin foil or place them in a bowl that you can cover with a lid.  The steam from covering them will help the outer skin to easily peel off.  If some of the skin remains it is totally fine. Slice the pepper in half and remove the stem, seeds and center vein. Slice them into strips. 

For the Roja salsa: Full Salsa Roja recipe

This is a simple and easy recipe for salsa roja that is absolutely delicious. 

For the best tortilla wraps: Homemade two-ingredient tortilla wrap recipe.

I make homemade tortilla wraps that are only two ingredients, super healthy and the BEST texture and taste of any I have ever had. They just happen to be gluten-free, dairy-free, corn-free and vegan. The full recipe is here.  These are a MUST try. 

How to reheat tortillas:

You can use a flat top grill or griddle, non-stick pan or place the tortillas directly on a clean electric burner.  You can also wrap them in a damp towel and place them in the oven or microwave(watchfully, so the towel doesn’t catch on fire!!).  I have an electric flattop stove so I just clean it and then throw tortillas directly on that and flip them several times until they are heated to a soft and pliable state.  It can be helpful for corn tortillas to get them slight damp with water which will help them to steam during the reheating process and allow them to be more flexible so they don’t break as easily when eating. 

Assembling the tacos:

1. Heat the tortillas, smoked chicken, chayote and poblano peppers. 
2. Place the chicken, peppers and chayote on the tortillas wraps and then spoon the salsa over and finish with cotija cheese or another crumbly cheese on top(for dairy-free cheese: Violifes Feta).  Use a squeeze of lime over the top to finish and add any spice with an extra hot sauce or fresh peppers. 
3. Enjoy the best smoked chicken recipe for tacos!

Smoked chicken tacos calories: 630

Thanks for checking out one of my favorite recipes – easy smoked chicken tacos. If you liked this one, you may love some of my other favorite recipes such as crispy shredded chicken tacos, beef barbacoa tacos or beef tamales.

Please rate or comment below and if you made any additions or alterations and want to let me in on your smoked chicken taco ideas – I would love to hear about them!  If you would like to share or pin on Pinterest, I am always thankful.  Check out my food journey on Pinterest at Molé in the Wall.

Now you know how to make the best smoked chicken tacos recipe.  I hope you do try this one and thoroughly enjoy it as much as we have.  I’m pretty sure this will become a family favorite and become a house hold staples.

Tags:

Smoked chicken tacos big green egg

Traeger smoked chicken tacos