Jack recently prepared a wonderful Mexican-themed dinner for us, and this Pulled Chicken recipe played a starring role in several of the dishes he made. The chicken is perfectly flavored with a spicy blend of tomato and peppers as well as other seasonings, and it’s cooked until fork-tender and then shredded.
A good pulled chicken is a great recipe to have in your collection. It can be eaten as-is or as part of a sandwich, or it can be used in many recipes such as quesadillas, enchiladas, burritos, Mexican lasagna, or chimichangas. The key is to use a mix of white and dark meat in this recipe (we used a combination of boneless chicken thighs and breasts) – and the thigh meat lends so much more flavor and juiciness to the finished dish than using the breast meat alone.
Ingredients
- 1 sweet red pepper, stemmed and seeded and cut into large rings
- 1 large onion, trimmed and cut into large rings
- 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breast halves, trimmed
- 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs, trimmed
- 4 tablespoons cider vinegar
- 2 14.5 ounce cans diced tomatoes
- 4 tablespoons tomato paste
- 4 tablespoons Agave Nectar
- 2 tablespoons whole grain mustard
- 2 teaspoons onion powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
- 1 tablespoon oregano
- 1 tablespoon coriander
- 2 tablespoons Rocket Fuel (or your favorite hot sauce)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 275 degrees.
- Spray a pan or glass baking dish with non-stick cooking spray and lay pepper and onion rings on the bottom.
- Lay chicken over onions and peppers.
- In a medium sauce pan, place all other ingredients and heat to a boil. Stir to combine ingredients and remove from heat.
- Pour the tomato mixture over the chicken. Cover with plastic wrap then foil. (The plastic will not hurt the food and will prevent the tomato acids from reacting with the foil.)
- Place in oven for three hours.
- Remove the pan from oven and peel off wrap and foil.
- Place chicken on a cutting board and shred with two forks.
- Pour remaining mixture from baking dish into a strainer and strain out most of the liquid then place back into baking dish
- Place pulled chicken meat back in with tomato mixture in baking dish and mix to combine.
Viva la Violette
You sold me at “Mexican”! Mexican’s a huge winner in my house (in fact, we had carnitas tacos tonight!) and we’re always looking for fun recipes. This one’s a keeper!
Julia {The Roasted Root} recently posted…Carnitas Taco Pizza
Thanks for stopping by Julia! Hope you enjoy the recipe!
Oh the possibilities with this pulled chicken! I’m imagining it would be perfect for burritos, enchiladas, quesadillas, salads! Looking forward to trying this recipe. Thanks for sharing
Looks like a great recipe for the crockpot, too!
Jenna@LittleKitchenBigFlavors recently posted…Chocolate & Caramel Samoa Pie
That’s a great idea Jenna – let us know how it comes out if you try cooking this in a crockpot! Martha
This looks delicious, Martha!
Rachel @ {I Love} My Disorganized Life recently posted…Wicked Good Wednesdays #17
Thanks Rachel!
Thank you for sharing this recipe. I love Mexican food and love trying new recipes. This will be added to my list of ones to try.
Danielle Storm | Traditional Mexican Cooking recently posted…Authentic Mexican Recipes updated Sun Apr 21 2013 6:22 pm EDT