These Easy Rotisserie Chicken Tacos are a quick and delicious weeknight meal, and a great way to feed a crowd at your next game day party.
Taco night just got a lot easier – and even more delicious – thanks to this Easy Rotisserie Chicken Tacos recipe! This is a great way to feed a hungry family – as well a crowd of friends when they come to your house to watch the game.
How to you make Easy Rotisserie Chicken Tacos?
We started with a pre-cooked rotisserie chicken – removing the meat from the bones and shredding the meat.
Next, we tossed the shredded chicken in a mixture of salsa (you can make your own, or use your favorite jarred variety), water, tomato paste, and seasonings including coriander, chili powder, and cumin.
Then we placed corn tortillas on a baking sheet and brushed both sides with oil. Shredded pepper jack cheese and the shredded chicken mixture were placed on top of the tortillas – then placed in the oven for an initial bake to begin cooking the tortillas and melting the cheese.
Once the edges start to turn golden brown, remove the pan from the oven and place the shredded lettuce on top.
Then fold each tortilla in half, nestle them into a baking pan and top with shredded Monterey jack cheese. Return to the oven, just long enough for the cheese to melt and the tortillas finish cooking.
While we made these Easy Rotisserie Chicken Tacos with shredded cooked chicken, you can just as easily follow this same method using cooked ground beef, pulled pork, fish, or any other favorite taco filling.
Feel free to serve these Easy Rotisserie Chicken Tacos with your favorite toppings as well. We served them with black olives, pickled jalapenos, sliced red onion, avocado wedges, sour cream, freshly squeezed lime juice and cilantro. Guacamole, more salsa, this fantastic red chile sauce, or a cheesy queso would be other delicious options.
We think corn tortillas work best for this recipe but flour tortillas can also be used.
You may enjoy these other taco recipes:
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Easy Rotisserie Chicken Tacos
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 12 tacos
- Category: entree
- Method: baked
- Cuisine: Mexican
Ingredients
2 cups salsa (see our homemade recipe here, or use your favorite jarred salsa)
1 cup water
2 tablespoons tomato paste
½ teaspoon coriander
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 small rotisserie chicken, meat removed from the bones (you’ll want about 1½ pounds of picked chicken meat)
6 tablespoons vegetable oil
12 white or yellow 6” corn tortillas
8 ounces pepper jack cheese, shredded
4 cups shredded iceberg lettuce
8 ounces Monterey jack cheese, shredded
Toppings
Sliced black olives
Sliced pickled jalapenos
Thinly sliced red onion
Avocado wedges
Sour cream
Lime juice
Fresh cilantro
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
Have a roasting pan with high sides ready that can hold 12 completed folded tacos (or 2 pans with 6 each).
In a large skillet, place salsa, water and tomato paste. Start burner on medium, stir and combine.
Add the coriander, chili powder and cumin and stir again.
Shred the cooked chicken pieces into the salsa mixture and heat to hot then hold to keep warm.
Brush two sheet pans with half of the oil. Lay out the corn tortillas, 6 per tray and brush the tops with the other half of the oil.
Divide the pepper jack between the 12 tortillas.
Divide the warm chicken mixture between the 12 tortillas, on top of the pepper jack but not completely to the edges.
Place in the oven for 12-15 minutes or until the edges start to get a little crispy and the mixture is hot and bubbly. Rotate pans half way through for even browning.
Remove one pan at a time from the oven and quickly top with half the lettuce. Then pick up each tortilla, fold in half and place in the reserved dish or pan, letting each taco stay folded by leaning on the one next to it, or the side of the pan. They will stay in this shape once folded hot. Repeat for the second pan. Turn off oven. (Note: Tacos are hot so we suggest that you use tongs to remove and fold.)
Then take the 12 folded tacos and top with the Monterey jack cheese and place back in the oven with the oven off for 4-5 minutes. The residual heat will melt the jack cheese over the lettuce.
Serve hot with whatever toppings you want including sliced back olives, pickled jalapenos, thinly sliced red onion, avocado wedges, sour cream, lime juice, fresh cilantro, etc.
Keywords: tacos, chicken
At 450F, my oven incinerated the tortillas after 10 minutes!
Sorry you had problems with the recipe JAM – curious to know what brand of tortillas you used? Did you happen to swap in flour for corn?
How many calories per serving
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Hi Raven – I just added the nutritional information to the bottom of the recipe card…303 calories per taco.
The filling was great but these came out burnt to a crisp at 12 minutes. Like really burnt. If you’re making this I suggest keeping an eye on them. 🙁 will def put them in less time
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Thanks for your feedback Marlene – it definitely sounds like your oven runs much hotter than ours
These were very good! I did not have any tomato paste so I used tomato sauce and I didn’t have any salsa (except with ghost peppers) so I used a can of diced tomatoes. We used flour tortillas so I didn’t put them in the oven but they were delicious and quick and easy. I will definitely make these again.
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Sounds like some great adaptations in a pinch! Glad you liked the recipe!
Thanks, Martha! These tacos were absolutely delicious! I made the recipe exactly as written and they will definitely be requested again!
So glad the recipe was a hit Joanna!
I made this for dinner tonight, it came out amazing !! I over cooked it so it was a bit crunchy, but still delicious
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Glad you enjoyed the tacos Gina!
I’m going to make this recipe for dinner tommorrow nite but do not have coriander. Can you tell me what it is and can it be omitted? Do you have any recipes for chicken enchiladas using rotisserie chicken and using a white sauce (sort of like alfredo?? not sure what its called??) Thank you!
Hi Polly – Coriander is actually dried and ground cilantro seed – you can leave it out and adjust the seasonings to suit your tastes. We do have a Chicken Enchiladas recipe (it’s just called white sauce) 🙂 – this recipe is written using our Pulled Mexican Chicken recipe which is well-seasoned, but you can use rotisserie and add some tomatoes and other seasonings of your own. https://www.afamilyfeast.com/chicken-enchiladas-with-white-sauce/ (Hope this helps!)
Easy and delicious! I didnt put back in the oven a second time due to time but they work well either way! I used mexican blend cheese.
Thanks Jessica – glad you enjoyed the tacos!
I like crispy tacos. Do the tacos have any crispness to them or are they soft tacos?
Hi Linda – The tacos end up with some chew to them – so softer than the store-bought crispy-fried tacos shells but not as soft as a soft flour tortilla. Hope that helps!
The chicken tacos was the best. I made them for supper and everyone loved them!!!
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Thanks Linda – glad you all enjoyed the tacos!
This site looks interesting. Looking forward to tapping into it. Thank You. Barb
We’re glad you found us Barb! Hope you find some recipes to enjoy!
Amazing! Followed recipe exactly and got delicious results.
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Thanks Rayna!
Great way to use up a rotisserie chicken! I halved the recipe and found using just the dark meat fit the half recipe perfectly. The recipe is forgiving; I used less cheese and only Colby jack, no lettuce and figured out after baking the oven was at 350 instead of 450. Still turned out good. Will make again. One tip though: adust the chili powder based on the heat of your salsa. My salsa was on the hotter side and thereforestation tacos turned out a bit hotter than I preferred but still good.
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Great suggestion Patricia!
Made this & your salsa recipe tonight & it was fantastic! I did not put the lettuce on because I knew we would have leftovers & didn’t want soggy lettuce. Otherwise, followed recipe to a T & we will definitely make this again.
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Thanks Suzanne – glad you enjoyed the recipe!
Hello,
I made this tonight and enjoyed it very much. I think I used too much chicken and mine were pretty sloppy. Would you clarify in cups rather than weight how much chicken to use for best results? Thanks for the recipe. I love having ideas of what to do with leftover rotisserie chicken!
Thanks for your feedback Carlyn – the next time we make this recipe we’ll update by adding in the cups measurement.
Tried these tacos for dinner and was very pleased with the results. Made little over half recipe and used Trader Joes precooked balsamic vinegar chicken breasts, and shredded all of it for 8 tacos. This was the first time I did not use those boxed crispy boxed taco shells. I will never use those again! lol. Thanks for a great taco recipe. My picky son enjoyed them, as did I.
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So glad the recipe was a hit Jill! As the mom of a picky eater too, I love hearing when kids enjoy our recipes! 🙂
I made this tonight. Came out perfectly!!! I made 8 and my husband ate 7!!! Will definitely make again and again.
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So glad you both enjoyed the recipe Jeannie!
Made this for dinner tonight and my husband and children loved it…very easy!
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Thanks Susan – glad you liked the recipe!
These are delicious! They will definitely become part of the regular rotation for dinner! Along with another favorite, Creamy Chicken and Rice Soup. Yum!
Thanks Sue! So glad you are enjoying the recipes!
I love a super quick Friday night meal. Thank you!
You’re welcome Joanna – hope you enjoy the recipe.