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My ground chicken tacos feature tender chicken simmered in taco-spiced tomato sauce and served with tortillas, red onions, and creamy avocado. They’re healthy, flavorful, and cook up in minutes.
Tacos are a weekly tradition in my household, and to change things up, I love to make my family these ground chicken tacos.
They are a welcome change from my usual ground beef taco meat. Rather than keep it simple with plain meat and seasonings, I added tomato paste and fresh garlic for more complexity. It’s got so much flavor, and there are never any leftovers.
Table of Contents
Why I love this recipe
- It’s healthy! Each taco is high-protein, lean, and packed with flavor.
- Quick and easy. They take less than ten minutes to cook, perfect for busy weeknights or when everyone craves Mexican food.
- Easy to customize. To enhance the juiciness of the ground chicken, I love to load them up with pickled red onions, feta cheese, and a slathering of mashed avocado.
If you love cooking ground chicken, try my ground chicken burgers, ground chicken meatballs, or ground chicken lettuce wraps next!
Key Ingredients
- Ground chicken. I prefer lean ground chicken, usually 93/7 (93% lean, 7% fat) or even 99/1. You don’t have to worry about dryness since we’re adding plenty of liquid.
- Olive oil. To cook the chicken. Avocado oil works just as well.
- Garlic. I try to use fresh garlic cloves so you get small pieces of tender garlic, but you can also use bottled garlic if that’s what you have.
- Tomato paste. For a deeper, concentrated tomato flavor (but without the excess moisture from canned tomatoes).
- Taco seasoning. You better believe I made my OWN seasoning mix using smoked paprika, chili powder, ground cumin, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and black pepper. If you don’t have all of those spices, you can stick with a store-bought seasoning blend.
- Water. The amount of water I used varied depending on the fattiness of the chicken. You may use the full ¼ cup or only need a few tablespoons. For more flavor, you can even use chicken broth–but don’t bother opening up a fresh container just for this recipe.
To assemble:
- Tortillas. I used street taco-sized corn tortillas, two per taco, of course! Flour tortillas also work–it’s just a matter of preference.
- Onion. Finely sliced white or red onion for the classic street taco flavor or pickled red onions (as pictured).
- Avocado. For added creaminess. When I’m feeling extra fancy, I’ll make low-carb guacamole.
- Parsley. For garnish. Fresh cilantro also works.
- Feta cheese. Optional, but my family LOVES a little bit sprinkled on top to amp up the flavor.
How to make ground chicken tacos
This is an overview with step-by-step photos. Full ingredients & instructions are in the recipe card below.
Step 1- Assemble. In a large bowl, add the garlic, salt, pepper, and ground chicken.
Step 2- Cook the chicken. Heat oil over medium-high heat. Add the seasoned chicken and cook until no longer brown.
Step 3- Add seasonings. Stir in the tomato paste and seasoning. Add water as needed, then simmer until warm.
Step 4- Assemble. Warm the tortillas, then fill each with meat and top with your desired taco fixings.
Recipe variations
- Ditch the tacos. Pile everything on a bed of butter lettuce to make taco salads, or serve the meat with rice and black beans to make burrito bowls. Sometimes I’ll even serve the meat over air fryer nachos!
- Make it spicy. Add a few dashes of hot sauce as the chicken simmers.
- Add vegetables. Sauté sliced onions or bell peppers with the garlic for more flavor.
- More toppings! Try fresh lime juice, salsa (I like low-carb salsa), shredded lettuce, queso cheese, or sour cream.
Frequently asked questions
Generally, yes, ground chicken can be a great swap for ground beef. You do want to remember that ground chicken MUST be fully cooked, and it tends to be leaner than ground beef, so you may need to add more liquid or oil to compensate.
Of course! I find ground turkey works just as well in this recipe, and the cooking instructions are exactly the same.
More Mexican weeknight dinners
If you tried this ground chicken taco recipe or any other recipe on The Big Man’s World, please rate the recipe and let me know how it went in the comments below. It really helps others thinking of making the recipe.
Ground Chicken Tacos
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground chicken I use lean ground chicken
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon taco seasoning * See notes
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 2 tablespoons water or as needed
To assemble
- 8 small tortillas corn or flour
- 1/2 small red onion thinly sliced
- 1 avocado sliced
- 2 tablespoons feta cheese crumbled
- 1/4 cup parsley finely chopped
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl, add the ground chicken, salt, pepper, and minced garlic.
- Heat olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Add the ground chicken mixture and cook, breaking it up with a spoon, for 4-5 minutes until browned.
- Stir in tomato paste and taco seasoning. Add a splash of water (if needed) to help mix everything evenly. Cook for 2-3 more minutes until well combined and slightly saucy.
- Warm the tortillas in a dry pan or microwave. Fill each tortilla with the chicken mixture. Top with sliced onions, avocado, feta cheese, and parsley.
Yummy!!! Such a fun change from ground beef.
I made these tacos for taco tuesday instead of usual beef- it’s super tasty and packed with flavor.
Thanks, Eileen!
These ground chicken tacos are amazing- Thank you so much! Thanks for also updating the post to include your homemade taco seasoning mix!
Very welcome! 🙂
Can you send the recipe for your taco seasoning. I’ve got the ingredients, just need to know the amounts.
Thanks.
Yes!! I just updated the recipe card to showcase this. It’s a little bigger than one tablespoon, but it is the right proportions compared to a store-bought mix 🙂