Chicken Tinga Tacos

We’ve been doing Taco Tuesdays as a regular thing for a while now. Sometimes I’m lazy and just throw together fajitas. Sometimes I find a great instant pot recipe. Sometimes I branch out and make something more unusual like tofu tacos. But today, I finally delved into my Tacos cookbook by Mark Miller. I had originally seen a recipe on Tasty for Chicken Tinga, but it looked... not *quite* authentic. So I decided to pull down the cookbook, and found a much more authentic recipe. However, as he lives in New Mexico with easy access to all the ingredients that I don’t have in New England, it was still a little beyond what I could do. And certain parts just...didn’t sound quite to my taste, like the sugar, a LOT of extra liquid, and about three times as spicy. So below is my tweaked amalgamation of the recipes, and it was SO GOOD!  Chicken Tinga is traditionally served with a garnish of iceberg lettuce, and often on a crispy tostada. But it makes amazing tacos, too!

Chicken Tinga Tacos

Ingredients 

• 2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts 
• 1 teaspoon smoked salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil 
• 1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
• 1 onion, thinly sliced
• 1 lb spicy chicken sausage (raw)
• 5 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
• 1 15 oz can fire roasted diced tomatoes
• 5 cloves garlic 
• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar 
• 1 tablespoon oregano
• Corn tortillas
• Sliced avocado 
• Shredded lettuce

1. Slice the chicken into strips. Season with the salt, pepper, and chili powder. Set aside and allow to marinade for 20 minutes. 
2. Make a sauce by puréeing the chipotle peppers, tomatoes with juices, and garlic together until smooth. Stir in the vinegar and oregano. Set aside. 
3. Heat a large cast iron skillet over medium high heat and add the oil. When the oil is hot, add the chicken and cook until nearly cooked through, about 3 minutes. 
4. Remove the casing from the sausage and break apart. Add to the chicken, along with the onions and bell pepper. Be sure to keep the sausage broken up as it cooks. 
5. Once the sausage has browned, 3 - 5 minutes, stir in the chipotle tomato sauce. Allow to simmer until most of the liquid has evaporated. It should be very moist, but not swimming in liquid. 
6. Heat tortillas over an open flame until soft and just beginning to char. Top with filling, avocado, and shredded lettuce. Enjoy!