Oven Baked Chicken Tacos

It’s been months since I saw a recipe for Oven Baked Tacos on Pinterest, but we’ve been stuck in such a food rut that I haven’t tried anything knew in some time. Yesterday, I was in the mood to cook and after reading Kristin’s post, I wanted both chicken salad and tacos. Such an odd combination, I promise I’m not pregnant and I didn’t eat them both last night. I bought the ingredients for both and saved time by cooking all of the chicken at once, but I just put the chicken salad away for today.

I was distraction-free in the kitchen. Braylen cut grass with Allen and I even snuck in a run on the treadmill. It was one of those days when I’m reminded just how much I love to cook, when I’m not rushed or distracted or trying to juggle a million different tasks. Don’t get me wrong, my little kitchen helper is a great companion, it just multiplies the time in the kitchen by two, at least.

The chicken tacos were a hit and we even sent half over to our neighbors, the recipe was simple and easy and the outcome was delicious. I adapted my recipe from the one I had originally pinned on Mommy? I’m Hungry!

Here’s my take:

Oven Baked Chicken Tacos

Ingredients:

• 3 large chicken breasts (I used boneless, skinless and they were pretty big)
• 1 packet of taco seasoning
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
• 1/2 squeezed lime (I used the other 1/2 of the lime for guacamole)
• 1 can (8 oz) tomato sauce
• 1 can refried beans
• shredded cheese
• 18 hard taco shells

Don’t forget to pick up your favorite garnishes- salsa, sour cream, avocado, tomato, lettuce, etc.

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Boil chicken and shred (if you have a stand mixer, do yourself a favor and place the hot chicken into the mixer and mix with the paddle attachment, perfectly shredded chicken each time).
3. In a skillet combine shredded chicken, taco seasoning, cumin, cilantro, lime juice, tomato sauce and refried beans. Mix well and heat ingredients thoroughly.
4. In a 9X13 arrange taco shells so they are standing. I had to play with this a little to get them right, pack them in pretty tightly.
5. Add chicken mixture to each shell.
6. Top with shredded cheese.
7. Bake 10-12 minutes.
8. Top with your favorite garnishes and enjoy.

We’ll definitely be adding this to the rotation.