Chicken Tacos with Mango Avocado Salsa

Taco night is a always a favorite in our house. This recipe for Chicken Tacos with Mango Avocado Salsa makes for a fresh, tasty, and healthy family dinner. It’s a great way to get the kids to eat some fresh fruit with their meal. You’ll notice there is no cheese in this recipe, and that’s because the flavors are so well balanced that cheese would just throw everything off-kilter. That makes it a great choice for nights when we have dairy-free guests over to dinner.

Our local Mexican grocery has fresh corn tortillas for sale and whenever I can I stop in there and grab some when I plan to make tacos for dinner. Most grocery stores have good corn tortillas for sale, so anything you can find will work. (And if you’re the sort to make your own tortillas, then you’re really living the high life!) Corn tortillas can be prone to tear if they’re not heated before use, which is why I recommend heating them. Doubling them up like your favorite taqueria or taco truck does is also not a bad idea. That way if one breaks the other one is there to help with structural integrity. Although I worry less about the mess when I’m at home over my own dinner table than I do if I’m eating out somewhere.

Wheat flour tortillas are a perfectly acceptable substitute if you prefer them, but corn is my favorite. These tacos are not meant to be large, however, so be sure you don’t buy the monster sized flour tortillas or you’ll run out of taco filling very fast. It’s always a good idea to heat up flour tortillas before you use them, too.

Cilantro is the star of this recipe to me, but I know many people do not like it. I think this recipe still tastes absolutely fine without it. To give your tacos a little fresh green taste, I’d recommend chopping up a little romaine, fresh cabbage, or baby spinach to sprinkle on as a substitute, but it’s not really necessary.

Chicken Tacos with Mango Avocado Salsa

3 from 21 votes

Recipe by Add Recipes Course: Dinner

Servings

4

servings

Prep time

40

minutes

Cooking time

30

minutes

These zesty chicken tacos are topped with a fresh and zingy mango avocado salsa.

Ingredients

• 4 4 Chicken breasts, boneless skinless

• 12 12 Tortillas, corn

• 1 1 Avocado

• 1 1 Mango

• 1/2 1/2 Cucumber

• 1/4 1/4 Onion

• 4 4 Limes

• 1 bunch 1 Cilantro

• 2 tablespoons 2 Vegetable oil

• 1/2 teaspoon 1/2 Salt

• Taco Seasoning

• 2 teaspoons 2 Chili powder

• 2 teaspoons 2 Cumin

• 1 teaspoon 1 Garlic powder

• 1 teaspoon 1 Onion powder

• 1 teaspoon 1 Oregano

• 1/2 teaspoon 1/2 Paprika

• 1/2 teaspoon 1/2 Salt

• 1/4 teaspoon 1/4 Cayenne

Directions

• One at a time, place chicken breasts between two sheets of plastic wrap, or inside a large unsealed plastic freezer bag, and pound chicken until 1/4 – 1/2 inch thick. This allows chicken to cook quickly and evenly.
• Combine taco seasoning spices: chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, onion powder, oregano, paprika, cayenne, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Mix well.
• In shallow dish or in sealable plastic freezer bag, thoroughly coat chicken in taco seasoning. Cover dish or seal bag and allow to marinate for 20 minutes in seasoning in refrigerator.
• While chicken marinates, make salsa. Peel and pit mango and avocado.
• Chop mango, avocado, cucumber, and onion into small similar size dice. Roughly chop the top half of the bunch of cilantro. Juice 2 limes. Cut remaining 2 limes into wedges to garnish finished tacos.
• In small mixing bowl, combine mango, avocado, cucumber, onion, lime juice, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 2 tablespoons of chopped cilantro. (Reserve remaining chopped cilantro as garnish for finished tacos.) Mix salsa well. Taste for seasoning and adjust with more salt and/or lime juice if needed; set aside.
• In large skillet or frying pan over medium flame, heat oil. When oil is heated, add chicken to pan. Cook approximately 3 minutes per side, or until chicken reaches internal temperature of 165° F (73° C) — adjust heat if chicken starts to burn. Remove cooked chicken from pan to cutting board and rest 4 minutes before slicing.
• While chicken rests, in small or medium size non-stick frying pan over medium heat, heat tortillas 10-20 seconds per side.
• Slice rested chicken breasts into strips or bite sized pieces. Serve chicken in heated tortillas. Top with mango avocado salsa and serve with additional chopped cilantro and lime wedges as garnish. Recommend finishing tacos with a dash of hot sauce like Tapatio or Cholula.

Notes

• Wheat flour tortillas may be used as substitute for corn tortillas; suggest using small size flour tortillas.
• Boneless, skinless chicken thighs may be used as substitute for chicken breasts.
• Cilantro can be omitted from recipe entirely without substitution.
• For additional heat, core and de-seed one jalapeño pepper, dice it very fine, and add it to the mango avocado salsa.

This is a recipe I love to make on weeknights and so, as you might imagine, I have a few quick cheats to pull it together fast. When I can find it, I buy pre cut mango. Sometimes I can find it cut into spears which can very quickly be diced. If you’ve never cut a mango before, it can be a little tricky to peel them and cut around their big oblong seed — although don’t let me frighten you away from trying, it’s certainly something anyone can do, it’s just a bit of a pain until you get the hang of it.

When I can find it, I also buy frozen diced avocado to have on hand. It usually defrosts quickly on the counter top. I find about a cup is equal to a large, fresh avocado. Sometimes I even by the little mashed avocado cups to keep on hand and will use them for this recipe, just making the salsa without avocado, then smearing the avocado on the tortillas before I assemble the tacos.