Ingredients
For the Chicken Tinga:
- 3 tablespoons safflower or corn oil
- 1/2 white onion slivered
- 2 garlic cloves chopped
- 8 roma tomatoes or 2 lbs, rinsed
- 2 tomatillos or 1/4 lb, husked and rinsed
- 1/2 teaspoon crumbled dried oregano
- 1/4 teaspoon dried marjoram
- 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 1/2 teaspoon sea or kosher salt or to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper or more to taste
- 2 tablespoons sauce from chipotle chiles in adobo sauce
- 1 whole chipotle chile in adobo sauce, optional
- 5 cups cooked shredded chicken
To Serve: quantities as desired
- Corn tostadas store bought or home made
- Refried beans
- Shredded iceberg lettuce
- Queso fresco or cotija crumbled
- Mexican avocado slices
To Prepare
To make the Chicken Tinga:
- Place tomatoes and tomatillos in a medium saucepan, cover with water. Bring it to a simmer and cook for about 10 minutes, or until tomatoes and tomatillos are soft, thoroughly cooked and mushy but not falling apart.
- Remove tomatoes and tomatillos with a slotted spoon, and place them in the jar of a blender or food processor and process until smooth.
- Heat the oil in a large and deep pan over medium heat; once it is hot but not smoking, stir in the onion and cook until soft and translucent, for about 5 to 6 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook until the onion and garlic mixture becomes fragrant and lightly browned, about 1 minute.
- Pour the tomato/tomatillo sauce on top and add the oregano, marjoram, thyme, salt, black pepper and the chipotle chiles in adobo sauce (if you want more heat add an entire chipotle chile in adobo sauce). Let it simmer, stirring now and then, until it seasons and deepens to a deep red color, about 10 to 12 minutes. You may want to partially cover the pan as the sauce will want to jump out onto your burners.
- Add the shredded chicken and combine it with the sauce. Let it cook, occasionally stirring, until the chicken has absorbed almost all of the juices and the mixture is moist but not juicy.
To assemble the Tostadas:
- Spread refried beans on a tostada, add the chicken tinga mixture, top with shredded lettuce, avocado slices, crumbled cheese and, if you want some, cream too. You may also serve with salsa verde on the side.
Comments
34comments inChicken Tinga
Mark Hansen
Feb 25
SO good! Gracias Pati! Easy & delicious! We like it spicy, so added extra adobo/chipotle chiles. Absolutely adore you, your family, recipes, and television shows. Come back to Phoenix soon!
Pati Jinich
Mar 07
Thanks so much for the kind words Mark. So glad you enjoyed the Tinga! Looking forward to visiting Phoenix soon 😉
Blanca Salcido
Feb 22
Dearest Pati, I love all your recipes. I would luv to have one of your cook books. How can I order your newest?
Sincerely,
Pati Jinich
Mar 07
Thanks so much Blanca! The new cookbook come out on October 26 and you can go ahead and pre order it using this link https://patijinich.com/cookbook/upcoming-cookbook/ Un abrazo!
Gloria Gonzales
Feb 02
Dearest Pati , Gracias for the chicken
Tinga recipe. I will make it this week, yes
I agree, we have all been hunkered down
And something new and delicious, sounds
Good. I need to eat healthy, and this has
All natural ingredients 😷❤️😕🥑🍅🌶. Please stay safe, and don’t forget to get your COVID-19 vaccines, ok. 🥰😷Gloria
Gonzales .
Pati Jinich
Feb 10
Thanks so much Gloria, good luck with the Tinga!
Melanie Kayrell
Feb 01
This is absolutely delicious. The sauce is wonderful. Thank you for sharing.
Pati Jinich
Feb 10
Thanks to you for reaching out Melanie! SO happy you liked the Tinga 😉
Eva solano
Feb 01
Hola, a mi esposo le gusta mucho ver su programa, dise q aver cuando le cocino algo de lo que usted prepara.
Pati Jinich
Feb 01
Pues ojala que te animes Eva, jaja, a ti tambien te van a gustar. Un abrazo a los dos!
Wendy Wright
Jan 31
I made this recipe tonight and it was amazing. I love your show and so many of your recipes Pati. I’m having so much fun trying many of them. Thanks so much!
Pati Jinich
Feb 01
So glad to read this Wendy, keep cooking and having fun 😉
Vanessa Put
Jan 29
Thanks for gave me the Recipes Chickhen Tinga I love it
Pati Jinich
Jan 31
My pleasure Vanessa, enjoy!
Sarah Aaron
Jan 29
Hi Patient,
This is Sarah, your Latin friend from TX! Chicken Tinga are AWESOME and YOU ARE AWESOME !!! Thank you.
Pati Jinich
Jan 31
Thanks to you for following Sarah, un abrazo!
Anonymous
Jan 29
Love recipe @ your tv shows❤️
Pati Jinich
Jan 31
Thanks so much 😉
Kerri
Sep 27
Am I missing something? I don’t see in the instructions when the 1 1/2 C chicken broth is added.
Pati Jinich
Sep 29
You are absolutely correct Kerri, there should not be chicken broth in this recipe. Here is the right one for you, while we correct the other, thanks so much for noticing! https://patijinich.com/pati_2020/chicken-tinga-2/
Annette
Aug 28
I’ve made chicken like this before, but never with tomatillos. It was delicious! I haven’t used Mexican oregano before but it gave such a nice flavor to the chicken. The stock is so good to use in anything else. I did put a few dried anchos in the pot when I cooked the chicken. I will make this again!
Pati Jinich
Sep 05
Mmmm, great idea with the Anchos Annette, yummy!
Greg
May 02
This recipe is amazing. My whole family loved it. The only thing we love more than tinga is Pati, and the only thing we love more than Pati is JuJu.
Pati Jinich
May 11
Hahaha Greg, Juju is going to love reading this. Thanks so much!
Adam
Apr 05
So good. I love the tv show first time finally using your recipe. Thank you so much.
Pati Jinich
Apr 06
Thanks for tuning in Adam!
Sharon Mack
Apr 09
Hi. I noticed that in your cookbook, this recipe calls for 1 and a half cups of broth to be added with the chicken.
Which version is recommended?
Pati Jinich
May 24
Oh thank you for catching that, Sharon! Use the broth…and I’ve updated the recipe on the site.
Ty
Oct 05
I found the same thing in the ingredients listing, but couldn’t find anywhere to add the broth. To be honest, I’m glad I didn’t. IMHO, it didn’t need it. Took me 30-40 minutes to simmer off the liquid that was already there after adding the chicken. And it was still 100% delicious…. 🙂
Pati Jinich
Oct 14
I’m glad you found it 100% delicious, Ty.
Jessica
May 01
This looks delicious. Is there a reason why you don’t cook the chicken in the sauce?
Pati
May 04
You have to cook the chicken first, shred it and then finish it in the sauce for a true tinga dish. But of course you can also make the sauce and cook the whole chicken pieces in it until the chicken is thoroughly cooked, but you just wouldn’t call it tinga …
Travis
Mar 05
I have made this recipe 3-4 times after I found it last fall. It is delicious.
Thanks for making this great recipe available.
Pati
Mar 06
Thank you for trying and loving it Travis!