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This Fried Chicken Tacos recipe is made with lightly battered and fried chicken, a quick cabbage slaw and a delicious creamy chipotle sauce. These crispy chicken tacos are SO good, loaded with flavor, and easy enough to make any night of the week.

Fried Chicken Tacos on a plate.

We love everything about these crispy chicken tacos! They’re light and crunchy and with the slaw and chipotle sauce, they have an amazing combination of flavors.

The key to making these crispy fried chicken tacos is to first season the sliced chicken thighs then dredge them in buttermilk and flour. Then we shallow-fry them until they’re crispy, flaky and golden brown. After the chicken is fried, we heat corn tortillas over a stovetop flame and stuff the tortillas with a simple cabbage slaw and the fried chicken. The thing that really makes these tacos special is the chipotle sauce, which is amazing. We drizzle it generously over the chicken. Everything here is simple and flavorful and it comes together in no time. The tacos are crispy, slightly spicy and the chipotle sauce is SO good and makes these tacos a hit!

Fried Chicken Tacos Recipe Ingredients 

Clear glass bowls filled with buttermilk, all-purpose flour, and seasoning next to a plate of chicken thighs.

  • Chicken Thighs. We use boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into short pieces.
  • Seasoning. We season the chicken with chili powder, ground cumin, smoked paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper.
  • Buttermilk. Buttermilk is used to dredge the chicken.
  • All-Purpose Flour. Use all purpose unbleached white flour to dredge the chicken in.
  • Oil. Use canola oil or olive oil to shallow fry the chicken.

Find printable recipe with the measurements below.

Seasoned chicken thighs dredging in buttermilk for fried chicken tacos.
Seasoned white flour in a dish with a spoon.
Seasoned chicken thighs dredged in all purpose flour for fried chicken tacos.

How To Make Crispy Chicken Tacos

  1. Pat the chicken thighs dry with paper towels to eliminate some of the moisture on the thighs. Slice the chicken into 1-inch short strips and place them on a plate.
  2. Pour the buttermilk into a large bowl and whisk in half of the seasoning. Add the sliced chicken to the bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Place in the refrigerator  to marinate while you prepare the chipotle sauce and coleslaw.
  3. Mix the flour and the remaining seasoning in a shallow dish. Heat the oil in a skillet for 3-5 minutes over low heat or until the temperature registers 350°F on a meat thermometer, or until a pinch of flour sprinkled in it sizzles. Remove the chicken from the refrigerator, and dredge one piece of chicken at a time in the seasoned flour. Do not drain the buttermilk marinade from the chicken. Set the dredged chicken pieces on a plate. 
  4. Using tongs, carefully place the chicken pieces one at a time into the hot oil and fry in batches of 4-5 pieces at a time. Fry each piece 5 to 7 minutes on each side or until the thickest part of each piece registers 165°F on a meat thermometer. Fry the remaining pieces in batches of 4-5 pieces at a time.

Tips For Making The Best Fried Chicken Tacos

  • Make sure the oil is 350°F before adding the chicken to the skillet.
  • Add more oil if needed, but make sure to heat the oil to 350°F before adding more chicken to the skillet.
  • If the chicken batter absorbs all of the seasoned flour and becomes moist, dredge the pieces in the seasoned flour again.

Quick Coleslaw For Tacos

To make our simple coleslaw for tacos add the shredded cabbage, chopped green onion and cilantro in a large bowl and toss. Add a little minced jalapeno if you want a spicer slaw. Drizzle the dressing over ingredients and toss again. To make the dressing, measure the ingredients into a mason jar, seal the lid and shake well.

  • Cabbage. We use both purple and green cabbage for this slaw. 1-1/2 cup green cabbage, cut in quarters and shredded. Or if you’re short on time, pick up 1-2 packages of cole slaw mix at the grocery store.
  • Green Onion. We love adding it to the slaw. You can add slivered red onion too if you like.
  • Cilantro. Cilantro makes this slaw so tasty!
  • Dressing.  We toss the slaw in a simple mix of lime juice, honey and a little olive oil.

Creamy Chipotle Sauce For Tacos

Our creamy Chipotle Sauce makes these fried chicken tacos SO good. Just blend the ingredients together in a blender or food processor and refrigerate for up 1 hour before serving so the ingredients have a chance to blend together.

  • Chipotle Peppers In Adobo Sauce. We use canned chipotles in adobo sauce for this recipe. 
  • Sour Cream. We use sour cream as our base instead of mayonnaise.
  • Buttermilk.  Buttermilk is used to thin the sour cream and add a richness to the sauce.
  • Lime Juice.  A little lime juice balances the smokey flavor of the adobo sauce.
  • Cilantro. Fresh cilantro adds flavor.
  • Seasonings. We add onion powder, garlic powder, salt and black pepper to season the sauce.

Fried Chicken Thighs on a plate.

How To Heat Corn Tortillas For Soft Tacos

  1. Using tongs hold one tortilla at a time over the stovetop flame, warming on both sides. This can give the tortillas a little charring (which we love). 
  2. You can also warm the tortillas in a skillet over medium-low heat, flipping them over so both sides are heated through and the tortillas are soft.

Crispy Chicken Tacos on a plate.

What To Serve With Fried Chicken Tacos

Fried Chicken Tacos on a plate.

More Easy Dinner Recipes

Yield: 4 Servings

Fried Chicken Tacos

Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes

This Fried Chicken Tacos recipe is made with lightly battered and fried chicken, a quick cabbage slaw and a delicious creamy chipotle sauce. These crispy chicken tacos are SO good, loaded with flavor, and easy enough to make any night of the week.

Ingredients

  • 4 boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into short strips
  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons chili powder
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1/4 cup canola or olive oil

For the Creamy Chipotle Sauce

  • 1-1/4 cup sour cream
  • 1/4 cup buttermilk
  • Juice of 1/2 lime
  • 1 chipotle pepper in can
  • 2 teaspoons adobo sauce
  • 1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

For the Coleslaw

  • 1-1/2 cup green cabbage, cut in quarters and shredded
  • 1-1/2 cup purple cabbage, cut in quarters and shredded
  • 3/4 cup carrots, peeled and grated on box grater
  • 1/2 cup green onion, chopped (white and light green parts)
  • 1 cup cilantro, chopped
  • or buy 2 12-ounce packages of coleslaw mix

Coleslaw Dressing

  • 1/3 cup fresh lime juice  
  • 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon honey

Instructions

  1. For the Fried Chicken Tacos, Pat the chicken thighs dry with paper towels to eliminate some of the moisture on the thighs. Slice the chicken into 1-inch short strips and place them on a plate. Pour the buttermilk into a large bowl and whisk in half of the seasoning. Add the sliced chicken to the bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Place in the refrigerator  to marinate while you prepare the chipotle sauce and coleslaw. Mix the flour and the remaining seasoning in a shallow dish. Heat the oil in a cast iron skillet for 3-5 minutes over medium heat or until the temperature registers 350°F on a meat thermometer, or until a pinch of flour sprinkled in it sizzles. Remove the chicken from the refrigerator, and dredge one piece of chicken at a time in the seasoned flour. Do not drain the buttermilk marinade from the chicken. Set the dredged chicken pieces on a plate. Using tongs, carefully place the chicken pieces one at a time into the hot oil and fry in batches of 4 -5 pieces at a time. Fry each piece 5 to 7 minutes on each side or until the thickest part of the chicken pieces registers 165°F on a digital meat thermometer. Fry the remaining pieces.
  2. For the Chipotle Sauce, place the ingredients in a blender or food processor and blend until the consistency is smooth. There will be little fine specks of cilantro in the sauce, and that's fine. Season with a pinch of salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste. Add more chipotle pepper or adobo sauce if you want a spicier sauce. Transfer sauce to an airtight container and place in the refrigerator. Refrigerate for up to 1 hour before serving so the flavors have time to blend together. Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator. If properly stored, it should last up to 5 days.
  3. For the Coleslaw, combine the shredded cabbage, carrot, chopped green onion and cilantro in a large bowl and toss to combine. Drizzle dressing over ingredients and toss again. For the dressing, add lime juice, olive oil and honey to mason jar. Seal lid and vigorously shake to blend well.

Notes

Tips For Making The Best Fried Chicken Tacos

  • Make sure the oil is 350°F before adding the chicken to the skillet.
  • Add more oil if needed, but make sure to heat the oil to 350°F before adding more chicken to the skillet.
  • If the chicken batter absorbs all of the seasoned flour and becomes moist, dredge the pieces in the seasoned flour again.

How To Heat Corn Tortillas For Soft Tacos

  1. Using tongs hold one tortilla at a time over the stovetop flame, warming on both sides. This can give the tortillas a little charring (which we love). 
  2. You can also warm the tortillas in a skillet over medium-low heat, flipping them over so both sides are heated through and the tortillas are soft.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

4

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 479Total Fat: 26gSaturated Fat: 5gUnsaturated Fat: 21gCholesterol: 136mgSodium: 878mgCarbohydrates: 32gFiber: 4gSugar: 2gProtein: 33g

theharvestkitchen.com attempts to provide accurate information, however, this nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. The nutritional information provided comes from online sources and calculations. See full disclaimer on About page.

© Deborah Duncan
Cuisine: Mexican / Category: Dinner