Your taco tuesday is in need of smoky, spicy, flavor-packed chicken adobo tacos. Juicy chicken thighs seasoned and marinated in spicy adobo sauce, grilled, and served up with all our fave toppings. This is possibly the easiest dinner you'll make this summer!
If your whole family are fans of delicious tacos like our family, try my steak fajita tacos, braised al pastor tacos, or juicy chicken quesabirria tacos!
Adobo Chicken Tacos are Fast + Flavorful Weeknight Dinner
We are under a heat dome, y'all. While June is usually in the low eighties, we are in the upper nineties/low hundreds. In the DMV!
So I'm trying to make dinner quick and simple here. I needed the house to stay cool and dinner to be satisfying... which makes for a perfect STAT Grilling Series recipe!
And this dinner is such an easy recipe - no chopping up veg for prepwork or doing a lot of fuss because your blender does all the work.
Pollo Adobada -or Adobo-marinated grilled chicken- is super flavorful and so, so easy to make. You can use a store-bought adobo sauce but we're making it from scratch in this recipe (you know that's how I like to roll), marinate for like 15 to 30 minutes and throw the chicken on the grill. Chop it up, throw into tortillas with some toppings and sides and bam, dinner!
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What is Adobada?
Adobada (which translates to 'marinated' in Spanish), refers to any meat that is marinated in adobo. It really is that simple. It can be cooked any way, though you'll mostly find Mexican pork adobado grilled or pan seared in a skillet, while there is a version called adovado that's braised for about 4 hours.
Ingredients
Full ingredients, measurements, and printable instructions are in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
- Skinless Boneless Chicken Thighs - I prefer thighs to chicken breast, they are harder to over-marinate and overcook and are just juicier and more flavorful!
- Corn Tortillas - I love corn tortillas for tacos! They're too classic (and tasty) to pass up.
- Your Favorite Taco Toppings and Sides- I would recommend a chunky guacamole, salsa verde, or fruity mango pico de gallo to go with this. Though traditional tacos toppings are simply chopped white or red onion and fresh cilantro with salsa on the side.
Homemade Adobo Sauce Marinade
- Chipotle Peppers in Adobo Sauce - these have a spicy kick and smoky flavor, they're smoked red jalapeños so keep that in mind. You can use about half the can for some great heat or just a couple for a kid-friendly marinade.
- Guajillo and Ancho Chiles - you need to remove the stem and seeds, which is really easy. Tear off the stems and the seeds should fall out when held upside down. If they don't roll the chilies between your hands to loosen up the seeds.
- Orange Juice + Apple Cider Vinegar- you can just use the vinegar, which is pretty traditional but we like the orange juice flavor. You can swap in fresh lime juice or add it in for more tartness.
- Garlic Cloves
- Oregano
- Cumin
- Coriander
- Black Peppercorn
- A Clove - just one, trust me. It gives a warm flavor without overpowering
- Annatto Seeds - this is what gives achiote paste it's vibrant red red hue and has an earthy flavor. You can find it powdered or whole.
- Kosher Salt and freshly ground Black Pepper
How to Make this Adobo Chicken Taco Recipe
How to Make Homemade Adobo Sauce
Step 1 | Soak and rehydrate the dried chilies in a saucepan of water over medium low heat. Let that soak for about 5-10 minutes, then drain the water.
Step 2 | Blend up all the spices in our adobo sauce if you're using whole spices. Use a high powered blender or a spice grinder so they're perfectly powdered.
Step 3 | Add all the other adobo ingredients into the blender and blend until smooth. We want a thick-ish mixture but not a chunky one.
Step 4 | Marinate the chicken thighs with the adobo sauce in a large bowl. Massage the adobo really well all over each piece of chicken with gloved or clean hands, you want it to coat every nook and cranny. Then cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate. You can marinate it for 15 minutes up to overnight. I say if you are planning this out ahead of time, definitely do it overnight.
Marinate + Cook the Chicken
Step 5 | Prep your grill, oil the grates, and grill the chicken on medium high heat for 10 minutes total, flipping once at 5 minutes. We want some char, so don't be afraid of small flames hitting them!
Step 6 | Let the chicken rest for a couple of minutes, then slice and chop the chicken into bite-sized pieces for tacos.
Step 7 | Warm your tortillas, prep your salsa, your sides and toppings, and dig into dinner!
Variations
- If you want a mild version of the adobo instead of spicy, use only 1-3 chipotles in your adobo. While guajillo and ancho chiles aren't spicy, the chipotles are.
- Swap the boneless thighs for chicken breasts, just chop the breasts in half so they cook quicker.
- Use whatever protein you want! Adobo is classic on pork but it's delicious on beef and even marinating tofu.
- Swap the corn tortillas for flour tortillas, if you like.
- Swap the orange juice for pineapple juice and turn this into chicken al pastor tacos!
- You can cook the chicken on a cast iron skillet over medium high heat until fully cooked.
Pro Tips
- You can find achiote paste and adobo sauce at your local big box grocery store in the hispanic aisle. Make your life even easier!
- Oil your grill grates really, really well. Otherwise your chicken will stick and rip apart when you pick it up.
- Freezer Meals - this is a fantastic recipe to have as a freezer meal, ready to thaw, heat, and east when you just don't feel like cooking. Double everything and either freeze the raw marinating chicken to thaw and grill when ready, or grill the marinated chicken, chop it up, bag and freeze for later.
Serving Suggestions
All the classic Mexican sides are perfect for this recipe! Don't forget the Mexican rice, creamy avocado slices, a nice queso fresco or cotija cheese, and lime wedges --a LOT of them!
Storage and Reheating
Store in the fridge: store leftover chicken in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days
Freeze + Thaw: put all the leftover chicken into a freezer safe zip top bag and freeze for up to 6 months
Reheat: rewarm the chicken in a skillet over medium heat until warmed through or in the microwave until hot.
Equipment You Need
- Spice Grinder - optional, if you don't have a high powered blender this will work perfectly for whole spices.
- Cutting Board and Sharp Knife
- High Powered Blender - or just regular blender if you're not going to powder your spices.
- Tongs
- Mixing Bowl
- Plastic Wrap or BeesWax Wrap - to cover the bowl for marinating.
- Grill - I use a gas grill but you can use a charcoal grill with a grill thermometer.
FAQs
Mexican adobo sauce is a blend of spices, herbs, chiles, and vinegar that is used for marinating or even as a stew or soup base for regional dishes.
The chipotles left in the can can be used in other recipes like a chipotle aioli, chipotle bbq sauce, or chipotle BBQ wings
More Grilling Recipes!
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Grilled Adobo Chicken Tacos
Equipment
- grill
Ingredients
Adobo Sauce Marinade
- water, to rehydrate the chilies
- 3 dried guajillo chilies, stemmed and seeded
- 2 dried ancho chilies, stemmed and seeded
- 5 chipotles in adobo, use less for more mild adobo
- 8 garlic cloves, peeled
- 1 tablespoon dried Mexican oregano
- ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1 whole clove
- 1 teaspoon coriander seeds
- 2 tablespoon whole annatto seeds
- 1 teaspoon whole black peppercorn
- 2 tablespoon kosher salt
- ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
- ½ cup orange juice
Adobo Chicken Tacos
- 8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
- corn tortillas
- your favorite toppings and sides
Instructions
Make the Adobo Marinade
- Pour water into a saucepan, enough to cover your dried chilies, and turn the heat to medium. Rehydrate the stemmed and seeded chilies for about 5-10 minutes. Discard the water.water, 3 dried guajillo chilies, 2 dried ancho chilies
- If using whole spices, use a spice grinder or high powered blender to pulverize the spices into powder. **If not, use already-powdered spices!1 tablespoon dried Mexican oregano, ½ teaspoon cumin seeds, 1 whole clove, 1 teaspoon coriander seeds, 2 tablespoon whole annatto seeds, 1 teaspoon whole black peppercorn, 2 tablespoon kosher salt
- Add the chipotles, garlic, apple cider vinegar, and orange juice to the powdered spices in the blender and blend until the mixture is smooth. It'll be somewhat thick, but we don't want it to be chunky.5 chipotles in adobo, 8 garlic cloves, ¼ cup apple cider vinegar, ½ cup orange juice
Marinate the Chicken
- In a large mixing bowl or gallon sized zip-top bag, add in the chicken thighs and pour the marinade over them. Really coat every nook and cranny, cover the bowl with plastic wrap, then either let it marinate for fifteen minutes to an hour on the counter OR marinate up to overnight in the fridge.8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
Make the Adobo Chicken Tacos
- Oil your grill grates with high heat oil or nonstick cooking spray and preheat the grill to medium high - high (around 400℉ to 450℉/ 204-232℃).
- Once grill is hot, use tongs to carefully place the chicken thighs on the grill grates. Close the lid and let cook for 5-7 minutes, depending on how thick your chicken thighs are. After the 5-7 minutes, flip them with tongs and let cook for another 5-7 minutes. Don't worry about char, we want that on the chicken.
- With clean tongs, carefully remove the chicken thighs from the grill onto a plate and cover with aluminum foil to rest for a couple of minutes before chopping the chicken into bite sized pieces.
- Serve the chicken hot in pan-warmed tortillas with toppings like salsa roja or pico de gallo, fresh cilantro and chopped onion, and sides like refried beans, rice, cotija cheese, avocado slices, etc.your favorite toppings and sides, corn tortillas
@sweetteaandthyme 🌮Grilled Chicken Adobo Tacos. Its 101 degrees right now. You couldnt get me to turn on my oven if you paid me…okay maybe if you were paying well. #foodtiktok #dinnerwithme #bigbackactivities #dinnertime #cookingtiktok #cookingvideos #cookingathometiktoktv #tacos #chickentacos #cooking #easyrecipe #grilling #kitchenhacks
♬ sonido original - SONIDOS LARGOS
Recipe Notes
Storage and Reheating
- Store in the fridge: store leftover chicken in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days
- Freeze + Thaw: put all the leftover chicken into a freezer safe zip top bag and freeze for up to 6 months
- Reheat: rewarm the chicken in a skillet over medium heat until warmed through or in the microwave until hot.
Variations
-
- If you want a mild version of the adobo instead of spicy, use only 1-3 chipotles in your adobo. While guajillo and ancho chiles aren't spicy, the chipotles are.
- Swap the boneless thighs for chicken breasts, just chop the breasts in half so they cook quicker.
- Use whatever protein you want! Adobo is classic on pork but it's delicious on beef and even marinating tofu.
- Swap the corn tortillas for flour tortillas, if you like.
- Swap the orange juice for pineapple juice and turn this into chicken al pastor tacos!
- You can cook the chicken on a cast iron skillet over medium high heat until fully cooked.
Pro Tips
-
- You can find achiote paste and adobo sauce at your local big box grocery store in the hispanic aisle. Make your life even easier!
- Oil your grill grates really, really well. Otherwise your chicken will stick and rip apart when you pick it up.
- Freezer Meals - this is a fantastic recipe to have as a freezer meal, ready to thaw, heat, and east when you just don't feel like cooking. Double everything and either freeze the raw marinating chicken to thaw and grill when ready, or grill the marinated chicken, chop it up, bag and freeze for later.
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