Baked BBQ Chicken Tacos

By Maria Lichty

Published on September 01, 2021

View RecipePin Recipe4.64

Are you looking for an easy dinner recipe that takes less than 30 minutes to make AND that is super duper delicious? It’s your lucky day, because these Baked BBQ Chicken Tacos are the BEST weeknight dinner!

Tacos are always a hit, but these BBQ Chicken Tacos are crazy good! Think saucy BBQ chicken with lots of cheese, a crispy taco shell, fresh corn salsa, and avocado! Is your mouth watering? My boys devour them every single time.

I have a feeling this easy taco recipe is going to be a regular at your house! My boys request these tacos all of the time!

BBQ Chicken Taco Ingredients

• Hard Taco Shells– grab a box of hard corn tortilla shells from the grocery store.
• Olive oil– a little bit of olive oil for sautéing the onion and garlic.
• Red onion– we like red onion, but white or yellow will work too.
• Garlic– just a little bit of garlic to enhance the flavor! Garlic is always a good idea.
• Chicken– we use shredded rotisserie chicken to keep the recipe SUPER simple! If you have leftover cooked chicken, you can use that too!
• BBQ Sauce– you can use homemade BBQ sauce or buy your favorite brand from the store.
• Cheese– we use shredded Mexican blend cheese, but you can use Monterey jack, pepper jack, or cheddar.
• Cilantro– a little cilantro for a pop of fresh!

How to Make BBQ Chicken Tacos

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a 9×13-inch baking dish with parchment paper or grease with nonstick cooking spray.
• Place the taco shells in the prepared pan, standing up. Bake for 5 minutes so the shells can crisp up. This will help prevent the bottoms of the shells from getting soggy.
• In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook for 3 minutes or until softened. Add the garlic and cook for another minute.
• Add the shredded rotisserie chicken and BBQ sauce and stir until the chicken is well coated in the sauce. Remove the skillet from the heat. Stir in 1 cup of the shredded cheese and the cilantro.
• Spoon the chicken mixture evenly into the shells. Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top of the tacos. You can prop them up against each other so they stand up. We always make 10 tacos, but if you don’t want them as full, you can probably make 12 tacos.
• Place the pan in the oven and bake until the cheese is melted.

Taco Toppings

The taco toppings are always the best part! We love adding our fresh corn salsa, it is SO good with these tacos! We also add a little purple cabbage, avocado (or guacamole), and cilantro. The tacos are also good with a little drizzle of creamy cilantro lime dressing.

Of course, you can top the tacos with your favorite toppings. Sour cream, pico de gallo, pineapple salsa, jalapeño slices, queso fresco, etc. would all be really tasty!

More Taco Recipes

• Easy Chicken Tacos
• Turkey Tacos
• Steak Tacos
• Chipotle Chicken Tacos
• Shrimp Tacos
• Easy Vegetarian Tacos

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Main Dishes

Baked BBQ Chicken Tacos

Baked BBQ Chicken Tacos- these easy baked chicken tacos are made with rotisserie chicken, BBQ sauce, cheese, and finished with fresh corn salsa! You are going to love this easy 30-minute meal!

4.60 from 5 votes

PrintSave RecipeReview

Prep Time 5 minutes mins

Cook Time 20 minutes mins

Total Time 25 minutes mins

Cuisine Mexican

Servings 10 Tacos

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Ingredients

  

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For the Tacos:

• 12 hard taco shells
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/3 cup chopped red onion
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 3 cups shredded rotisserie chicken
• 1/2 cup BBQ sauce, can use store bought
• 2 cups shredded Mexican blend cheese, divided
• 1 tablespoon cilantro

Toppings:

• Finely shredded purple cabbage
• Corn Salsa
• Avocado
• Fresh cilantro

Instructions

 

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a 9×13-inch baking dish with parchment paper or grease with nonstick cooking spray. Place the taco shells in the prepared pan, standing up. Bake for 5 minutes so the shells can crisp up. Remove from the oven and set aside.
• In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook for 3 minutes or until softened. Add the garlic and cook for one minute.
• Add the chicken and BBQ sauce and stir until the chicken is well coated in the sauce. Remove the skillet from the heat. Stir in 1 cup of the shredded cheese and the cilantro.
  
• Spoon the chicken mixture evenly into the shells. Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top of the tacos. You can prop them up against each other so they stand up.
  
• Bake for 7 to 10 minutes or until cheese is melted. Remove from the oven and top with cabbage, corn salsa, avocado or your favorite taco toppings!

Notes

if you have leftover cooked chicken, you can use it to make the tacos! Feel free to top the tacos with your favorite taco toppings. See the post for more ideas.

Nutrition

Calories: 188kcal, Carbohydrates: 16g, Protein: 6g, Fat: 11g, Saturated Fat: 5g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 4g, Trans Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 21mg, Sodium: 338mg, Potassium: 95mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 5g, Vitamin A: 185IU, Vitamin C: 1mg, Calcium: 168mg, Iron: 1mg

Keywords chicken, tacos

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Photos by Mogwai Soup