Shredded Mexican Braised Chicken Breast
This is my go-to method for making chicken breast for stuffing into burritos or putting on nachos. It’s cooked in a spiced tomato mixture, then shredded for use!
Have you ever wanted to eat something tasty for dinner but felt lazy about actually cooking it?
I’d be shocked if anyone said ‘no’ to this question.
There are plenty of times when I want to cook something challenging or involved, but there are also times when we all want to do something easy.
This is one of those easy dishes, and I often shred this chicken up for things like burritos, quesadillas, or even just to serve with rice.
Make a flavorful braising liquid for the chicken breasts, with chicken broth, fire roasted tomatoes, and Mexican spices:
Place the chicken breasts in this liquid, cover with a lid, and let them cook for 20-30 minutes. Shred the chicken up, then reduce the braising liquid down. Toss the chicken to coat:
Now you can do what you want with the chicken.
I like to put it in a burrito with rice, sour cream, a black bean and corn salsa, tomatoes, and romaine:
Roll that baby up by pulling in the sides, tucking in the bottom, and rolling to close:
Easy and tasty dinner, minimal work required for those lazy “I want to watch TV and sit in my pajamas” kinds of days. Enjoy!
Shredded Mexican Braised Chicken Breast
Ingredients
- 2 lbs split chicken breasts skin on, ribs in
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 14.5 oz can fire roasted tomatoes
- 2 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 1/2 tsp oregano
- 1/2 tsp ground coriander
- 1 bay leaf
- salt and pepper
Instructions
- Heat up a skillet over medium high heat (make sure the pan has a lid). Season the chicken breasts all over with salt and pepper, then place the chicken skin side down directly onto the pan.
- Cook for 2 minutes on each side, then remove the chicken breasts temporarily to a plate. There should be some brown bits on the bottom of the pan now. Deglaze the pan by adding the chicken broth, scraping up the brown bits from the pan. Add the fire roasted tomatoes, cumin, chili powder, oregano, coriander, and bay leaf.
- Put the chicken breasts back into the pan and turn the heat down to medium. Put the lid on and simmer the chicken for 20-30 minutes, until the chicken is cooked (I cook mine to 160 degrees F).
- After the chicken has cooked, let it rest for at least 10 minutes before shredding, otherwise all the juices will run out of the chicken. In the meantime, turn the heat to high and reduce the spiced tomato sauce until it reaches the consistency you like (this should be 5-10 minutes). Make sure to stir often so it doesn’t burn. Toss the shredded chicken to coat in this sauce, and serve.
Nutrition
Nutrition is estimated using a food database and is only intended to be used as a guideline for informational purposes.
34 Comments on “Shredded Mexican Braised Chicken Breast”
I have a giant bag of bone in chicken leg quarters that needs to be used. Any thoughts on how this would work with legs and thinghs?
FYI if anyone reads this it did work but I should have used more thigh by weight than recommended for bone in breast. I did not account for more bones per volume in the thighs
Just what I was looking for! Thank you!
I’m glad I took a chance on this recipe! Usually we just boil chicken breast for enchiladas (boorrrring!) but I wanted a more flavorful option. My husband was blown away when he smelled and tasted this amazing chicken. I’m making it again a week later. This is a great way to pack flavor into chicken breast for Mexican dishes. I highly recommend this recipe!
Thank you. That was mind blowing..
We had this tonight, and it was terrific. Husband couldn’t stop praising it. We didn’t shred it, we just served it as braised chicken with the sauce and some arroz y frijoles on the side.
Thanks for a splendid recipe!
Really happy to hear that!
I make this ALL THE TIME. Some additions. After cooking chickn I deglaze the pan by sweating some onions, garlic, chopped bell and rehydrated chipoltle peppers in it. I then bloom all the spices with the cooked veggies to get rid of raw spice taste. I then add all the liquids (I only use fire roasted tomatoes and half can of water…if I have stock or broth i’ll use it) and simmer simmer simmer. SO GOOD !
Ohhh I loved hearing about what you do after cooking the chicken! Sounds great!
I tried this but didnt really follow the recipe, because I used what ingredients I had. I used chicken broth, chili power, spaghetti sauce (about 6 teaspoons), red pepper, garlic and herb, southwest chipotle, and accent.
I included chili beans,Mexican rice, lettuce, corn and Mexican rice.
I finished it off with sweet and spicy honey mustard.
It was really good
Hey thanks for this recipe! It’s exactly what I was looking for. excellent method and the spices can be adjusted to your personal preference.
Here’s a tip in return:
For a relatively easy shredded chicken mole sauce, take this same recipe and near the end, add approx 100 grams or more of finely chopped, dark chocolate. Ideally the 70-85% Cacao Lindt chocolate bar, but any high quality dark chocolate will do.
Very cool, I will definitely try that Lammy! Thanks!