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Mexican Street Corn Chicken Tacos

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Corn tortillas are loaded with flavorful shredded chicken, a charred corn salsa, and topped with a hearty drizzle of avocado cilantro lime sauce and crumbled cotija cheese. They're Mexican street corn turned into tacos!

Three mexican street corn tacos on a white platter

One of my favorite food sayings is: “It's okay if you fall apart sometimes. Tacos fall apart, and we still love them”.

In that sense, I relate strongly to tacos – but really, don't we all?

There probably isn't a kind of taco that I would say no to, but these Mexican street corn chicken tacos are at the top of my list.

Why these corn tortilla chicken tacos are my favorite

  • We're using corn tortillas, which are always my preferred choice over flour tortillas
  • The shredded chicken is juicy and flavorful with a little bit of heat, not in a “omg that's so spicy” kind of way. You could always amp up the heat with more spice!
  • Corn is my favorite vegetable, so I load my salsa up with it (along with avocado, cilantro and scallions). If you think I'm exaggerating, I even make corn ice cream. So… yeah.
  • For some extra avocado flavor, I make my own sauce to drizzle on top with avocado, cilantro and lime
  • And to top it all off, I like to top them off with a hearty spoonful of cotija cheese (my favorite cheese)
Overhead shot of a corn tortilla filled with colorful meats and veggies

How to make the avocado cilantro lime sauce

If you have a blender, this sauce is super easy to make. Just toss all the ingredients in together, and puree! Aside from peeling the avocado and garlic, you don't need to do any other kind of prep.

You'll need:

  • avocado
  • cilantro
  • sour cream, mayonnaise or Greek yogurt
  • olive oil
  • garlic, peeled
  • lime juice
  • salt and pepper

This sauce is great on these tacos, but also makes a great salad dressing or dip for veggies! Store it in a jar in the fridge to save it for other dishes.

Shredding chicken breasts using meat claws

How to make shredded chicken

Don't be intimidated by the idea of making your own shredded chicken! My favorite method is to simply roast chicken breasts in the oven and then shred them with meat claws (aff link).

Take a look at this post about how to make shredded chicken for in-depth instructions and step-by-step photos.

After you've prepared your shredded chicken, you're going to cook it with onion, garlic, cumin, chili powder, paprika, freshly squeezed lime juice, and lime zest.

They'll be infused with just enough flavor and spice, and it's easy to customize to your own flavor preferences – add a little more of your favorite spices if you want some extra heat!

Four photo collage showing the process of cooking shredded chicken

How to make homemade taco seasoning

To save yourself a step in the future, you could mix your spices together and keep them stored in an airtight container to use on meat for the next tacos you make! Because we all know there are going to be more tacos.

You'll just want to make a couple of adjustments so that it's shelf stable for a while. This will make enough for an extra batch of this recipe:

  • 1 tablespoon onion powder (instead of chopped)
  • 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder (instead of minced)
  • 2 teaspoons ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon chili powder
  • ½ teaspoon paprika

How to make avocado corn salsa

  1. The first step is to saute the corn in a pan until you get a nice char.
  2. If you have access to a grill, go this route: coat the corn in oil, salt pepper, and chili powder and grill it on the cob until it's charred and then removing the kernels from the cob tastes amazing. There's just nothing like grilled corn.
  3. In a bowl, combine the charred corn, diced avocado, chopped cilantro, scallions and lime juice and toss or stir to combine.

If you already have guacamole in the fridge, you could take a shortcut! Add your charred corn, cilantro and scallions to your guacamole and you're all set.

Four photo collage showing the process of making fresh avocado corn salsa

Assembling your tacos

Now for the best part – you know, aside from actually eating them. I love a good DIY food because I get to customize every aspect of what I'm going to shove in my face.

You don't have to stack your ingredients in this order, but my personal preference – from bottom to top – is:

  • Warmed corn tortilla
  • Pile of shredded chicken
  • A hearty spoonful of avocado salsa
  • A handful of crumbled cotija cheese
  • Big drizzle of avocado cilantro lime sauce

Important question: Do you build each taco one at a time as you're eating your way through the stack, or do you build them all upfront so you can ensure they all have an even quantity of fillings?

I'm sure it won't surprise you that I fall into the camp of the latter. My husband is a one-at-a-time type, and that feels like proof that marriage is full of making compromises.

I kid, I kid – but it does stress me out a bit, because what if he gets to his last taco and he has a tiny amount of chicken? Or what if there's entirely too much salsa left?

These are the things that give me anxiety that I am acutely aware are not actually real problems.

Four photo collage showing the process of assembling mexican street corn tacos

Variations

  • Mexican Street Corn Nachos: If you don't have tortillas, or you just want to try something different, I highly recommend using the fillings and toppings on a sheet pan of nacho chips and broiling them for a few minutes. So, so good.
  • Mexican Street Corn Dip: I liked this idea so much it's got its own post!
  • Mexican Street Corn Salad: Swap the tortillas for some greens and make a big salad out of it.
  • Grilled chicken: If you'd prefer to use grilled chicken strips instead of shredded chicken, more power to you. You can use all the same juices and spices as a marinade before grilling.

Now go make yourself some tacos and remember that even if they fall apart – you love them!

Three mexican street corn tacos on a white platter with limes and cilantro

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Mexican Street Corn Chicken Tacos

4.73 from 11 votes
Corn tortillas are loaded with flavorful shredded chicken, a charred corn salsa, and topped with a hearty drizzle of avocado cilantro lime sauce and crumbled cotija cheese. They're Mexican street corn turned into tacos!
Prep Time: 25 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Total Time: 50 minutes
Servings: 8 tacos

Ingredients
 

Avocado cilantro lime sauce

Avocado corn salsa

Chicken

Instructions

Avocado cilantro lime sauce

  • Place all ingredients in a food processor or blender and pulse until smooth.
    1/2 (½) avocado
    1 Tablespoon cilantro
    1 Tablespoon sour cream
    1 Tablespoon olive oil
    1 teaspoon garlic
    Squeeze of fresh lime juice
    Salt and pepper
  • If it's too thick, add water a teaspoon at a time and pulse again to combine. Repeat until desired consistency is achieved. Set aside.

Avocado corn salsa

  • In a large saucepan, heat 1 Tablespoon olive oil over medium high heat.
    1 Tablespoon olive oil
  • Add corn kernels and stir occasionally, until starting to brown (5-10 minutes).
    1 1/2 cups (246 g) corn kernels
  • Add chili powder, salt and pepper and stir to coat and combine. Transfer to medium bowl and wipe out pan (you'll use it for the chicken prep).
    1/2 teaspoon (½ teaspoon) chili powder
    1/8 teaspoon (⅛ teaspoon) salt
    1/8 teaspoon (⅛ teaspoon) ground black pepper
  • Add avocado, scallions, cilantro and lime juice to bowl and toss or stir to combine. Salt and pepper to taste and set aside.
    1 ripe avocado
    1/4 cup (25 g) scallions
    1/2 cup (8 g) cilantro
    Big squeeze of lime juice
    Salt and pepper

Shredded chicken

  • In a large saucepan, heat 1 Tablespoon olive oil over medium heat.
    3 Tablespoons olive oil
  • Add onion and saute until softened. Add garlic, cumin, chili powder, paprika and stir until fragrant, about 1 minute.
    1 cup (160 g) onion
    2 cloves garlic
    2 teaspoons ground cumin
    1 teaspoon chili powder
    1/2 teaspoon (½ teaspoon) ground paprika
  • Add remaining 2 Tablespoons olive oil and shredded chicken and stir to coat. Add lime juice and lime zest, and stir to combine. Salt and pepper to taste. Transfer to medium bowl and cover.
    3 Tablespoons olive oil
    3 cups (420 g) shredded cooked chicken
    1/4 cup (60 ½ g) freshly squeezed lime juice
    Zest of one lime
    Salt and pepper

Assembly

  • Heat tortillas in your preferred method. I like to place them stacked in a small warmed saucepan, cover and heat for 5-10 seconds. Then I flip the stack over, cover, and heat for another 5-10 seconds. Transfer to tortilla warmer or covered bowl until serving.
    8-10 corn tortillas
  • To assemble, top each tortilla with chicken, salsa, sauce, crumbled cotija cheese and serve with a lime wedge to squeeze on top. Enjoy!
    Cotija cheese
    Lime wedges

Video

Notes

Shredded chicken: You can use a pre-cooked rotisserie chicken and shred it, but my preferred method is to bake 1 pound of chicken breasts and season it myself – see this post with detailed instructions and step by step photos on how to make your own shredded chicken.

Nutrition Facts

Calories: 328kcal | Carbohydrates: 24g | Protein: 17g | Fat: 20g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 12g | Cholesterol: 40mg | Sodium: 159mg | Potassium: 483mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 343IU | Vitamin C: 10mg | Calcium: 58mg | Iron: 2mg

Nutrition Disclaimer

The provided nutrition information is generated by an automatic API and does not take variations across specific brands into account. This information is provided as a general guideline and should not be treated as official calculations. Learn more here.

Recipe created by Leslie Kiszka

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Recipe Rating




5 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    Delicious, I only made the chicken part but added your Mexican grilled corn recipe instead of avacodo , was delicious with the cojete cheese crumbles, kinda like feta. I enjoyed the chicken emencly .

  2. 5 stars
    I had everything I needed to make these except for the corn tortillas so I just made them into taco bowls and it was SO GOOD! Just enough spice for me and I don’t like spicy stuff. My husband added more to his because he likes it spicer