This recipe for pulled chicken tacos with pineapple salsa is flavorful shredded chicken combined topped with sweet and tangy salsa and creamy cilantro sauce, all stuffed inside warm corn tortillas.
You can never go wrong with a good taco, some of my favorites include ground beef tacos, shrimp tacos and these fabulous pulled chicken tacos.
It’s no secret that tacos are a favorite dinner in my house, my family will eat almost anything if it’s wrapped in a tortilla. These pulled chicken tacos may be my new favorite taco of all time, they’ve got SO many amazing flavors going on. Best of all, the components can all be made in advance which means when it’s dinner time you can just assemble and serve!
How do you make pulled chicken tacos?
The first component of any good taco is the tortillas. I prefer to use Sol de Oro tortillas which are made by the family owned La Tapatia Tortilleria. You can find these tortillas online as well as at Lucky’s and Save-Mart stores in Northern California, I love that they use local ingredients in their products. My kids adore the Gorditas Flour Tortillas for quesadillas and lately I’ve been using the Multigrain Whole Wheat Tortillas to make turkey wraps for lunch. La Tapatia also makes some great tortilla chips that I can’t seem to stop eating!
For these pulled chicken tacos I went with Taco Truck Style Mini Corn Tortillas which was an excellent choice. If you can’t find the mini tortillas, you can easily use regular sized corn tortillas instead. There really is something unique about a taco that fits in the palm of your hand, especially when it’s bursting with flavor – so go for the taco truck size if you can!
The pulled chicken for these tacos is simply chicken breasts cooked in a tomato sauce mixture that’s flavored with plenty of Mexican spices. You can also make this pulled chicken in the crockpot. The chicken can be made up to 2 days in advance and reheated right before you plan to serve it.
These pulled chicken tacos are layered with shredded cabbage, pineapple salsa and finished off with a creamy cilantro sauce. The cilantro sauce can be made in less than 5 minutes with the help of a food processor and can also be prepared a day in advance. You might want to consider making some extra pineapple salsa to serve some on the side with your tortilla chips.
The whole family loved these pulled chicken tacos- the shredded chicken tastes like something you’d get at a Mexican restaurant but the pineapple salsa and cilantro sauce take these tacos from ordinary to fabulous. And how could you resist something so colorful? You know what they say about eating the rainbow!
I’ve had these pulled chicken tacos twice already this week and they’ll definitely be making a repeat appearance on our dinner table soon! I served the tacos with my Mexican rice and beans for a complete meal. If you’re as taco obsessed as I am you should check out La Tapatia on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for great recipe ideas and more information about their products.
This post is sponsored by La Tapatia Tortilleria. Thank you for supporting the brands that make Dinner at the Zoo possible!
More delicious taco recipes
- Ground Beef Tacos
- Slow Cooker Chicken Tacos
- Carne Asada Tacos
- Fried Shrimp Tacos with Avocado Relish
- Shrimp Tacos with Mango Salsa
Pulled Chicken Tacos with Pineapple Salsa
Ingredients
For the chicken
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 4 small or 3 large bone- skin-on chicken breasts
- 1 16 ounce can of tomato sauce or 2 8 ounce cans
- 2/3 cup chicken broth
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
For the pineapple salsa
- 1 cup pineapple finely diced
- 1/2 cup red bell pepper finely diced
- 2 tablespoons red onion finely minced
- juice of 1 lime
- 1/2 cup loosely packed cilantro leaves finely chopped
- salt to taste
For the cilantro sauce
- 1 cup sour cream can use light
- 1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves roughly chopped
- 2 teaspoons lime juice
- 1 1/2 teaspoons honey
- 1/4 cup prepared green salsa
- salt and pepper to taste
For assembly
- 1 cup finely shredded purple cabbage
- 16 Sol de Oro Taco Truck Style Mini Corn Tortillas or 8 Sol de Oro regular sized corn tortillas
- Optional garnishes: lime wedges and cilantro leaves
Instructions
- For the chicken:
- In a bowl stir together the tomato sauce, chicken broth, garlic powder, chili powder, cumin, oregano, sugar, salt and pepper.
- In a large pan heat the olive oil over medium high heat. Season the chicken generously with salt and pepper. Place the chicken skin side down and cook for 4-6 minutes or until golden brown.
- Flip the chicken and cook on the other side until golden brown.
- Take the pan off the heat and pour the tomato sauce mixture over the chicken; the chicken should be at least 2/3 of the way covered. (Add more chicken broth if needed).
- Place the pan back on the heat and bring the sauce mixture to a boil. Cover the pan and reduce the heat to low. Simmer for 35 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. Remove the skin and bones and shred the chicken with 2 forks. Pour the remaining sauce from the pan over the shredded chicken and toss to coat. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Crockpot instructions: Place the chicken and tomato sauce mixture in a crockpot. Cook for 4 hours on high or 8 hours on low.
- For the pineapple salsa: Combine all the ingredients in a bowl; place in the refrigerator until ready to use.
- For the cilantro sauce: Place all of the ingredients in the food processor and blend until smooth.
- To assemble the tacos:
- Place 2 mini corn tortillas on top of each other (for a total of 8 stacks of tortillas). Divide the cabbage evenly among the tortillas. Top with 1/4 cup chicken, a drizzle of cilantro sauce and a tablespoon of pineapple salsa.
- Serve with lime wedges and cilantro leaves if desired.
Notes
The cilantro sauce can be made one day in advance.
The pulled chicken can be made up to 2 days in advance.
Nutrition
Kara says
My husband said this was the best taco night recipe yet! Quite tasty. I used the pressure cooker for 15 minutes instead of slow cooking (because I overlooked that part)…and the chicken was perfect! Thanks for sharing!
Sharon says
How far in advance can I make the pineapple salsa?
Sara says
Up to 1 day in advance!
Laura says
hello. what is the prepared green salsa???
Sara says
In the jarred salsa aisle, it’s green salsa verde!
Teala V says
I recently made these in they were phenomenal. I cooked the chicken in the Instant pot while I chopped the ingredients for the salsa and purple cabbage.
Sara says
So glad you enjoyed them, thanks for reporting back!
Our Family World says
Looks so yummy! I got to read this article in time because I was just staring at frozen chicken breasts about an hour ago, thinking of what to make out of it. Yay! Problem solved!
Jill Roberts @ WellnessGeeky says
This pulled chicken tacos recipe absolutely something new for me! Looks yummy! I’m also gonna pin this post on my Pinterest board my followers will love it. Thanks for sharing Sara!
Maria says
looks good! I can’t imagine it is 800+ calories for 2 mini tacos; is the nutritional info for the whole recipe? (it says per serving)
Sara says
Looks like the nutritional calculator thought it was 3 whole chickens rather than chicken breasts! Fixed now, thanks for catching it.
Lynnette says
Best dinner ever!! Thank you. So delicious.
Tricia @ Saving room for dessert says
Those are some gorgeous tacos! Pineapple salsa is a favorite of mine too.
Greg says
Taco truck size tortillas are great. They are so much fun. I love the pineapple salsa.
Thalia @ butter and brioche says
I am loving the idea of a pineapple salsa – never made something like it before!
Debbie says
Beautiful tacos! Loving the salsa and chips too!
Jennifer A Stewart says
Gorgeous tacos! That salsa is off the chain! Making these next Taco Tuesday!!
Sam says
Tacos are a staple in my house…I’m adding these delicious looking tacos with the pulled chicken and tangy salsa to the recipe list. The make ahead components are always a bonus for me,
Beatrice says
I love foods wrapped in tortillas! That pineapple salsa looks amazing!
Kristy says
These tacos look AMAZING. I had a pineapple salsa at dinner the other night over salmon at a nice restaurant but I would have much rather had these pulled chicken tacos! Love!
Judy@ImBoredLetsGo says
I’ve had pulled chicken sliders on my mind for a while now…but this sounds soooooo much better. Love the pairing with pineapple salsa!
Florian @ContentednessCooking says
So colorful and festive! Love the pineapple salsa, yum!
Lauren says
A. these tacos look AMAZING…I love pineapple salsa! B. I LOVE THAT BOARD! Seriously, gorgeous photos!
Levan says
The colors pop, the recipe rocks!!!! Love, love, love recipes like these!!! Thanks for sharing!!!!!