Some of our favorite Mexican dinner ideas involve everyone’s favorite protein—chicken! Here I’m sharing 45 authentic Mexican chicken recipes that are worthy of a spot on your family table. Try classics like chicken tinga tacos and chicken empanadas, or a favorite for the grill like pollo asado.
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Whether you’re cooking for your family, hosting a dinner party, or taking on a weekend cooking project, here are 45 authentic Mexican chicken recipes to add to your menu.
If you’re looking for a showstopper of a recipe, my chicken mole verde has been very popular with readers. It’s an authentic Mexican food recipe, and the flavors are abundant with the silky green mole sauce made from chiles, herbs, and pepitas.
If the weather is chilly and you’re excited for soup, I have lots to share. My chicken chileatole and chicken tomatillo stew are two reader favorites. Both make large batches, so you can make a pot for dinner and enjoy leftovers throughout the week.
I love serving these, as well as creamy crockpot chicken tortilla soup or chicken chili with white beans and hominy with a batch of homemade corn tortillas or flour tortillas for dipping.
In the warmer months, we love to grill. You too? Try grilled achiote lime chicken, peach mole with grilled chicken and chayotes, or grilled Mexican chicken adobo.
And if you’re looking for a special dinner party or holiday recipe, I recommend making my chili verde chicken tamales or pastel Azteca (pictured below).
As a reminder, many of my recipes include step-by-step videos. (You can find them inside the blog post and at the bottom of the recipe as well).
45 Authentic Mexican Chicken Recipes
1. Chicken Enchiladas Verdes
Enchiladas Verdes! Shredded chicken wrapped in warm corn tortillas coated in homemade enchilada sauce made with charred tomatillos, poblano pepper, serrano chiles, and onion then baked until the cheese is melted. You are going to love this recipe!
2. Slow Cooker Caldo de Pollo {Mexican Chicken Soup}
This Slow Cooker Caldo de Pollo with jalapeños and herbs is a cold-sufferer’s dream! The chicken broth is soothing and flavorful. Loaded with vegetables like carrots and celery, this soup comes together in 15 minutes and simmers away in the Crockpot until you’re ready to eat.
3. Pozole Rojo de Pollo {Red Chicken Pozole}
This Pozole Rojo de Pollo Recipe is the coziest bowl to warm up to on cold fall and winter nights. Made with tender chicken, hominy, guajillo chiles, and dried ancho chile peppers. This pozole is mildly spicy, rich, full of wonderful color, and so delicious. Top each bowl of soup with plenty of thinly sliced cabbage, fresh cilantro, dried Mexican oregano, lots of minced onions, and crispy radishes! Great on its own, but even better with a side of homemade tortillas. Yum!
4. Chicken Tomatillo Stew
This nourishing Chicken Tomatillo Stew with butternut squash, carrots, tomatillos, chicken, and chiles makes for a healthy and satisfying dinner. Make a big pot and heat up leftovers for lunch. Dairy and gluten-free!
5. Chicken Tinga Tacos
These Chicken Tinga Tacos are perfect for busy weeknights—healthy, easy, and ready in under 30 minutes! They are one of the easiest Mexican recipes. Serve as tacos with sliced avocado and scallions or over rice with a side of black beans.
6. Chicken Flautas Mexicanas
Flautas Mexicanas or Authentic Mexican Flautas filled with shredded chicken and fried until golden brown and crisp. Serve over shredded lettuce with queso fresco and pico de gallo for a dinner everyone loves.
7. Chicken Mole Poblano
Chicken mole takes tender pieces of chicken and coats it in Mole Poblano sauce made from dried chiles, thickened with lightly fried almonds, pistachios, and sesame seeds and accented with Mexican chocolate.
8. Chile Verde Chicken Tamales
These Chile Verde Chicken Tamales are like fluffy masa present waiting to be unwrapped; stuffed with tender poached chicken and mild green tomatillo salsa. A favorite way to make tamales, for sure.
9. Chicken Empanadas
This recipe for Chicken Empanadas combines shredded chicken, peppers, and California Ripe Olives in a guajillo chile sauce all tucked into flaky pastry. Serve as savory appetizers or as the main course with black beans and salsa.
10. Chicken Avocado Jicama Wraps
Featuring a vibrant chicken salad made with rotisserie chicken, avocado, lime, and jalapeños, there’s so much to love about these jicama wraps. Drizzle with salsa verde-yogurt sauce! These make a satisfying, healthy lunch or picnic option.
11. Grilled Chicken Chilaquiles Verdes
How to make Chilaquiles Verdes from scratch with a bold roasted Hatch chile green salsa, grilled lime chicken, and freshly-fried tortilla chips.
12. Green Chile Chicken Meatballs
These Green Chili Chicken Meatballs do double duty as a healthy dinner served with steamed rice, a rainbow of crunchy vegetables and a sweet and spicy dipping sauce, the leftovers get tucked into lettuce cups for tomorrow’s lunch box!
13. Chicken Tamales Oxaqueños
Tamales throughout Oaxaca and Southern Mexico are wrapped in banana leaves instead of corn husks. Learn how to make this banana leaf tamales recipe stuffed with delicate masa and tender chicken in a lightly-spiced red chile salsa.
14. Pollo Asado {Yucatecan Grilled Chicken}
My quest for the best grilled chicken recipe continues with this Pollo Asado recipe, tender, juicy grilled chicken with a Yucatecan-style marinade of achiote paste, citrus, and onion. Serve with a big pot of pinto beans.
15. Oaxaca-Style Chicken Picadillo
Learn how to make this Oaxacan-style Chicken Picadillo Recipe. It is a healthier version of Picadillo made super easy with rotisserie chicken, tomatoes, onion, raisins, and almonds. When you’re in need of a quick meal, this is the recipe for you.
16. Citrus Chicken Fajitas
If I tried to describe this chicken fajita marinade I might say it is “amazing” “delicious” and “super fresh” It also happen to be healthy {it’s gluten-free, low in saturated fat, and paleo!} Not to mention the fact that it is so flavorful, thanks to all that orange, lemon, and lime zest and juice.
17. Chicken Mole Verde
Chicken Mole Verde –A vibrant green mole made with tomatillos, cilantro, jalapeños, and thickened with pumpkin seeds and sesame seeds. Serve with Sofrito Black Beans and steamed rice for a delicious Mexican dinner. Low-Carb and Keto-Friendly. Includes a video!
18. Peach Mole with Grilled Chicken and Chayotes
Summer’s ripest peaches make a sweet and spicy mole sauce served with grilled chicken and chayotes. Peach mole tastes better the day after it is made and will keep in the refrigerator for up to a week or in the freezer for up to 6 months.
19. Sticky Jalapeño and Cherry Grilled Chicken
Sticky Jalapeño and Cherry Grilled Chicken is a low-stress, utterly simple dinner recipe you MUST make this summer with a killer spicy-sweet marinade.
20. Chicken Tamales with Pumpkin & Mole Sauce
Chicken tamales with roasted cubes of pumpkin and a sweet and spicy mole made from charred pineapple, spicy chipotle chiles, and ripe plantain called Manchamantel.
21. Creamy Chicken Enchiladas with Jamaica Mole
Chicken and crema enchiladas covered with a dried hibiscus or jamaica mole sauce. A celebratory recipe for a dinner party or holidays.
22. The Best Spicy Lime Jalapeño Chicken Soup
A spicy jalapeño and shredded chicken soup bright with lime juice and spices like ground cumin, coriander, and smoked paprika. Chopped kale and cannellini beans make it filling without being too heavy.
23. Instant Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup
Check out this Chicken Tortilla Soup, Instant Pot style! So quick, the entire thing from the homemade tortilla chips to the soup can be made in the Instant Pot!
24. Grilled Mexican Chicken Adobo
A Mexican chicken adobo recipe featuring dried ancho chiles that’s juicy, tender, and smoky thanks to flavor-forward ingredients, like ancho chiles, ripe tomatoes, and clove and the light touch of the grill. Use the homemade adobo sauce on chicken (like we do here) or pork chops or shrimp.
25. Instant Pot Chicken Carnitas with Peach Salsa
Fresh peaches simmer with chicken in the Instant Pot in mere minutes for the tastiest chicken carnitas recipe ever! Serve with a peach-ginger salsa and cilantro lime rice.
26. Sizzling & Juicy Grilled Chicken Fajitas
This savory, flavorful, and juicy Grilled Chicken Fajitas Recipe is an utter delight! Sizzling, tender chicken breast soak up a Mexican-inspired marinade then grilled until charred and succulent. Slice the grilled chicken thin and wrap it in warm tortillas with grilled veggies. The perfect light, feel-good dinner with deliciously bold Tex-Mex flavor…an instant favorite!
27. Chicken Chili with White Beans & Hominy
This is one of those Chicken Chili recipes that will have you winning at dinnertime. Tender chicken and white beans in a lime and chili broth with lots of veggies. Simple good food!
28. Grilled Achiote Lime Chicken
This recipe is one of my all time favs. It is made with achiote paste, olive oil and tons ‘o lime. There are many different ways to make Mexican-style grilled chicken but this one is up there with the best.
29. Pastel Azteca {Stacked Enchiladas}
This Pastel Azteca recipe features layers of tender shredded chicken, creamy tomatillo sauce, melty Oaxaca cheese, and roasted poblano peppers stacked tall between crispy corn tortillas. This warm, comforting dish is a family-style recipe that makes everyone happy.
30. Chicken Tacos with Cilantro Pesto
Pork, steak, and fish tacos may seem more exciting than your average chicken taco, but the cilantro pesto on these makes them a strong contender for best taco on the block. The addition of the pepitas-thickened garlicky cilantro pesto is what makes it so interesting to me. I like to serve them with charred corn tortillas and fresh slaw.
31. Arroz Con Pollo {Chicken and Rice}
The most delicious Mexican Arroz Con Pollo Recipe, our new weeknight staple. Bone-in chicken thighs seasoned with chili powder, black pepper, and salt baked with rice, tomatoes, peppers, and sweet peas. Top the chicken with cilantro and lemon juice just as it comes out of the oven.
32. Pollo A La Diabla
This comforting and spicy pollo a la diabla recipe is just what your week needs! Guajillo and chipotle peppers are puréed with tomatoes and garlic to provide a rich base then chicken thighs get a good browning before simmering in that spicy sauce until tender and infused with flavor. Delish!
33. Chicken Street Tacos
One of the kid’s favorite recipes are these Chicken Street Taco. They have an addictive spice rub with just the right balance of cayenne to brown sugar that gives them a little kick but not too spicy.
34. Smoky Chicken Tacos with Mango Pico de Gallo
Shredded chipotle chicken tacos are one of my favorite healthy recipes that topped with a mango salsa that is like a burst of sunshine. Serve with refried beans.
35. Chicken and Black Bean Nachos
Crispy chips loaded with chicken, black beans, cheese, and all the toppings. Make this easy recipe the next time the nacho cravings hit.
36. Soy Sriracha Chicken Fajitas
These Soy Sriracha Chicken Fajitas are about as delicious as they come because grilled chicken and soy are universal besties + Sriracha? No question.
37. Chipotle Chicken Flautas
This is one our favorite authentic Mexican chicken recipes for parties! I like to serve them up as they are done frying, refilling the platter as I go. If you want to make them ahead you can fry them the night before, then reheat on a baking sheet at 350°F for about 10-15 minutes.
38. Easy Chicken Empanadas with Garlic Mojo Sauce
Easy chicken empanadas wrapped in store-bought puff pastry so you don’t have to make the dough. Serve with a garlic mojo sauce for a weeknight dinner!
39. Chicken Milanesa Sandwiches
Crispy Panko-breaded chicken milanesa tucked inside a fluffy roll with pickled fennel and carrots and swathed in a creamy basil and lime mayonnaise.
40. Slow Cooker Chicken Tacos with Himalayan Pink Salt Tortillas
Slow Cooker Chicken Tacos wrapped in homemade Himalayan pink salt tortillas that are perfect for celebrating Day of the Dead flavored with Mexican spices, dried marigold flowers, honey, chiles and lime.
41. Simple Lime Roasted Chicken Thighs
An easy 4-ingredient weeknight dinner recipe! Serve with Mexican rice. I use bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs but boneless skinless chicken thighs work too, they just cook quicker. This is a great meal prep recipe. Make ahead and store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
42. Smoky Chile Relleno Rice Bowl with Chicken
All the flavors of one of our favorite authentic Mexican recipes, cheesy chiles rellenos, tucked into a powerhouse of a rice bowl with smoked chicken, charred chiles, queso fresco, and a quinoa-rice mix. Like a burrito bowl, but better.
43. The Best 5-Minute Mexican Chicken Marinade
This bold Mexican chicken marinade recipe is bursting with flavor and is incredibly easy to whip up. It makes mouthwatering grilled chicken but is also a great marinade for grilled mushrooms, zucchini, or even tofu. Mix up a batch and keep it in your fridge for when the grilling urge strikes.
44. Creamy Slow Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup
This Creamy Chicken Tortilla Soup is made in the slow cooker so you can put everything together and let it slowly simmer. Sour cream adds a rich tang! Make sure to taste and add kosher salt before serving.
45. Chicken Salsa Verde Tacos
Shredded Chicken Salsa Verde Tacos are made with simple ingredients and are ready in 30 minutes. Tender poached chicken breasts (or thighs) tossed in a tangy charred tomatillo salsa makes the best chicken tacos!
Don’t Forget The Sides
- Escabeche {Basic Pickled Vegetables}
- Red Adobo Fries
- Apple Chile Biscuits
- Oven-Baked Avocado Fries
- Gorditas de Maiz
- Sofrito Black Beans
And, obviously, don’t forget drinks! Hop over to my top 10 best añejo tequila picks and 15+ tequila cocktails to use them in if you need some refreshing inspiration.
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