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Weeknight style Cheesy Baked Crispy Chipotle Chicken Tacos with Cilantro Lime Ranch…and all the toppings. Because loaded tacos are just better. Ground chicken seasoned with a smoky chipotle chili spice mix, stuffed into hard shell tacos, topped with cheese, and oven-baked. These tacos are crunchy on the outside, but spicy and cheesy inside. Serve each taco with a creamy, cooling cilantro lime ranch sauce, and a mix of your favorite taco toppings. They come together in minutes and are so delicious…the perfect weeknight dinner. Bonus, the chipotle chicken is great as a leftover. Pile it high onto your favorite tortilla chips for some seriously delicious nachos or serve it up atop greens for a Mexican inspired salad.
As a kid, tacos were a weeknight staple in our house. I’ve touched on this before, but my dad cooked tacos for dinner at least once or twice a week for multiple years straight. It probably wasn’t until I started to take over the cooking around the age of fourteen that we started to switch things up. So yes, the typical weeknight ground beef taco was a staple, and my dad had them down to a T.
He’d make his tacos with ground beef and store-bought taco seasoning. Then he’d simply stuff the meat into tortillas with a little cheddar cheese and nothing else. Well…maybe some lettuce for my mom and I. But no beans, no avocado, not even cilantro or a squeeze of lime. Very, very basic, and it’s just what my brothers wanted. At the time, I didn’t know any better, so I greatly enjoyed these tacos too. I took mine in a hard shell and oven-baked for extra crispiness on the outside, and soft and cheesy inside.
And there you have it.
That’s my childhood taco story. Did we ever get sick of eating tacos? Honestly, I don’t think we did. I’m pretty sure that we were the ones requesting taco night so often. We loved it and still do! I’m always making tacos, whether it’s these quick skillet chicken tacos, my favorite Caribbean shrimp tacos, or these saucy instant pot BBQ chicken tacos. Tacos are still on the menu every couple of weeks.
But my absolute go-to taco?
It’s these. They’re classic, so simple, cheesy, crunchy, and SO GOOD. I love them, my brothers love them, and pretty much every other human who enjoys Mexican food (even just a little) enjoys these crunchy tacos.
To make these weeknight chicken tacos…
It is SIMPLE.
Pick up some ground chicken, turkey, or even ground beef. Just be sure to use what your family loves most! Simply brown the meat, add seasonings, and stuff into hard tacos. Then top with cheese, and bake in the oven until melted and crisp.
Doesn’t get any easier, but yet this is a dinner that everyone loves.
I do have a few little secrets however that make these tacos better than the rest.
The seasoning blend.
Over the years, I feel like I’ve kind of perfected the taco seasoning mix. It’s just a touch spicy, a little smoky, and hinted with garlic. I use a mix of chipotle chili powder (key ingredient) and smoked paprika to keep the taco meat extra flavorful. Most tacos mixes use regular chili powder, but I’ve always found that to lack flavor. Using chipotle chili powder adds the perfect amount of spiciness.
I like to use a good amount, so be sure to adjust this to your family’s taste level. Start with two teaspoons and work your way up to three if you like things spicy!
My Shells? I make them at home.
Well, kind of, and the shells aren’t technically a part of the recipe. BUT I’m including it in the notes. Instead of using store-bought taco shells I like to take corn tortillas, stuff them with the taco meat plus cheese, then oven bake them until the tortillas are crispy. I rub each tortilla with olive oil and then flip them halfway through cooking. This is key to getting the tacos extra crispy on both sides.
If you have a couple extra minutes, I would highly recommend making your own “shells”. They’re very, very good…and much healthier than store-bought too!
That cilantro lime ranch? You need it too.
Most tacos are topped with sour cream, but trust me this cilantro lime ranch is so much better, but it’s also not your average ranch.
I used fresh cilantro and plenty of lime in place of the usual herb mix and stirred in some pickled jalapeños for a spicy, tangy kick. This is the perfect sauce to dollop onto each cheesy, crunchy taco.
If you wanted to take the toppings a step further, I would recommend a pineapple salsa or mango salsa. But you all know me, I love a good fruity salsa. Oh, and maybe add a nice margarita too. This spicy mango marg is my personal favorite.
If you make these weeknight Crispy Chipotle Chicken Tacos with Cilantro Lime Ranch, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Watch the How To Video:
Weeknight Cheesy Baked Chipotle Chicken Tacos with Cilantro Lime Ranch.
Servings: 6
Calories Per Serving: 544 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Watch the How-To Reel
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 pound ground chicken, beef, or turkey
- 1 yellow onion, chopped
- 2-3 teaspoons chipotle chili powder, use to your taste
- 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4-1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper, use to your taste
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
- 12 hard shell tacos (see notes for homemade option)
- 2 cups shredded Mexican cheese
Cilantro Lime Ranch
- 1 cup sour cream or plain Greek yogurt
- 3/4 cup fresh cilantro, finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/4 cup pickled jalapeños, chopped + 2 tablespoons brine
- juice from 2 limes
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
- 1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. 2. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over high heat. When the oil shimmers, add the ground chicken and onion. Cook, breaking up the meat as it cooks, until the chicken is browned, about 5 minutes. Add the chipotle chili powder, paprika, cumin, garlic powder, red pepper flakes, oregano, and salt. Add 3/4 cup water. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer until the sauce has thickened slightly around the chicken, about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the cilantro. 3. Line the taco shells up on a sheet pan or in a 9×13 inch baking dish. Transfer to the oven and bake 5 minutes. Evenly divide the meat among each taco shell and top with cheese. Bake 10 minutes, until the cheese has melted. 4. Meanwhile, make the ranch. Combine all ingredients in a glass jar and shake or stir until creamy. 5. Serve the tacos topped with ranch, avocado, red onion, and any other desired toppings.
Notes
For Easy Homemade Hard Shells: Warm 8-12 corn tortillas for 30 seconds to 1 minute in the microwave, until pliable. On a baking sheet, rub the tortillas with olive oil. Lay each flat and then layer evenly with cheese and chicken. Fold the other half of the tortilla over the filling, gently pushing to adhere (see above photo). Transfer to the oven and bake for 5-8 minutes, then flip and cook another 5 minutes more, or until the cheese has melted and the tortillas are crisp.
This post was originally published on February 13, 2020
hi! I made this yesterday, and it was really yummy; however, when i added the water to the meat it didn’t thicken just evaporated. Is there something I missed? Is it possible to make another sauce to coat the ground beef?
Hi!! That sounds correct. The water is meant to evaporate and the meat does not get coated in a sauce. You can add enchilada sauce if you want a saucy taco. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you!! xTieghan
Delicious recipe as usual. I didn’t feel like chopping an onion so I added some leftover caramelized onions I had on hand, I highly recommend it. I also used Chihuahua cheese, again highly recommend, it’s super melting and creamy. This is also pretty spicy, I eased off the chipotle and skipped the crushed red pepper, I like how it is customizable. The dressing is also phenomenal, I used sour cream and made as directed but added a little fresh parsley too.
Amazing! I am so glad this turned out so well for you Ali! Thank you! xTieghan
I totally made these, even folded the corn tortillas over as suggested. So dang good. I used a sheet pan on top for first 5 minutes until some of the cheese melted so they would stick together. The trick to keeping them closed, even a little, until you can get the pan on them is to not overfill. I had trouble with the first few. But oh my, were they worth it. That dressing was to die for. My daughter came to visit for a weekend and I made these as a special dinner for her with cilantro lime rice and an elote-ish corn salad. It was a perfect dinner, and I think that fold-over method will be the only way I will make tacos from now on.
Hi Kim! I am so glad these turned out so well for you! Thank you so much for trying this! xTieghan
Made with whole wheat tortilla and the crispy shell method. Yum!!
Amazing! Thank you Anjali! xTieghan
Hi Tieghan, I made these tacos last night for supper and they were delicious! Easy, cheesy and crispy!
The sauce is the perfect compliment to the spicy meat. The only difference is that I used flour tortillas because that’s what I had. Keep up the good work and I look forward to your Sunday email of Nine favourite things.It’s the perfect way to start the day.
Thank you so much Linda! I am so glad this turned out so well for you! xTieghan
Made these last night and they were so delicious! Since I didn’t have chipotle powder I added some canned chipotles to the meat instead and it came out great. The sauce was also such a good addition and making the taco shells was SO good! Will definitely be making these again!
Hi Emily! That is so great to hear! Thank you for trying this recipe! xTieghan
These were so good and easy! I premade the chicken and then used my air fryer to cook them each night. Baking it all together to create the homemade hardshell tacos took it above and beyond! The sauce was tasty, sortof like a spicy jalapeno crema!
I am so glad this turned out so well for you Giselle! Thank you so much for trying it! xTieghan
This recipee is not an authentic Mexican taco we dont use ranch dressing that sounds awful , this is like the Chipotle restaurant and other restaurants that just say its Mexican food but its not.
Hi Oscar! Thank you so much for this. I stated in my post that this is Mexican inspired… not authentic. I always try to use my own flavors and put my own spin on recipes! I hope you understand! xTieghan
Made these tacos tonight for dinner with ground beef. I didn’t have chipotle chili powder at the house, but I did have some chipotle chilis in adobo sauce, so I just minced a couple of those up and tossed it in with the other spices.
The cilantro lime ranch sauce was super tasty and we loved the tang of the pickles jalapeños in it. The tortilla shells were super satisfyingly crunchy and still gooey in some spots with the cheese — yum. My only trouble was keeping the tortillas in place when I filled them. They kept wanting to flip back open, but it wasn’t a big deal in the end.
Thanks! I’ll be adding a printout of the recipe to our favorites binder.
Aw so glad you enjoyed this recipe so much Melissa! Thank you so much for trying it! xTieghan
These are sooo good! The ranch sauce is everything!
Yes!! So glad you enjoyed this Heather! xTieghan
I made these tonight and they were fantastic! I made half with corn tortillas and half flour tortillas. The family loved them, thank you.
Amazing! Thank you for trying this Kim! xTieghan
The spice mix was PERFECT! So yummy, and I’ll be using this tortilla hack for forever. Ranch was a bit too tart from the yogurt we used, so I’ll try sour cream next time.
Hi Deborah! Thank you so much for trying these tacos! So glad they turned out so well for you! Also, I hope you like it more with sour cream! xTieghan
LOVED THESE! They were so yummy… I always feel like my homemade tacos are sort of “meh,” but no longer. We used ground chicken, which i feel is a lot more juicy than ground turkey. They also re-heated super well in the oven which is a plus because this made a ton of food for us. They have a sneaky heat to them which I really appreciated. Delish!!!
Haha love to hear that! Thank you for giving these a try, Catherine!! xTieghan
I couldn’t get our corn tortillas to not crack. I think I bought a junky brand. Despite the messy meal, they were delicious.
Hi Francie! I am so glad you still enjoyed this meal! Did you put enough oil on them maybe? Lmk! xTieghan
Can’t wait to make these this week! Since before Christmas most of our meals have been from you, and I’m so grateful since they’ve all been fantastic! What do you usually serve as a side?
Aw that is amazing to hear! Thank you so much Jessica! I would most likely do a side of Spanish rice of refried beans! xTieghan