Tinga is a dish I had for my first time when I was visiting my close friends in Seattle. Now, every time I’m in Seattle, I’m never wanting for delicious food, as they are all such wonderful cooks. When perusing Pinterest, I stumbled upon a chicken tinga recipe and was immediately transported back to that dish I first had in Seattle. Roger made his with some very nicely slow-cooked pork, but because we don’t often have pork here, I was quite excited to find a recipe with chicken. This is the quicker version of tinga, but it’s no less flavorful.
Tinga is traditionally some sort of shredded meat (pork, beef, or chicken) in a smoky chipotle tomato sauce. It’s eaten on a tostada with sour cream, lettuce, and cheese. The sour cream is totally necessary to counter the spiciness of the sauce.
One thing I much forgot about tinga is how messy it is! You’ll definitely have juice dripping down your hands, but it’s so good that you won’t mind in the slightest. I ended up using canned tomatoes that I had on hand, solely because we used up all of our fresh tomatoes – at this time of year, I recommend using fresh, since they’re so in season and delicious right now.
Don’t mind the very poor photos I have for this one – I used my iPhone – I didn’t have the patience to take the time to take photos. I was way too excited to eat this one! There were plenty of leftovers, too – love it!
- 6 cups water
- 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast
- 4 tsp salt, divided
- 1 medium yellow onion, quartered
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 large tomato, quartered*
- 1 7-oz. can chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 large yellow onion, chopped
- 1 clove garlic, chopped
- 3 large tomatoes, chopped*
- tostada shells or corn tortillas
- lettuce, cheddar cheese, sour cream, for topping
In a large pot, combine the water, chicken breast, 2 t salt, medium onion, and 1 clove garlic. Cook over medium to high heat, covered, for about 30 minutes.
Remove the chicken to a plate to cool, and reserve the broth. Once cooled, shred the chicken with a fork.
Add the cooked onion, garlic clove, quartered tomato, chipotle peppers in adobo, and 2 t salt in a blender. Fill the blender with chicken broth until it is halfway full. Blend until smooth.
Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a deep pan, and add the chopped onion. Cook until translucent (about 2 minutes), and then add in the garlic and chopped tomatoes. Cook for another 2 minutes. Add the shredded chicken and sauce from the blender. Simmer for about ten minutes, adding any more chicken broth if it appears too dry.
If making tostadas, lightly spray the corn tortillas with olive oil, sprinkle with sea salt, and place on a baking sheet. Bake at 450ºF for about 5 minutes, until slightly browned and crispy (you can also fry them in oil, 20-40 seconds on each side).
Place a tostada on a plate, and spread with sour cream. Top the sour cream with lettuce, followed by the chicken, and sprinkle with cheddar cheese. Enjoy!
*I used a 28-oz can of whole tomatoes, separating it for the sauce and the chopped tomato portion. Either canned or fresh can be used.
adapted from Muy Bueno