Tinga Tostadas

Tinga Tostadas is an authentic Mexican recipe that is easily adaptable to suit your family. This recipe can be made the long way, the short way, it can even be made in steps over days so putting it together is as easy as heating everything up. Basically cooked chicken in a versatile zesty sauce served on Tostada shells.

You’ll need
1 whole chicken
2-5 Chipotle peppers in Adobo Sauce
1 15 oz can of tomato sauce
1 half onion
1 whole yellow or white onion
1 clove garlic
1 cup chicken broth
For serving
Tostada shells, shredded lettuce, shredded cheese, and sour cream

For the chicken:
Place chicken in huge pot with the half an onion, cover with water and boil it till it falls apart. Shred meat and set aside. Save 1 cup of the cooking liquid to add to the sauce. At this point you could return the bones to the pot, add vegetables and keep boiling to make homemade chicken broth to freeze for later use.

For the Sauce:
To a blender add the chipotle chili peppers, the clove of garlic, the can of tomato sauce, and the 1 cup pf chicken broth. Puree till smooth. Use an many peppers as you like, the more the hotter, but I suggest you start with at least two.

To put it all together:
Slice onion as thin as you can. In a large skillet on med, heat 2 TBS of olive oil, add sliced onion and cook till soft but not browned about 5-7 min. Add shredded chicken and tinga sauce. Stir till combined and heat for 15 minutes.

Serve on Tostada shells and top with shredded lettuce, cheese, and sour cream. Round out the meal with Spanish rice and refried beans. Leftovers keep well I the refrigerator and the flavors develop even more the next day. Re-heat I microwave or on the stove. This dish also works well as a dip served with tortilla chips.

The no fuss quick way to make Tinga Tostadas:

Chicken: store bought rotisserie, chicken breasts or parts you’ve cooked ahead of time, or even leftover’s you can shred. (Here’s how to shred chicken quickly)

Tinga Sauce:Can be made ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator. Freeze extra chilly peppers in ice cube trays then store in a plastic bag for future use.

The onion:Well, it’s an onion but you could have it pre sliced and waiting for you.

The night of just throw it together and you have dinner made I about 20 min.

This recipe is easily adaptable to your families palette when it comes to the spiciness of the dish. Sauce can be used sparingly for a lesser amount of chicken and stored in the fridge, or frozen.