These easy Chicken Tinga Tostadas are the perfect easy dinner recipe to spice up any day of the week.  Made with shredded rotisserie chicken, chipotle peppers, refried beans, red onions and crumbled Cotija, these smoky spicy chicken tostadas are exploding with flavor and ready in under 30 minutes making them the perfect weeknight dinner! Fresh ingredients make this chicken tinga recipe the ultimate healthy comfort food and can easily be transformed into tostadas, nachos, tamales, tacos, burritos or Mexican rice bowls.

CHICKEN TINGA TOSTADAS

When it comes to Mexican comfort food, these spicy Chicken Tinga Tostadas are my new favorite way to serve up a ton of flavor without a ton of fat and calories and EFFORT!

Seriously, if you are looking for the ultimate quick and easy dinner experience, here you go because this is the BEST chicken tinga recipe !

Ready in under 30 minutes, these quick and easy chicken tostadas are a bit spicy, a bit crunchy and a whole lot of delicious!

Plus at only 150 calories a serving, these Chicken Tinga .. or tinga de pollo… is healthy by almost anyone’s standards.. as long as you don’t go buck wild on some of the toppings like sour cream or eat like 15 of them in one sitting.

WHAT ARE CHICKEN TINGA TOSTADAS?

The word ‘tinga’ means a Mexican dish made with shredded beef or chicken in a red chili sauce and this chicken tinga recipe is an easy Mexican comfort food recipe with tons of flavor.

When it comes to tinga ingredients, fresh is best!! Chicken tinga is a Mexican dish made with shredded chicken in a tinga sauce made from tomatoes, chipotle chilis in adobo, and sliced onions.

Regardless if you use beef, pork or chicken, tinga can be served up on tostadas, tamales, in tacos or simply served up alongside warm tortillas. 

Serve these chicken tostadas with fresh ingredients like chopped tomatoes, shredded lettuce, cilantro, lime wedges and you have the perfect Taco Tuesday meal!

HOW DO YOU SERVE CHICKEN TINGA TOSTADAS?

You can top off your tinga tostadas any way that makes you happy.  I top my chicken tostadas off with crumbled Cotija cheese, cilantro, red onion and a squeeze of lime but you can also add pico de gallo, lettuce, avocado slices or sour cream.

WHAT TO SERVE WITH CHICKEN TINGA

• Red onion
• Fresh cilantro
• Sliced avocado
• Shredded lettuce
• Black beans or refried beans
• Lime Wedges
• Crumbled Cotija cheese
• Pico de gallo
• Sour Cream
• Corn
• Red, Green or Yellow peppers

THE BEST TINGA RECIPE

• This chicken tinga recipe is my favorite to serve up for a busy weeknight dinner and let me tell you why!!
• Tinga tostadas are bursting with authentic flavor. Onions, garlic, fire roasted tomatoes, chipotles in adobo sauce and pantry seasonings blended and bubbling together bring together such a rich savory sauce that transforms your juicy shredded chicken into the best tinga recipe you will ever eat!
• Quick and easy dinner recipes are the secret to a happy life.. lol! This tinga tostada recipe is ready to hit your dinner table in under 30 minutes. You can’t beat that!
• Customize your tinga tostadas any way you like. I have added below a list of fresh ingredients to pair perfectly with your chicken tinga for the ultimate Mexican comfort food experience.
• There is nothing unusual or any specialty items in this easy tinga sauce recipe. That means no special trips needed as you can pick up all of the the tinga ingredients at your usual grocery store.

HOW DO YOU MAKE CHICKEN TINGA TOSTADAS?

Ready? Stay with me because this recipe moves FAST! To make your Chicken Tinga Tostadas, start by heating olive oil over medium high heat in a large skillet and then adding the chopped onion.

Stir and cook for 3 – 4 minutes and then add in your diced garlic.  Cook for another minute and then add in your chopped / diced chipotle peppers in adobe sauce.

Stir to combine and cook for 2-3 minutes.  Then stir in the diced tomatoes and spices and cook for 5 minutes. At this point, you can either continue to cook it as it is or you can move the mixture to a small food processer or a blender and blend until smooth.

Return the sauce to the skillet, add in your shredded chicken, stir to combine and continue to cook over medium heat for 10 – 15 minutes.

While your tinga sauce is cooking, heat a can of refried bean up in a small pot, warm your tostada in a 250 degree oven and prepare your garnishes.

Once your Chicken Tinga is done, take a spoonful of refried beans and lightly smear it on a tostada. Top the beans with an even layer of Chicken Tinga and then garnish and serve.

See?  I wasn’t lying! These Chicken Tinga Tostadas are THAT easy and the flavor is amazing. Smokey, a bit spicy .. super flavorful.

Now, if you are not a fan of super spicy food, you may want to only add in one or two chipotle peppers first and see how you do with it.  I started with two and went up to five but that’s just me.

PRO TIPS FOR PERFECT TINGA TOSTADAS

• This is the perfect quick and easy dinner recipe so have all of your fresh ingredients chopped and ready to go because this tinga recipe moves fast!
• Fresh ingredients are key to the BEST chicken tinga tostadas but taking a hand from the store is totally ok! Grab that rotisserie chicken and shred it to save you the time and trouble of making chicken at home.
• If you do want to skip the rotisserie chicken, roast 2 or 3 chicken breasts (about 2 pounds of chicken)  in a 350 degree oven for 25 minutes or until fully cooked. Shred chicken and use in place of the rotisserie chicken in this recipe.
• Tweak these chicken tinga recipe to fit your families needs. Like shredded lettuce, sliced avocado and fresh pico de gallo? Go for it! Want it super spice? Add more adobe peppers in the red sauce .. you get the idea!

EASY SIDE DISHES TO SERVE WITH CHICKEN TINGA

• CHUNKY SALSA RECIPE

• CHIPOTLE CILANTRO LIME RICE (COPYCAT)

• CHIPOTLE CORN SALSA (COPYCAT)

• GARLIC CILANTRO SAUCE

• HONEY CORNBREAD MUFFINS

If you’ve tried this Chicken Tinga Tostada recipe or any other recipe on this website, please don’t forget to rate the recipe and leave me a comment. I love hearing from you! 

Chicken Tinga Tostadas

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These easy Chicken Tinga Tostadas are the perfect easy dinner recipe to spice up any day of the week.  Made with shredded rotisserie chicken, chipotle peppers, refried beans, red onions and crumbled Cotija, these smoky spicy chicken tostadas are exploding with flavor and ready in under 30 minutes making them the perfect weeknight dinner! Fresh ingredients make this chicken tinga recipe the ultimate healthy comfort food and can easily be transformed into tostadas, nachos, tamales, tacos, burritos or Mexican rice bowls.

Heather

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes minutes

Total Time 25 minutes minutes

Serving Size 12 tostadas

Ingredients

Tinga Sauce

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 large sweet onion diced
• 4 cloves garlic minced
• 2 - 3 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce chopped
• 15 ounce fire roasted diced tomatoes
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 3 chicken breasts, shredded or one rotisserie chicken

For Serving

• 12 tostadas
• 10 ounce refried beans
• 1/4 cup cilantro chopped
• 1/3 cup red onion diced
• cotija cheese crumbled
• 2 limes cut into wedges

Instructions

• To make your Chicken Tinga Tostadas, start by heating olive oil over medium high heat in a large skillet and then adding the chopped onion. Stir and cook for 3 - 4 minutes and then add in your diced garlic.  Cook for another minute and then add in your chopped / diced chipotle peppers in adobe sauce.  Stir to combine and cook for 2-3 minutes.  
• Stir in the diced tomatoes and spices and cook for 5 minutes. At this point, you can either continue to cook it as it is or you can move the mixture to a small food processer or a blender and blend until smooth. Return the sauce to the skillet, add in your shredded chicken, stir to combine and continue to cook over medium heat for 10 - 15 minutes. 
• While your Chicken Tinga sauce is cooking, heat a can of refried bean up in a small pot, warm your tostada in a 250 degree oven and prepare your garnishes. Once your Chicken Tinga is done, take a spoonfull of refried beans and lightly smear it on a tostada. Top the beans with an even layer of Chicken Tinga and then garnish and serve.

Notes

PRO TIPS FOR PERFECT TINGA TOSTADAS

• This is the perfect quick and easy dinner recipe so have all of your fresh ingredients chopped and ready to go because this tinga recipe moves fast!
• Fresh ingredients are key to the BEST chicken tinga tostadas but taking a hand from the store is totally ok! Grab that rotisserie chicken and shred it to save you the time and trouble of making chicken at home.
• If you do want to skip the rotisserie chicken, roast 2 or 3 chicken breasts (about 2 pounds of chicken)  in a 350 degree oven for 25 minutes or until fully cooked. Shred chicken and use in place of the rotisserie chicken in this recipe.
• Tweak these chicken tinga recipe to fit your families needs. Like shredded lettuce, sliced avocado and fresh pico de gallo? Go for it! Want it super spice? Add more adobe peppers in the red sauce .. you get the idea!

Nutrition

Serving: 12g | Calories: 154kcal | Carbohydrates: 16.8g | Protein: 9.9g | Fat: 5.6g | Saturated Fat: 1.2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1.3g | Cholesterol: 18.4mg | Sodium: 400.7mg | Potassium: 175mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 1.8g | Vitamin A: 30IU | Vitamin C: 4.8mg | Calcium: 93mg | Iron: 1.1mg

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Update Notes: This post was originally published in July of 2018 but was republished with an updated recipe, new photos, step by step instructions and tips in July of 2023.