Once-A-Week Ground Chicken Tacos (15 Minutes)
Lean ground chicken simmered with onion, tomato paste and spice makes juicy tacos ready in 15 minutes.
Original recipe
- Total
- 15 min
- Serves
- 3
- Sourced
- 10 Aug 2026
- Items
- 24
24
Things to buy
Cooking for
Adding it again later updates the quantities instead of doubling up.
Cooking for
Ingredients
What you need
Names and measures for Australia
- 455 gground chicken1 lb = 454 g
- 41 golive oil3 tbsp = 45 ml = 41 g (read as US: 1 tablespoon = 15 ml)
- 75 gyellow onion0.5 brown onion = 75 g (typical size here)
- —kosher salt
- 17 gtomato paste1 tbsp = 15 ml = 16.5 g (read as US: 1 tablespoon = 15 ml)
- —homemade taco seasoningbelow, see Recipe Notes
- 120 mlwater0.5 cup = 120 ml (read as US: 1 cup = 240 ml)
- —flour tortillas
- 15 mlchili powder1 tbsp = 15 ml (read as US: 1 tablespoon = 15 ml)
- 4.5 gground cumin2 tsp = 10 ml = 4.5 g (read as US: 1 teaspoon = 5 ml)
- 5 mlgarlic powder1 tsp = 5 ml (read as US: 1 teaspoon = 5 ml)
- 5 mlonion powder1 tsp = 5 ml (read as US: 1 teaspoon = 5 ml)
- 1 gdried oregano1 tsp = 5 ml = 1 g (read as US: 1 teaspoon = 5 ml)
- 2.25 gsmoked paprika1 tsp = 5 ml = 2.3 g (read as US: 1 teaspoon = 5 ml)
- 6 gkosher salt1 tsp = 5 ml = 6 g (read as US: 1 teaspoon = 5 ml)
- 4 gbrown sugar1 tsp = 5 ml = 4 g (read as US: 1 teaspoon = 5 ml)
- —cayenne pepper
- —shredded lettuce
- —shredded cheese
- —sour cream
- —salsa of choice
- —guacamole
- —cilantro
- —ground black pepper
Recipe by Jess Larson, Plays Well With Butter. Method rewritten for this cookbook — read the original on Plays Well With Butter.
This recipe's shopping list
Scaled for 3 serves
Other
Method
How it goes together
- 01
Step 1
Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, season with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring often, until golden and fragrant, 3-4 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste and cook 1-2 minutes longer, until darkened in colour.
Cooking the tomato paste in the hot oil drives off its raw tinned edge and concentrates it into a deep, savoury base that carries the spice blend through lean chicken.
- 02
Step 2
Push the onion mixture to the side of the skillet. Add the ground chicken and press it into a thin, flat layer. Cook 2 minutes until slightly browned, then flip and cook 1-2 minutes longer. Once nearly cooked through, break the chicken into fine crumbles and mix with the onions.
Pressing the mince into one flat sheet and leaving it alone lets it brown, which is the only real savoury depth lean chicken will give you. Breaking it up early just steams it grey.
- 03
Step 3
Stir the taco seasoning through the chicken mixture until evenly coated. Pour in the water and simmer until slightly thickened, 1-2 minutes. Remove from the heat.
The water loosens the spices and the browned paste so they coat every crumble, then reduces to a glossy sauce that clings instead of pooling in the tortilla.
- 04
Step 4
Serve the chicken taco meat as you like, in warm flour tortillas with shredded cheese, shredded lettuce and sour cream, or on nachos, taco salads, burrito bowls or tostadas.
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