Tinga de Pollo
Tinga de Pollo is one of many dishes we call “guisado” in Mexican cuisine.
What is a guisado? It’s a meat dish prepared by roasting or frying combined with braising. It’s typically cooked in a salsa with a vegetable (potatoes, carrots, peas, etc.) and served hot.
Compared with a stew, the liquid in a guisado is allowed to evaporate creating kind of a Ragout.
When visiting a Mexican market, you will find someone selling “tacos de guisado.” They will have a display of several clay pots with these guisados in them, including tinga de pollo, chicharron en salsa verde, chorizo con papas and many others. You can try as many guisados as you want in one sitting.
My mom’s recipe for tinga de pollo may be a bit different from others out there. Each region in Mexico and each family have little variations of their recipes.
Whenever my mom prepared this dish for the family, it would always be served with refried beans and avocado, so we could each make our own tacos. A chipotle salsa would also be present at the table in case you wanted to make your tinga spicier.
Tinga de Pollo (chicken tinga)
3 Chicken breasts
1 1/2 white onions
2 cilantro branches
5 medium size tomatoes
2 Potatoes
1 can of Chipotle peppers
5.5 oz of Mexican Chorizo
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp white vinegar
2 Avocados for garnish
salt and black pepper
In a large pot, place the chicken breasts in water to boil until completely cooked. Take them out of the water and shred the chicken breasts, set aside.
On a dry non-stick skillet or comal, place the tomatoes, onions cut in halves and garlic to roast, turning them until they have a nice char all over. Place in a blender with the cilantro and blend until smooth. You can season the salsa with salt to taste.
Peel the potatoes and dice them, set aside.
Pour the oil in a large pot to heat up over medium high heat, break up the chorizo and fry it until it’s completely cooked through and crumbled. (Follow the manufacturer’s instructions depending on the brand you purchased).
Pour the tomato salsa in with the chorizo, let it cook for 5-7 min while stirring.
Add the diced potatoes, shredded chicken, vinegar and season with salt and pepper to taste. Place 2 of the chipotles chiles in the pot and gently stir to combine everything. If you want your tinga to be spicier, add 4 peppers total. Taste to check salt level and adjust if needed.
Reduce the heat to medium low and loosely cover the pot. Stir from time to time until the potatoes are fully cooked. Keep an eye so it doesn’t dry up. Feel free to add some water if this happens. Once potatoes are cooked, you can remove the pot from the fire.
Serve with warm corn tortillas and avocado slices.
Buen Provecho!
Sign up for the Quarterly Snack below, don’t miss the next recipe.
