Your email address is required to begin the subscription process. We will use it for customer service and other communications from Milk Street. You can unsubscribe from receiving our emails at any time.
Chicken Tinga (Tinga Poblana de Pollo)
Tinga poblana de pollo is a stewy dish of shredded chicken in a light, fresh tomato sauce that’s spicy and smoky with chipotle chilies. It’s an excellent filling for tacos or topping for tostadas. For our version of chicken tinga, based on the recipe we learned in Mexico, we poach chicken breasts, shred the meat into bite-size pieces, then add the chicken to the tomato-chipotle sauce that has been simmered separately. Mexican oregano, which has notes of citrus and earth, is more closely related to verbena than to Mediterranean oregano, which is in the mint family. Many supermarkets sell Mexican oregano; if it’s not shelved with the jarred herbs and spice, check the international aisle or where dried Mexican chilies are sold. If you can’t find it, substitute an equal amount of dried marjoram.
4
Servings
Tip
Don’t allow the chicken breasts to boil in the poaching liquid, and make sure to remove them promptly when cooked through. White meat is lean and delicate and becomes dry and tough if boiled vigorously or cooked past 160°F.
1 hour 10 minutes
40 minutes active
Ingredients
-
1½
pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts
-
1
large white onion, halved and thinly sliced, divided
Directions
-
01In a large saucepan, combine 7 cups water, the chicken, a quarter of the onion, half the garlic, the carrots, bay and 1½ teaspoons salt. Bring to a simmer over medium-high then reduce to low, cover and cook at a bare simmer. Cook until the chicken is opaque throughout and the thickest part registers 160°F, 20 to 30 minutes; flip the breasts once about halfway through.
Pardon the interruption
You need to be a Milk Street Digital Member to see the full recipe
JOIN MILK STREET DIGITAL & PRINT
12 WEEKS FOR JUST $1
and get access to all of our recipes and articles online, as well as in print.
GET DIGITAL & PRINTReviews
May 30, 2023
Even the 2- and 4-Year-Olds Like It
Easy to make, produces succulent white chicken meat (family preference, I prefer dark) but this way of cooking chicken breast is delicious. Do have to scrape the Chipotle sauce off the Littles’ chicken.
February 24, 2023
Easy, filling, and very tasty
My family loves tacos, but I wanted something a little different. Served this on tostadas and everyone wanted more!
February 1, 2023
Where is the poblano?
Curious as to why there is poblano in the title but not the recipe?
January 9, 2023
Love this
Everyone I have served this to loves it. We make our own tortillas layer them with the tinga and top it all with crema (or sour cream with a bit of added salt). It’s a crowd favorite!
January 4, 2023
Didn't have everything, but was a good base
I had boneless, skinless breasts and parsley instead of cilantro. It still worked pretty well. Should have checked temperature earlier, but this was still very good. I liked the strong flavor of the parsley. I also finely chopped kale stems and cooked them with the onions. That worked well. I oven roasted the kale leaves and that was a fun side for the meal.
Followed all the instructions, but it came out pretty watery. Was hoping to use this in tacos, but that didn't work too well. The taste was okay, but didn't wow me. Seemed like it needed more concentrated flavor.
Hi Mick -
It's possible your tomatoes were particularly watery and, therefore, caused the sauce to be loose and not as flavorful. We would recommend reducing it further to make sure it's just saucy enough to coat the chicken. At this time of year when ripe tomatoes can be hard to find, we recommend Campari or cocktail tomatoes for the best flavor and texture.
Best,
The Milk Street Team
Lovely recipe. However, I was aghast at Milkstreet, a site that educates people like me to cook and enjoy doing so, when it instructed to "discard" the liquid that resulted from cooking the chicken. I didn't. Instead, using a hand-held immersion blender, I puréed the veggies in the liquid, giving me this broth that was simply liquid gold. Liquid gold never tasted this good!
Become A Subscriber To Rate and Review All Our Recipes.
Please Log in or join today for $1.
I wonder how this would be with boneless, skinless chicken thighs?