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Orange–Guajillo Chili Pulled Chicken
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Chilorio, a pulled pork from the Mexican state of Sinaloa, inspired this dish, but instead of pork, we use faster-cooking boneless, skinless chicken thighs. Fresh orange juice amplifies the fruity notes of the guajillo chilies while giving the sauce a natural sweetness; a little vinegar and honey helped the balance. Serve the shredded chicken with Mexican rice or tortillas, or use it as a filling for tacos. Diced white onion, sliced radishes and/or crumbled queso fresco are excellent garnishes.
4
Servings
Tip
Don’t forget to trim any excess fat from the chicken thighs before cooking to prevent the dish from being greasy.
45 minutes
1 ounce guajillo chilies (5 medium), stemmed, seeded and torn into 1-inch pieces
1 1/2 cups orange juice
5 medium garlic cloves, peeled
2 tablespoons white vinegar
2 teaspoons ground coriander
2 teaspoons honey
1 teaspoon dried oregano
Kosher salt
2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs, trimmed
Ingredients
-
1
ounce guajillo chilies (5 medium), stemmed, seeded and torn into 1-inch pieces
-
1½
cups orange juice
-
5
medium garlic cloves, peeled
-
2
tablespoons white vinegar
-
2
teaspoons ground coriander
-
2
teaspoons honey
-
1
teaspoon dried oregano
-
Kosher salt
-
2
pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs, trimmed
Directions
-
01In a 12-inch skillet over medium-high, toast the chilies, pressing with a wide metal spatula and flipping halfway through, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Transfer to a small bowl and pour in the juice; press on the chilies to submerge. Let stand until the chilies have softened, about 10 minutes. Set the skillet aside.
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02In a blender, combine the chilies and juice, garlic, vinegar, coriander, honey, oregano and ½ teaspoon salt. Puree until smooth, about 30 seconds. Pour the puree into the same skillet and bring to a boil over medium-high. Nestle the chicken into the sauce, cover and cook over medium-low, stirring and flipping the chicken halfway through, until tender and opaque when cut into with a paring knife, about 20 minutes.
-
03Using tongs, transfer the chicken to a large plate and set aside until cool enough to handle, 10 to 15 minutes. Using 2 forks, shred into bite-size pieces. While the chicken cools, bring the sauce to a simmer over medium-high and cook, stirring, until thickened and reduced to 1 cup, about 10 minutes. Stir the shredded chicken into the sauce, then taste and season with salt.
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Reviews
October 18, 2022
Good one!
Prepared recipe as written. Good flavor profile and results in moist chicken
June 22, 2022
Just the right amount of everything
Forgot to add the vinegar, otherwise followed recipe exactly. Perfect in every way! Served with avocado, Oaxaca cheese, and radishes on tortillas.
July 13, 2022
Orange Guajillo Chili Pulled Chicken
We only did 2 peppers, would do more next time. Was a different flavor than normal which was nice! Nice, easy meal for a weeknight to cook.
My comment has never shown up, posted it way back in Feb. 2020, so I am trying again. I made this recipe exactly as written and used fresh oranges off my tree. It was absolutely delicious. The chicken was so tender and flavorful. I served it with street taco sized corn tortillas along with the suggested toppings. I have made it twice since then and it always comes out great.
I made this tonight. Sorry you simply can't take 2 tsps of coriander, 1 tsp of oregano, 5 garlic cloves, and 5 guajillo chiles reduced down to 1 cup of liquid and expect it to be edible. Way over powers the chicken. Maybe, just maybe this might be ok with 25% of the ingredients in 1 cup of liquid. Very dissatisfied with this recipe.
I just made this yesterday and I followed the recipe exactly..... It turned out beyond-spicy-hot! We love spicy food at our table and eat highly seasoned dishes all the time, but this son-of-a-gun was too hot to handle. I wound up squeezing a half of a juicy lemon over the plated dish so that we could finish it, but it was really still too hot for comfort. Maybe my quajillo chilis were especially hot, but this one is not going to go into the repeat recipe folder.
This recipe is a winner! We have made it several times. It's very well balanced. (Perhaps the commenters who said it was too spicy weren't careful to remove the seeds from the guajillo chiles.) We use the finished pulled chicken for either tacos or burritos, with shredded chinese or napa cabbage, thin slices of radish, fresh cilantro, and a drizzle of plain yogurt. Yum.
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