This Easy Leftover Chicken Tacos Recipe with Mango Salsa is the fastest way to enjoy delicious tacos for lunch or taco night.
This recipe consists of three simple elements – seasoned cooked leftover chicken, sweet and juicy mango salsa, and hard taco shells!
These crispy chicken tacos offer massive convenience, mouth-watering flavor, and delicious texture too. If you’ve got lots of hungry mouths to feed and not much time on your hands (that’s me!), these are a winner.
These are, without question, the best rotisserie chicken tacos.
Enjoy them as an easy midweek family meal alongside a light green salad, Mexican rice, refried beans, or fries.
Why You’ll Love These Leftover Chicken Tacos
- Thanks to a simple salsa recipe and the use of cooked chicken, these leftover rotisserie chicken tacos come together in no time at all.
- These leftover chicken tacos offer a balanced meal, loaded with healthy fiber, fresh salsa ingredients, and lean protein.
- Tacos are perfect for lunch, dinner, or as fun picnic food that you can assemble at your picnic spot.
- This leftover chicken taco recipe is the perfect way to use up chicken from other meals in the week. Nothing goes to waste in this house!
Key Ingredients & Substitutions
You’ll need the following:
- Shredded cooked chicken
- A light seasoning of dried spices (cumin, paprika, chili, onion, parsley, garlic)
- Chicken broth
- Mango salsa (mango avocado, red onion, tomato, lime juice, cumin)
- Taco shells
Substitutions:
- You can easily make these tasty tacos with leftover turkey, pulled pork, beef strips, or fish.
- When mincing whole jalapenos for the salsa, you may want to wear protective gloves to prevent any skin irritation and don’t forget to deseed them. Green chiles or chipotle peppers could be used instead, but be mindful of the level of heat when serving these to the whole family, especially younger kids.
- Soft flour tortillas or corn tortillas can also be used for these easy rotisserie chicken tacos. Nachos are also a good option for kids that can’t handle a large taco shell.
- I’ve used olive oil to reheat the chicken, but vegetable oil can be used instead.
How To Make Leftover Chicken Tacos
Here’s how to cook the leftover chicken taco meat. Full instructions and recipe in recipe card below.
Heat a large skillet with some oil, then add shredded chicken.
Cook for 3 minutes before adding seasoning. Mix well.
Add chicken broth and simmer until the liquid has reduced.
Prepare mango salsa or other favorite toppings.
Load up your tacos and enjoy!
Recipe Tips
Reheating the chicken in broth ensures that it’s nice and moist. Although you can simply season the chicken and start constructing your taco, it will likely be dry. Don’t skip this step if you want juicy chicken!
The Best Leftover Chicken To Use For Street Tacos
Any leftover chicken that’s sitting in your fridge can be used for these easy leftover chicken tacos. Shredded chicken is great, leftover roast chicken, or even different cuts of leftover chicken, such as chicken thighs and chicken drums.
Simply pull the chicken off the bone and cut it up.
For the most convenience, use store-bought rotisserie chickens. Have a hearty roast one evening, then whip up these easy leftover chicken tacos the next.
How To Season Leftover Chicken For Tacos
You may assume that cooked chicken is already seasoned, but that’s not always the case. Of course, feel free to first taste your cooked chicken to see whether it could do with additional seasoning and flavor before just diving in blindly.
I love making my own blend of spices for seasoning meat as you have full control of what goes into your food. The homemade taco seasoning for these leftover chicken tacos includes:
- Smoked paprika
- Chili powder
- Cumin
- Onion powder
- Dried parsley flakes
- Garlic salt
- Fresh ground black pepper
For an extra kick of heat, consider adding in some cayenne pepper or dried chili flakes.
Another way to add some flavor to your leftover chicken for these chicken tacos is to sprinkle some sugar over the chicken before reheating it. This will add a slight sweetness and a lovely caramelization.
I’ve added the seasoning to the chicken after reheating it in the pan for a few minutes, but you could season the chicken before reheating it.
The Mango Salsa Taco Topping
We love these delicious leftover chicken tacos with a fresh mango salsa pictured above – the recipe is included in the recipe card below. It’s fruity and fragrant and a little spicy, combining:
- Chopped mango
- Diced cherry tomatoes
- Chopped red onion
- Minced jalapenos
- Fresh cilantro
- A squeeze of lime
- Cumin & seasoning
Alternative Chicken Taco Filling And Topping Ideas
Consider filling or topping your chicken tacos with:
- creamy coleslaw
- black beans
- shredded cheese
- crumbled feta
- a dollop of sour cream
- guacamole or sliced avocado
- Your favorite lettuce
There are endless possibilities – you’ll soon have a repertoire of favorite taco toppings.
Feel free to also drizzle a creamy sauce or dressing over the top of your assembled tacos just before serving.
Preparing The Chicken Tacos Ahead Of Time
Shredded Chicken
You can shred and season the chicken ahead of time and store covered in the fridge. If you do this, I’d recommend combining freshly squeezed lime, orange or lemon juice to the mixture of spices and dried herbs to create a loose paste to coat the chicken with. This will act as a marinade, not only saving time later on but allowing the flavors to develop. Then you can simply pop the seasoned chicken in the pan, add a little stock, and get cooking.
Mango salsa
If you decide to make the mango salsa a day ahead, leave the chopped avocado out and only add it just before serving. The avocado will start to turn brown once it comes into contact with air and will make the stored salsa look unappetizing.
A squeeze of lime or lemon juice over the chopped avocado will help prevent the avocado from turning brown too quickly.
For cold leftover chicken tacos
This leftover chicken tacos recipe is my kids most requested picnic lunch! Even though it has to be cold.
Simply cook the chicken with the seasoning and stock, allow to cool and store in an airtight container ready to go. Take your chicken, tacos and salsa or other toppings and compile when out.
For more simple tasty lunch & dinner ideas…
Try
How To Reheat Chicken Tacos
I don’t recommend reheating fully assembled chicken tacos as the hard taco shells and the fresh mango salsa will not withstand the heat.
I reheat the leftover chicken in this recipe specifically to make the tacos. It’s not recommended to reheat already cooked meat more than once for food safety purposes.
What To Do With Leftover Chicken Taco Meat
Leftover chicken taco meat can be used to make classic chicken salad or chicken pasta salad, to fill sandwiches and wraps, to top pizza bases, or to make chicken taco casserole.
The taco meat is also delicious with some salted crackers as a healthy snack.
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3-4 days. If you don’t intend using your chicken taco meat within that same week in different meals, consider storing it in the freezer for up to 2 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge and enjoy it chilled in various dishes.
Looking for a delicious dessert?
Try:
How To Make Shredded Rotisserie Chicken
Shredding chicken for these tacos and other dishes is incredibly easy! Once your chicken is cooked and has cooled, proceed with one of these methods:
- Stand mixer: Chop up your chicken roughly so that it fits into a bowl of a stand mixer and add the paddle attachment, securely locked in. Turn it on low speed for 15 seconds, and that’s it!
- By hand: The second method requires two forks and a clean cutting board or plate. Place the chicken on the preferred surface and use the two forks to manually pull the chicken meat apart. Continue to get shredded chicken.
Boneless skinless chicken breasts are also perfect for turning into a shredded chicken mixture, but you can use any type of chicken – just make sure to remove any skin and bones.
Easy Leftover Chicken Tacos With Mango Salsa
Equipment
- Large frying pan/skillet
- Measuring cups & spoons
- Tongs, spoons
- Large & small prep bowl
- Taco holder optional
Ingredients
Chicken Taco Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons olive or vegetable oil for the pan
- 4 cups cooked chicken – rotisserie chicken works great for this recipe
- 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons garlic salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 teaspoons parsley flakes
- 1 cup chicken broth stock, or water as needed
- 8-10 hard taco shells
Toppings
- Mango salsa see recipe below
- White mild cheddar cheese optional
- Avocado optional
- Cilantro optional
Mango Salsa Ingredients
- 1 whole large mango diced
- ½ cup diced cherry tomatoes
- 2 tablespoons diced red onions
- 2 teaspoons minced jalapenos
- 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
- 1/8 teaspoon cumin
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon pepper
- ½ squeeze lime juice
- Avocado chopped optional
Instructions
Chicken Tacos Instructions
- Heat 2 teaspoons of oil on medium heat, then add the cooked chicken. Heat the chicken 3 minutes, then add the smoked paprika, chili powder, cumin, onion powder, garlic salt, pepper, and parsley flakes. Mix well so the chicken is evenly seasoned.
- Once chicken is heated, and seasoned, add the chicken broth or liquid to the pan, and let simmer 2-3 or until the liquid is dissolved.
- Transfer chicken to a serving bowl.
- To assemble the tacos, place the taco rack on a plate (if using), and layer the tacos with the chicken, shredded cheese, avocado, mango salsa, and cilantro on the top.
- Add any other ingredients you like, enjoy!
Mango Salsa Instructions
- In a medium bowl with the diced mango add the tomatoes, red onions, jalapeños, cilantro, salt & pepper, and a squeeze of lime.
- With a large spoon mix the ingredients until well combined.
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