Twenty-Minute Chicken Tacos
Spiced chicken thighs, crunchy slaw, lime crema, warm tortillas. Taco night, sorted in twenty minutes.
Taco night comes in many versions, some long and some lazy. This is the lazy version, though it tastes like anything but: chicken thighs cook faster than expected, the spice rub is built from pantry staples, and the slaw doubles as both crunch and sauce.
After a couple of rounds, the recipe stops being necessary at all.
Ingredients
Chicken
- 600g (1¼ lb) boneless skinless chicken thighs
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
Slaw and crema
- 200g (3 cups) shredded red and green cabbage
- Juice of 1 lime, plus wedges to serve
- Pinch of salt
- 120g (½ cup) sour cream or Greek yoghurt
- Zest of 1 lime
- Small handful of coriander, chopped
To assemble
- 8 small corn or flour tortillas, warmed
- Sliced avocado, optional
Instructions
- Pat the chicken dry. Mix paprika, cumin, garlic powder, oregano and salt and rub all over the thighs.
- Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high. Cook the chicken for 5–6 minutes per side until deeply golden and cooked through. Rest for 5 minutes, then slice.
- While the chicken cooks, toss the cabbage with the lime juice and salt, scrunching with your hands. Stir the sour cream with the lime zest and a splash of water to loosen.
- Warm the tortillas in a dry pan for 20 seconds per side.
- Pile chicken into each tortilla, top with slaw, a drizzle of crema, coriander and lime. Add avocado if you have it.
Cooking tips
- Chicken thighs are far more forgiving than breasts — they stay juicy even slightly overcooked.
- Warm the tortillas in a dry pan, not the microwave. The brief char makes a real difference.
- Rest the chicken before slicing or the juices end up on the chopping board, not in your taco.
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