Creamy chicken tacos inspired by the viral Marry Me Chicken – yes these truly are as good as they sound!
As the self-appointed king of creamy chicken dishes, I thought it would be rude not to give the famous marry me chicken recipe a go. I wanted to put my twist on it, and ended up with these tacos, which I haven’t actually seen been done before. Spoiler alert – they’re incredible! Follow me…
Marry Me Chicken
Marry me chicken is very similar to Tuscan chicken. It’s essentially chicken breast in a rich, creamy parmesan sauce with sun dried tomatoes, often with herbs and garlic too. We are going to be keeping in line with these key components, just with a few tweaks to make it taco-style:
- Diced chicken – these tacos are pretty small, so we’ll be dicing the chicken nice and small before we fry it.
- Consistency – we want saucy tacos, but not wet and sloppy. As such, we’ll need a nice, thick sauce to wrap around the chicken.
- Spice – some marry me chicken recipes already include chilli flakes, but since these are tacos, we’ll certainly be including them (and a little more than you usually would so they’re more prominent).
Process shots: coat diced chicken in oil and seasoning (photo 1), add to pan (photo 2), fry then remove (photo 3), fry garlic then add stock, cream, parmesan, chilli flakes and sun dried tomatoes (photo 4), simmer (photo 5), stir through chicken (photo 6).
Creamy Chicken Tacos
After you’ve made the filling, it’s important to let it cool. At least until it stops steaming. If you don’t allow it to cool and add it straight to the tacos, you risk it steaming the tortillas, which prevents them from crisping up.
My cheese of choice is mozzarella. It’s perfect for a gooey filling, and it’s creamy enough to pair with the filling and let it shine. The filling is already pretty rich, so I don’t like adding any other cheese too intense (remember there’s parmesan in the sauce too).
To cook the tacos, we’ll be pan-frying them. Chicken breast is lean, so you don’t want to cook it any longer than it needs to be (especially because it’s diced so small). Hence why we’re not baking or air-frying them.
Process shots: add filling to tortillas (photo 1), add cheese (photo 2), fold over and add to pan (photo 3), fry both sides (photo 4).
They won’t take long to cook – you’re only looking to toast the outside and melt the cheese.
From there, let them cool for a minute or so before tucking in (the filling will be pretty hot). These are awesome as they are, but you could add some Wedges, Chips or even a Side Salad.
Alrighty, let’s tuck into the full recipe for these marry me chicken tacos shall we?!
How to make Marry Me Chicken Tacos (Full Recipe & Video)
Marry Me Chicken Tacos
Equipment
- Sharp Knife & Chopping Board
- Medium Sized Mixing Bowl
- Large Pan & Wooden Spoon
Ingredients
Chicken
- 1lb / 450g Chicken Breast, sliced into small cubes (approx 1/2")
- 1 tbsp Olive Oil
- 1/2 tsp EACH: Salt, Black Pepper, Paprika, Dried Oregano
- 1/4 tsp EACH: Dried Thyme, Garlic Powder, Onion Powder
Sauce
- 2 cloves of Garlic, finely diced
- 1/3 cup / 80ml Chicken Stock
- 1/2 cup / 120ml Heavy/Double Cream
- 1/3 cup / 30g freshly grated Parmesan
- 3.5oz / 100g Sun Dried Tomatoes, finely diced (pat dry to remove excess oil if needed)
- 1/2 tsp Chilli Flakes, or more to spice preference
Tacos
- 8x 6"/15cm Soft Tortillas (see notes)
- 1 cup / 100g shredded Mozzarella
- Oil Spray, as needed
Instructions
- In a medium-sized mixing bowl, combine the diced chicken with the oil and seasoning.
- Place a large pan over medium-high heat (closer to high). Once hot, add the chicken and fry until seared all over (a few minutes). It doesn't need to be completely cooked through, although it likely will be as the chicken is small. Remove and place in a bowl to one side, leaving the excess fat/juices in the pan.
- Turn the heat down to medium, then fry the garlic for 30 seconds or so (be careful it doesn't burn). Add the stock, cream, parmesan, sun dried tomatoes and chilli flakes and give it a good stir until the parmesan melts. Continue simmering and stirring for 3-4 minutes until the sauce thickens. Stir through the chicken (and any resting juices) and simmer for another minute until the sauce re-thickens and clings to the chicken.
- Scrape the chicken into a bowl to one side and leave it to cool (at least until it stops steaming). Lay out all of the tortillas and spoon the chicken onto one side of each of them. Top with mozzarella, then fold over into a taco.
- Wipe out the pan (or use a clean one) and place it over medium-high heat. Lightly spray with oil. Place half of the tacos in (or as many as you can fit), then lightly spray the tops with oil. Fry both sides until deep golden and crispy with the cheese melted in the centre, then remove and repeat. Be careful they don't burn (you can keep peeking to check underneath).
- Serve and enjoy!
Video
Notes
Your Private Notes:
Nutrition
Looking for more?
You’ll find plenty more delicious comfort food like this in my Debut Cookbook ‘Comfy’
