The key to this amazing copycat recipe for Chipotle chicken is the marinade, and getting a nice sear on the chicken for those crunchy bits of cooked marinade!
Ingredients:
- ½medium red onion(coarsely chopped)
- 3clovesgarlic(coarsely chopped)
- 2tablespoonsadobo sauce(from a small can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce)
- 2tablespoonsolive oil
- 2tablespoonsancho chile powder
- 1teaspoonground cumin
- 1teaspoondried oregano
- 1tablespoonsalt
- ½teaspoonblack pepper
- Water(as needed)
- 3 to 4poundsboneless skinless chicken thighs
Directions:
- Make the Marinade: Place the onion, garlic, adobo sauce, olive oil, chile powder, cumin, oregano, salt, and pepper into a food processor or blender and process until smooth. Pour the marinade into a 1-cup measuring cup and add enough water to reach to 1 cup.
- Using a fork, poke holes all over the chicken thighs and place in a resealable plastic bag. Pour the marinade over, seal, and use your hands to move the marinade around so that all of the chicken is evenly coated. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour, or overnight.
- Cook the Chicken: Preheat a large skillet over medium heat. Add enough olive oil to coat the bottom of the pan. Add the chicken to the pan and cook, turning occasionally, until completely cooked through, 165 to 175 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer. (I recommend cooking in two batches and adding more olive oil in between, if needed). Remove the chicken to a large cutting board and allow to rest for at least 10 minutes. Slice or chop the chicken, as desired. Serve in a burrito, in a salad, or on its own!
Recipe Notes:
Note: You will not need all of the sauce from the can of chipotle peppers, but you can freeze the remainder (use an ice cube tray for easy measuring!), as well as the chipotle peppers, for another recipe. Nutritional values are based on one serving
Nutrition:
Calories: 343kcal
Fat: 15g
Saturated fat: 3g
Cholesterol: 215mg
Sodium: 1838mg
Potassium: 644mg
Carbohydrates: 4g
Fiber: 1g
Protein: 44g
Vitamin A: 860%
Vitamin C: 1.5%
Calcium: 50%
Iron: 2.8%
this looks so good, i can’t wait to try it! the picture of the burrito bowl looks amazing, too. what do you put in your burrito bowls?
This chicken is fantastic, I’ve never eaten at Chipotle but doesn’t matter because now I don’t ever have to.
This is delicious!! How do I make it into a salad dressing?? Would it work if I add some to olive oil? Any suggestions? Thank you!!
Best chipotle chicken marinade I’ve tried!
I find that it tastes like “Ken’s Steakhouse Fajita Grilling Sauce.” Does anybody else remember the Ken’s steakhouse fajita marinade?? I can’t seem to find any record on the internet that it ever existed! I remember trying to make a copycat version of it myself years ago, but I never came very close. This BEB recipe does it! I do bump up the cumin to 2 TB and use 1 1/2 red onions, and I puree it with an immersion blender.
The best!!!! After searching out a recipe for Chipotle Chicken, I used this one. The street tacos at my son’s 21st birthday party were a hit! So many compliments from our guests. My husband grilled the chicken out on the gas grill. We used breast meat- I filleted the pieces to make them more uniform in thickness. Grilled to internal temp of 160 degrees and they were perfect! I also pan cooked some leftover chicken and it was equally good. But when cooking for 75 guests, the outdoor grill made more sense because of its size. This is a recipe that I will use again and again! Thank you to brown eyed baker for a great recipe!
We make this a lot. It’s amazing. I’d really like to send it to my Google home to talk me through the recipe. I’ve noticed this might be the only recipe on your website I can’t send to Google home.
I tried this recipe for chicken tacos for a going away party. I wanted them to have a better flavor than taco seasoning. It was amazing. I did tenderize and dice up the chicken raw before putting it into a ziplock bag with the marinade (I did puree all the ingredients together). I only let it sit about 15 minutes as the pieces were small. I cooked in a preheated pan with the olive oil as stated just until the chicken was done. I did sprinkle a very small amount of taco seasoning on the chicken while it was cooking. This turned out so good. Just a hint of spice but not too hot for a crowd. Everyone raved over it and I will be putting this recipe in the “special” recipe book so as it will not get lost.
SO GOOD. Omg, I loved this so much. It’s absolutely delicious and easy to make. I pureed the onion and garlic mixture because I hate chunks and it turned out awesome. We made it in a pan, which was definitely the way to go. We also made the cilantro lime rice and that was a hit too! I love this website!
My VERY PICKY daughter loves this and begged me to make it again – which I’m doing tonight.
I am barely getting 2tbls of the adobo sauce from the small cans. Am I supposed to do something with the peppers in them? Like puree them in the sauce to get the 2tbls? This recipe is a hit and have made it a couple times but I am just stumped by my cans lack of available sauce.
I have the same problem trying to get enough liquid from the can of chipotle peppers. I add a small amount of water to the can and mix well. That gives me enough liquid for a couple of recipes. I also take one of the peppers, remove the seeds and add it to the blender. It gives a slight kick, but still not too hot for my three year old who loves this amazing chicken.
Thanks! Didn’t even think about adding some water to the can instead of at the end to make a full cup. It just threw me off when the directions say you can freeze the extra adobo sauce and I am like what extra sauce??
After buying a number of cans of chilis in adobo, and ending up throwing away the peppers just to use the sauce, which wasn’t quite enough, I ended up “faking” the adobo sauce. 2TB tomato paste, 2 TB apple cider vinegar, 1 tsp smoked paprika, 1/16 tsp chipotle powder (optional.)
Hope that helps!