May 10, 2011 •

Caribbean Jerk Chicken Tacos

Hope everyone had a fabulous weekend! I didn’t get to celebrate with Mexican food on actual Cinco de Mayo, but we deemed Sunday Mexican food day. Quesadillas for lunch and these tacos for dinner. I love this kind of taco at my favorite Taco Mamacita that I’ve mentioned on here fifty billion times:) so I decided to try and recreate it at home. I also love the vegetarian jerk taco that uses plaintains and I attempted that but it didn’t work out so well…so I just stayed with the chicken version and it was awesome! It really was close to what they serve at Taco Mama. I had so much fun making all of these. I served them topped with our favorite Mango Cilantro Relish that I will re-post below and served with sweet potato fries on the side (I bought them from the freezer section so I could focus on the tacos). This was such a fun and flavorful Mexican/Caribbean Dish. Hope everyone enjoyed their Cinco de Mayo! What did you do to celebrate? Oh an I have to mention this is my first post from my new Mac Adam got me after our ancient computer finally died!! Squeal!! So exciting!:)

Caribbean Jerk Chicken Tacos
Source: Inspired by Taco Mamacita & adapted from Bobby Flay’s recipe
Makes enough for approximately 6-8 small tacos depending on how full you fill them

Ingredients:

For the Chicken:
2 large chicken breasts, cooked & shredded
2-3 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp. brown sugar
1 tbsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. all spice
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1/4-1/2 tsp. ground red pepper
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
2 tbsp. red wine vinegar
Juice of 1 Lime

For the Black Bean Mash:
1/4 cup chopped red onion
2-3 tbsp. olive oil or Mojo Marinade
1 Can Black Beans, slightly drained
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
Juice of 1/2 lime

For the Sour Cream:
1/4 cup light sour cream
1/4 tsp. ground red pepper
Juice of 1/2 lime
1/2 tbsp. chopped cilantro

For Assembly:
Small Flour Tortillas
Black Bean Mash
Chopped Cabbage
Jerk Chicken
Sour Cream Mixture
Mango Cilantro Relish (Recipe Below)
Additional Cilantro for Topping

Directions:

For the Chicken:
In a large skillet, heat 1 tbsp. olive oil over medium heat. Reduce heat to medium low. Add chicken and all seasonings. Stir to combine. Add in lime juice, red wine vinegar and 1-2 more tbsp. of olive oil (depending on how moist it is). Stir to combine and cook until chicken is heated through. Add more olive oil if chicken needs more moisture.

For Black Beans:
In a medium sized pan, add 1 tbsp. olive oil over medium heat. Add onions and saute for 2-3 minutes. Reduce heat to medium low. Pour in black beans and add in garlic powder and additional olive oil or Mojo Marinade. Stir to combine and allow to cook down until most of the liquid is dissolved. Mash with the back of a spoon. Keep on low heat until ready to use. Right before you use it add a squeeze of lime and stir to combine.

For Sour Cream:
Stir together sour cream, red pepper, lime juice & cilantro. Set aside until ready to use.

For Assembly:
Begin with a flour tortilla, spread a thin layer of the black bean mash across the center of the tortilla. Top with chicken, then cabbage, then sour cream mixture, then mango cilantro relish. Top with more cilantro if desired. Roll up & enjoy!

*Tip: I would make the mango relish and sour cream ahead of time and then cook the chicken & black beans at the same time so everything is ready all at once. While they are cooking, chop up your cabbage & additional cilantro.


Mango Cilantro Relish
Source: Joelen’s Culinary Adventures recipe adapted from Bobby Flay

Ingredients:
2 mangoes, peeled and diced
1/4 cup finely chopped red onion
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
3 tablespoons lime juice
3 tablespoons fresh orange juice
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Directions:
Combine the mangoes, onion, cilantro, lime juice, and orange juice in a bowl and gently mix. Season to taste with salt and pepper. This relish can be made ahead of time.

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Comments

  1. Erin says
    May 10, 2011 at 12:50 PM

    I've never thought to serve sweet potato fries with this type of dish, sounds yummy!

  2. Kerstin says
    May 14, 2011 at 8:28 PM

    Yum, these look fabulous! Sorry the plantain ones didn't turn out well, did you use really ripe ones with a black skin? That helps I think.

  3. Macaroni and Cheesecake says
    May 15, 2011 at 2:05 AM

    Yeah I don't think they were ripe enough and then I sort of burned them, so I just decided to scrap them this time and I'll definitely try them again though!:)

  4. stacielk says
    June 10, 2011 at 2:07 AM

    Made these tacos for Memorial Weekend and loved them. Just posted about 'em and linked your site. Hope that's ok. Thanks for the recipe!

  5. Matthew Zuzula Lawrence says
    November 25, 2012 at 9:56 PM

    I used left-over turkey from Thankgiving dinner, no one knew I didn’t cook all day!!! This is one of my favorite recipes!!!

  6. Matthew Zuzula Lawrence says
    November 25, 2012 at 9:58 PM

    I uses left over turkey instead of chicken, was perfect, love this recipe!!!

  7. Melanie Hodge says
    May 5, 2013 at 11:35 AM

    I had the most amazing jerk chicken taco at a local restaurant not too long ago, so I decided to see if I could find a good recipe for them to try to make it myself. I Googled “jerk chicken tacos” and yours was the first page that came up. I was VERY HAPPILY surprised to see that you listed the inspiration for this recipe was from Taco Mamacita, because that’s where I had the taco I wanted to duplicate!!! What a great restaurant!!! 🙂

  8. Jon Moore says
    July 6, 2014 at 7:07 PM

    My wife and I ate at Taco Mamacita last week and LOVED their tacos. I found your post online and made your version, and they are just as delicious! Thanks for doing all the leg work for us!