Baja Chicken Tacos with Cilantro Lime Sour Cream

aka: Crack in a Tortilla! When I lived in College Station, there was this restaurant called La Bodega that had the BEST chicken tacos. I was beyond obsessed with them. Not only did they have the best tacos, but the most amazing sauce. I'm 100% sure that it was laced with some sort of illegal substance because I would drown my taco in that stuff, have it dripping onto my hands, and actually lick it off my fingers so that I didn't miss out on any. Yep...I did this in public, with absolutely no shame. As I moved away and my visits back became few and far between (insert sad face) I realized that I was going to have to figure out how to get my crack taco fix without driving 3 hours to get the real thing. So, here's my version at re-creating my all time favorite taco. It's by no means the original, but pretty damn good!

Recipe disclaimer: I am not a "measurer", so most measurements are purely guesstimates. But, this isn't baking, or rocket science...so you'll be fine!

Marinade for Chicken:

Zest and juice of 1 lime (then throw the lime in for good measure!)
2 tbsp olive oil
1 oz tequila
1 oz triple sec (If you don't have triple sec, use a little orange juice, orange zest, orange extract, whatever you've got on hand. You're just going for a hint of orange. I just choose to get mine in the form of liquor...yes, I know it all cooks off, not the point!)
2-3 tbsp chopped cilantro
salt and pepper
1 tbsp red pepper flakes
If you have any type of Mexican seasoning, throw a little of that in. I have a good Mexi-Cali blend...or just plain old Cumin is great in this.

Dump it all in a bag w/ 3-4 chicken breasts and marinate for at least 30 min. If you have frozen chicken breasts, just let them thaw in the marinade.


Cilantro Lime Sour Cream (aka, crack sauce):

8 oz sour cream (I use light, but fat free is completely worthless...blah)
zest and juice of one lime
1-2 tbsp finely chopped cilantro
salt and pepper to taste

If you love cilantro, add more. I am not a cilantro person (apparently this is a genetically inherited trait, or so I've been told at least a dozen times!). I'm always picking it off of things, and never understood why someone would ruin a perfectly good BBQ pizza, or salad by putting it on there. However, the combo of cilantro and lime is so good, and refreshing.

Mix this all together, then let it get it's groove on in the fridge for a while. The longer it hangs out, the better it's going to be. Try to resist eating it by the spoonful. I usually cannot.

Pico de Gallo:

4-6 Roma tomatoes - finely chopped
1/4 onion - finely chopped (If you feel like branching out a bit, try a red onion. I always get a big thumbs up on that one!)
1 small jalapeno - chopped so small I can barely see it! I take the seeds and ribs out b/c I'm a wuss
zest and juice of one lime
2-4 tbsp finely chopped cilantro (again, depending on how much you love it)
salt and pepper to taste

Same w/ the sour cream, the longer it sits, the better it tastes!


When you are all set, grill and slice the chicken. Serve in grilled white corn tortillas and top with:

Shredded red cabbage (even if you are not a cabbage fan, just trust me and try it. If you hate it, you can curse me while you pick it all off!)
Monterrey Jack Cheese
Pico and Sour Cream

Serve with black beans and rice! Oh, and you'll want to have a bag of tortilla chips on hand for the leftover pico!



Makes me happy every time I eat it...hope I can pass a little of that along :)