Finishing our week of great chicken recipes that use cooked chicken - think rotisserie chicken - to bring fantastic and creative dinners to your table, this time it's time to put your favorite chicken taco fillings into a savory pastry made from puff pastry.
As is often the case, the filling has some room for tweaks. Love something that's missing? Work it in. Hate something that's listed? You can probably substitute something else or omit it. I'd keep the chicken or use a different protein, but omitting it will make this a tiny amount of filling in a recipe that has chicken in the title. Adding some shredded cheese in the filling gives it a chance to melt and glue together the filling as it bakes. Without it, the filling is far more likely to fall out when the tacos are being transferred to a plate.
I served these fun tacos with chips, salsa, and guacamole plus a cold beer. A margarita or sangria would also be lovely, as would a nice chilled lemonade or iced tea. Enjoy!
Puff Pastry Chicken Tacos
- 1 pound shredded or chopped cooked chicken - I used rotisserie chicken
- ½ cup finely diced sweet yellow onion
- ½ cup chopped red pepper
- ½ cup diced roasted green chiles
- 1 ounce taco seasoning
- 1 can (14.5 oz.) fire-roasted diced tomatoes, do not drain
- 17.3 ounces puff pastry
- 1 ¼ cup shredded cheese - I used a Mexican blend
Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper and set aside.
In a large bowl, combine the chicken, onion, pepper, chiles, taco seasoning and undrained canned tomatoes; stir well to combine. Add half of the shredded cheese and stir again. Set the mixture aside or put in a sealable container and chill up to 3 days before finishing preparation.
Using a rolling pin, roll the puff pastry carefully to seal any seams and create a large square. Using a pizza cutter, slice the puff pastry lengthwise down the center of the pastry. This will give you two sections. Slice each of the two sections in half. This will give four large squares per package.
Spoon the chicken mixture diagonally down the center of each square. Sprinkle 1-2 tablespoons of the shredded cheese on top of the filling. Wet the tips of your fingers with water and dab onto 2 opposing corners of the squares. Fold them over, making sure to use your damp fingertips to “glue” the pastry so it will stay in place while baking.
Bake the tacos for 20 to 22 minutes, or until golden brown. Allow the puffy tacos to cool before serving. If desired, sprinkle the tacos with chopped or torn cilantro when serving.
- Yields: 4 servings
- Preparation Time: 45 minutes