Name: Crispy Lemongrass Chicken Tacos
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 25 min
Yield: 4 Servings
Cuisine: Asian
Ingredients: 6 chicken thighs (deboned) - or any dark meat; 3 cloves garlic (finely minced); 3 tablespoons soy sauce; 6 soft corn tortilla shells; 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar; 1-2 stalks green onion (finely chopped); 1-2 stalks lemongrass (approximately 2.5-3 tablespoons, finely chopped); handful tortilla chips

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Easy crispy chicken tacos made with soft corn tortilla shells stuffed with a flavourful lemongrass chicken with crispy tortilla bits on the inside! Best of both worlds, crispy and soft taco in one!

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Tacos are one of my favourite things to eat and honestly one of the most fun things you can experiment in the kitchen with. The flavours are endless – you could do:

International flavoured tacos (Asian, Indian, Thai, Mexican, BBQ etc)
You can do interesting textured tacos (Sauce, crispy, chewy, fruity etc)
You can do funky tacos (hotdog tacos, hamburger tacos, chocolate tacos, fries and cheese tacos)
….and depending on how many toppings you make – it’s fun to entertain with too because your guests can experiment with flavours themselves as well.

I know what you’re thinking, the shells are not crispy! How can you call this a crispy taco? That’s because this taco has the best of both worlds. It has the soft corn tortilla with the crispy bits on the inside chopped with the chicken. Personally, I find the soft tacos easier to stuff with delicious toppings and easier to eat but I love the crispiness of the crispy tacos as well so I just smushed it into one recipe.

INGREDIENTS

All ingredients should be available at your local grocery store, although lemongrass might be a trickier item to find. You can usually find it in an specialty grocery store or Asian grocery store.

Lemongrass can be used fresh or pre-ground frozen. If you are using the fresh lemongrass, use only the bottom of the lemongrass stalk and not the dry tops. The oils and flavours are dried up at the top and will not give you much flavour, however the bottoms are still packed with the lemongrass oils. 🙂

For this recipe, I used dark meat chicken. I prefer to buy bone-in chicken and debone it myself since this is much cheaper and you can use the chicken bones for a chicken broth later down the road! (Just freeze the bones for when you are ready to use it.)
For simplicity and an easier recipe with less mess, you can buy deboned chicken as well. Adjust the cooking time if you are cooking the chicken with the bone-in.

For tortillas, we found that corn tortilla was the most flavourful and was best when lightly toasted on the stove, however you can go with your favourite brand or type of tortillas and it will be just as good.

PUTTING IT TOGETHER

This one is a simple recipe. Huzzah for simplicity with flavour!

Chop the garlic and lemongrass (use the bottom of the stalk only).
Finely chop the green onions and set it aside for the end.
Marinate the chicken with soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, chopped garlic and chopped lemongrass for a few hours
In a large skillet pan, set the heat to medium heat. Starting skin side down first, sear the chicken for 3-4 minutes a side. To get the brown skin, leave it untouched skin side down for a few minutes. (If you are using boned chicken, you will need to cook the chicken longer)
Once the chicken is done, transfer it to a cutting board and place some tortilla chips on top of the chicken and chop it up together
Ta-da! Add it to your tacos! …or be weird like me and eat it on top of rice! haha 🙂

TOPPINGS TOPPINGS & MORE TOPPINGS!

Let’s be honest, one of the best part of tacos are the fun toppings. Switch it up and you got yourself different flavours every bite!

Here are a few ideas of toppings we love to use:

Simple Lime pickled red onions (Slice up a red onion, add lemon juice to it and let it sit and macerate until soft)
Cheeses! Lots of different cheeses! We found feta amazing on tacos! If you want to go the traditional route you can also look for cojita cheese, which is similar to feta so if you can’t find it you can easily substitute it.
Sour cream. You cannot forget this lovely stuff.
Chives and green onions. There’s something seriously flavourful and fresh about adding them in
Guacamole! Try our ‘Toasted Sesame Guacamole‘ recipe out or use the quick and dirty version listed there too!
Most importantly Salsa. All tacos need an element of sour and salsa does it with flavour. We have a ‘Sweet & Spicy Pineapple Salsa‘ recipe that pairs really well with anything! Or be creative and create your own unique fruit salsa! 🙂
Freshly squeezed lime juice. It’s a simple ingredient that will do magic to your tacos.

For Cinco de Mayo, I have teamed up with a few other food bloggers for this awesome list of recipes to jump start your celebrations:

Black Bean & Refried Bean Dips – Pickles Travel Blog
Margarita Tart with Tortilla Chip Crust – Flour Arrangements
DIY Guacamole Bar – Cheap Recipe Blog
Fiesta Brown Rice Salad – The Honour System

Happy Cinco de Mayo!