Crispy air fried chicken bites join forces with a sweet, spicy, and tangy honey chipotle sauce to make a fun spin on chicken tacos. Served inside corn tortillas with guacamole or sliced avocado, pickled onions, and cheese, these tacos are a sneaky good source of protein.
Each taco has 23 grams of protein with only 11 grams of fat. Skip the guacamole to bring that down to 7 grams of fat each. You won’t find many crunchy chicken tacos with a 2:1 protein to fat ratio!
These tacos are the twentieth recipe in my frozen lightly breaded chicken breast bites recipe series. And they’re the third thing I’ve made with my base honey chipotle chicken bites recipe.
This is definitely one of my top sauce and air fried chicken combos due to its versatility. It’s great on its own as a high protein snack, but it’s also great in other dishes like these tacos or chicken sandwiches.
I’d encourage you to experiment with the chicken beyond these tacos if you like it as much as I do. Be sure to let me know what you come up with in the comments or on my Instagram.
I’ve kept this post short and sweet. There is a full recipe card you can save or print below, and there’s a visual walkthrough with a few photo examples below that. Have fun!
Honey Chipotle Chicken Tacos
Crispy baked or air fried chicken bites tossed in a homemade honey chipotle sauce served on corn tortillas with guacamole, pickled onions, and queso fresco.
Ingredients
- 2 pounds (907g) Frozen Lightly Breaded Chicken Breast Bites
- 1/2 cup (168g) Honey
- 1/2 cup (120g) Chicken Bone Broth (or water)
- 1/4 cup (68g) Reduced Sugar Ketchup
- 2 Tablespoons (30g) Red Wine Vinegar (or your choice of vinegar)
- 2 teaspoons Ground Chipotle Chili Powder
- 1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
For Serving
- 8 Corn Tortillas
- Guacamole (about 1 cup)
- Queso Fresco
- Pickled Onions
- Lime Wedges
Instructions
- Cook the chicken. Bake or air fry the frozen chicken bites according to the packaging.
- Make the sauce. Add the honey, broth or water, ketchup, vinegar, chipotle chili powder, and salt to a pan or saucepan. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until the sauce thickens and coats the back of a spatula or spoon. Keep warm over low heat until the chicken is cooked.
- Sauce it up. Add the cooked chicken to the sauce and toss or stir to evenly coat.
- Assemble the tacos. Warm the tacos in a pan or over a low flame on a gas range.* Add about 2 tablespoons of guacamole to each tortilla before topping with the sauced chicken, pickled onions, queso fresco, and a squeeze of lime juice.
Notes
*Read this to learn more about warming tortillas.
I tested this recipe with both Kirkland Signature and Just Bare frozen lightly breaded chicken breast bites (both from Costco). Perdue and Tyson also make lightly breaded chicken breast products available in most grocery stores.
To use fresh chicken, toss diced chicken breast with a bit of olive oil, salt, and pepper. Air fry or bake the chicken until it reaches a 165ºF internal temperature before tossing in the sauce.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 8 Serving Size: 1 tacoAmount Per Serving: Calories: 350Total Fat: 11gCarbohydrates: 42gProtein: 23g
How to Make Tacos with Crispy Honey Chipotle Chicken (Step by Step Walkthrough)
Step One: Use an air fryer or oven to cook frozen chicken bites.
In my experience, different frozen lightly breaded chicken breast products have different cooking time and temperature recommendations, so I recommend following that. Personally, I cook the Kirkland Signature chicken bites at 375ºF for 12 minutes in a Ninja air fryer to make my favorite bites of the bunch.
For the crispiest chicken possible when baking in an oven, flipping seems to help a bit. I’ve found the best remedy for not-so-crispy baked frozen chicken is to cook it a bit longer and at a higher temperature than recommended on the packaging.
Step Two: Toss the cooked chicken in a prepared honey chipotle sauce.
The sauce is super easy to make but not entirely hands off. Just be sure to stir occasionally so the honey doesn’t burn.
You’re looking for a thick sauce that’s slightly thinner than honey before adding the chicken. If you drag a spatula across the bottom of the pan, it should leave a well defined trail.
Step Three: Assemble and serve the chicken tacos.
If you’re making your own guacamole, you will want to move that to the front of the recipe.
Otherwise, warm your tortillas (corn and flour both work great) and get a couple tablespoons of guac slathered on them. I find the layer of guac on the bottom protects the tortillas from the saucy chicken, maintaining structural integrity.
If you’re not a fan of avocado, try swapping it for cheese crusted tortillas. Just toss tortillas in a nonstick pan and top with shredded cheese. Once the cheese starts to melt, flip them and cook for 30-60 seconds until a golden brown crust forms on the bottom. See my Korean BBQ tacos (also made with frozen chicken bites) for an example.
Have any questions?
Drop them in the comments below and I’ll do my best to help you out. I hope you enjoy these tacos and the honey chipotle chicken as much as I do!
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