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Sheet Pan Crispy Jalapeño Chicken Tacos. Roasted chicken with smoky chipotle chiles, chili powder, and salty soy sauce. Shred each piece and toss with the spicy sauce, then mix with cheese, stuff into corn tortillas, and oven-bake until each taco is crispy with melty cheese inside. Serve with a salty roasted garlic and jalapeño sesame verde sauce, then lots of avocado. These come together easily and are so delicious!

Sheet Pan Crispy Jalapeño Chicken Tacos | halfbakedharvest.com

Taco Tuesday!! To be very upfront, I never practice Taco Tuesday. This is mainly because we’ll excitedly eat tacos on any given night. Sometimes multiple times a week. It’s no secret that everyone in the family adores taco night on any night.

With Cinco de Mayo coming up in less than a month, I’ve been hit with the taco bug. In the last few weeks I’ve created two of my favorite taco recipes to date. I plan to share one this week and then the other in another week or so. I’m very excited about both!

First up, we’ve got the tried-and-true Gerard Family classic taco, made with crispy chicken (though I normally use beef).

Sheet Pan Crispy Jalapeño Chicken Tacos | halfbakedharvest.com

The story is that my dad used to make tacos on a weekly basis. His were filled with ground beef, then baked with cheddar cheese. They were thoroughly enjoyed straight out of the oven with no toppings other than maybe some shredded lettuce.

We all still love this taco. I make variations on it ALL THE TIME. But everyone agreed that this taco was very special and needed to be shared. The chicken was perfect, and the sauce really completed it.

Sheet Pan Crispy Jalapeño Chicken Tacos | halfbakedharvest.com

Here are the details

Step 1: season and roast the chicken

Working on a sheet pan, toss the chicken with chipotle chiles, chili powder, oregano, and cumin. Then pour over some tamari and drizzle on some honey. I like to use honey when cooking with chipotle, I think it’s a nice balance to the spice.

Toss the chicken, then arrange it on one side of the sheet pan. On the other side, add a couple of garlic cloves, a jalapeño, and a few green onions. Roast everything until the chicken is cooked through and the jalapeño is charred.

Sheet Pan Crispy Jalapeño Chicken Tacos | halfbakedharvest.com

Step 2: shred the chicken

Remove the chicken from the oven and pull the garlic, jalapeño, and green onions off the sheet pan. Now add those guys to a food processor. Or you can use a blender. Let them hang for a minute until you’re ready to make the sauce.

Now back to the chicken. Shred the chicken and toss it with the sauce on the pan.

Step 3: the crispy shells

Instead of using store-bought taco shells, I like to stuff corn tortillas with chicken and cheese and bake them until crispy.

This method is my favorite, and I use it every time I make tacos for my family. We love the crispy oven “fried” shells and melty cheese. It’s the best when some of the cheese melts out onto the pan and gets crispy too. Delicious!

Of course, you can use store-bought hard-shell tacos as well. When I’m in a time crunch, I often will too.

Sheet Pan Crispy Jalapeño Chicken Tacos | halfbakedharvest.com

Step 4: make the garlic sesame verde sauce

Back at your food processor, blend the roasted garlic cloves, jalapeño, and green onions with salsa verde and tamari. If you want a less spicy sauce, de-seed the jalapeño before blending.

Blend the sauce and mix in the toasted sesame seeds.

Step 5: it’s time to eat

By now, the tacos should be done. Serve them while warm and crispy with lots of verde sauce, avocado, cilantro, and limes. I’ll sometimes add pickled onion as well and maybe a dollop of yogurt.

Sheet Pan Crispy Jalapeño Chicken Tacos | halfbakedharvest.com

Mostly I just love these with the verde sauce and avocado. So yummy!

Looking for more simple weeknight recipes? Here are a few favorites:

Crockpot Chipotle Pot Roast Tacos

Crispy Cider Braised White Chili Chicken Tacos

Crispy Jalapeño Cream Cheese Buffalo Chicken Taquitos

Sheet Pan Buffalo Chicken Pizza

Slow Cooker Chipotle Chicken Tortilla Soup with Salty Lime Chips

Healthier Homemade Crunchwrap Supreme

Crispy Chipotle Chicken Tacos with Cilantro Lime Ranch

Crockpot Crispy Buffalo Chicken Tacos

Lastly, if you make these Sheet Pan Crispy Jalapeño Verde Chicken Tacos, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And, of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!

Sheet Pan Crispy Chicken Tacos with Roasted Jalapeño Sesame Verde

Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes
Servings: 6
Calories Per Serving: 420 kcal

Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.

Ingredients

Toasted Sesame Jalapeño Verde

Instructions

  • 1. Preheat the oven to 425° F. 
    2. On a baking sheet, toss the chicken with olive oil, onions, chipotle, chili powder, oregano, and cumin. Pour over the tamari and honey. Toss to coat. Arrange in a single layer. Add the garlic cloves, jalapeño, and green onions (for the salsa). Roast everything for 20 minutes or until the chicken is cooked.
    3. Remove the garlic cloves, jalapeño, and green onions from the sheet pan and add to a food processor. Let cool. Shred the chicken and toss with the sauce on the sheet pan.
    4. Line the taco shells up in a 9×13 inch baking dish. Bake for 5 minutes. Stuff the chicken into each taco shell and top with cheese. Bake for 10 minutes, until the cheese has melted.
    5. To make the sauce. Add the salsa verde and tamari to the food processor with the jalapeño. Blend until smooth. Stir in the sesame seeds.
    6. Serve each taco with the sesame verde sauce. Enjoy!

Notes

For Easy Homemade Hard Shells: Warm 8-12 corn tortillas for 30 seconds to 1 minute in the microwave, until pliable. On a baking sheet, rub the tortillas with olive oil. Lay each flat and then layer evenly with cheese and meat. Fold the other half of the tortilla over the filling, gently pushing to adhere (see above photo). Transfer to the oven and bake for 5-8 minutes, then flip and cook another 5 minutes more, or until the cheese has melted and the tortillas are crisp. 
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Sheet Pan Crispy Jalapeño Chicken Tacos | halfbakedharvest.com

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Comments

  1. 5 stars
    This was very good but i don’t understand adding soy sauce to this flavor profile. I left that out of the chicken and the salsa verde and it was delicious without it!

    1. Hey Alima,
      Happy Monday!! Thanks a lot for making this recipe and your comment! I love to hear that it turned out well for you! Xx

    1. Hey Laura,
      Sure, you would have to add some liquid, I would do broth and maybe some salsa verde. Let me know if you give this recipe a try, I hope you love it! xT

  2. Hi! The directions are unclear as you direct to put jalapeño in the food processor in step 3 and then write to add jalapeño in the sauce in step 5. Do you need 2 jalapeños in this recipe?

    1. Hi Ana,
      The directions are correct:) You are adding the sauce ingredients to the food processor that the jalapeño is in in step 5. I hope this helps! xx