Chicken Tacos with Hatch Chile Salsa Verde
We love eating seasonally, and when we have Hatch Chile peppers fresh at LGCM, we have to make salsa verde! We combine the best of New Mexico (hatch chiles) with the best of Wisconsin (fresh local produce from Geneva Lakes Produce) and make a salsa verde that’s fresh, flavorful and delicious on top of chicken tacos.
These chicken tacos were ready in just a few minutes because we used leftover chicken from the previous night. Adding the fresh corn from Geneva Lakes Produce freshened up the chicken and made for a delightful way to enjoy a meal and reduce food waste!
Keep reading to get answers about a few questions you may have about this recipe, or scroll down to the ingredients and get cooking!
What are hatch chile peppers?
Hatch chile peppers are a type of pepper that are named after the Hatch Valley in New Mexico where they are grown. These peppers are treasured for their unique balance of heat and flavor, ranging from mild to extra-hot. They have a meaty flesh, and are perfect for roasting, which enhances their natural, smoky undertones.
We love the unique combination of fruity pepper notes along with a touch of spice that is perfectly accompanied by those smoky undertones. It’s a unique pepper and we love enjoying it while they’re fresh. You can learn more about hatch chiles and buy yours online at The Hatch Chile Store!
Is this a spicy recipe?
We used a medium-hot hatch chile and didn’t add any additional peppers to the salsa verde, so no, as we made this recipe, it is not a spicy recipe.
If you want a spicier taco, here are five ways you can add heat to the recipe:
- Use a spicier hatch chile pepper for your salsa verde.
- Add additional spicy peppers to the salsa verde such as jalapeño peppers or Bird’s Eye peppers.
- Add ground cayenne pepper to the salsa verde.
- Season your tacos with a spicy taco seasoning.
- Add a splash of hot sauce with the tomato paste while you’re cooking your tacos.
Can I make this recipe without hatch chile peppers?
Yes, if you’re unable to find hatch chile peppers, you can substitute serrano peppers. These peppers don’t have the same smoky notes to them, but are a good substitute if you’re unable to get hatch chile peppers.
What type of chicken should I use for these chicken tacos?
We diced up leftover chicken breast tenders to use in this recipe. We are writing this recipe to use already cooked chicken, so if you don’t have cooked chicken, make sure you cook and dice your chicken before using it in this recipe. You can easily cook the chicken while your peppers and tomatillos are roasting!
We liked using chicken breast tenders for this recipe because they were easy to dice. Here are four type of chicken that you can use for this recipe:
- Chicken breast – easy to find, simple to cook.
- Chicken breast tenders – harder to find, but even easier to cook and the perfect shape to dice for this recipe.
- Chicken thighs – if you like more flavorful chicken, grilled and diced chicken thighs would be a tasty ingredient in this recipe.
- Shredded chicken meat – finally, if you’re a “buy a rotisserie chicken and shred it for recipes” type of person, that meat would also work great for this recipe!
What’s in your chicken tacos?
The taco filling we made for these chicken tacos had seven ingredients:
- Chicken meat
- White onion
- Tomato paste
- Corn
- Black beans
- Taco seasoning
- Lime juice
You can add or subtract ingredients to the filling as you like. Adding roasted sweet potatoes to this recipe would be a delicious complement to the other flavors, for instance!
How do you top these tacos?
We wanted to bring out the flavors of the hatch chile salsa verde, so we used traditional Mexican-style toppings of:
- The salsa verde
- Crumbled queso fresco
- Quick pickled red onions
Of course, these are your tacos – so top them as you like!
Do you have more recipes like this one?
Yes! Click this link to see all of our taco recipes, or click this link to see more recipes that use hatch chile peppers!
We hope we answered any questions you may have about this recipe. If you have any feedback or more questions, leave us a comment below. Thanks for reading, and we’ll see you soon at Lake Geneva Country Meats!
Chicken Tacos with Hatch Chile Salsa Verde
We love eating seasonally, and when we have Hatch Chile peppers fresh at LGCM, we have to make salsa verde! We combine the best of New Mexico (hatch chiles) with the best of Wisconsin (fresh local produce from Geneva Lakes Produce) and make a salsa verde that’s fresh, flavorful and delicious on top of chicken tacos.
- Author
- Lake Geneva Country Meats
- Prep Time
- 15 minutes
- Servings
- 8 tacos
Ingredients
- 2 Hatch Chile Peppers (your desired heat – stemmed / seeded and cut into strips)
- 6 Tomatillo (husk removed – cut in quarters)
- Olive Oil
- Kosher Salt
- Black Pepper
- 1 Lime (cut in half)
- 2 Tbsp Vegetable Oil
- 1 lb Chicken Breast Tenders (cooked and diced)
- 1 White Onion (diced)
- 1 Tbsp Tomato Paste
- Sweet Corn (2 ears shucked and kernels removed)
- 1 can Black Beans (drained and rinsed – approx. 15 oz can)
- Tortillas (corn or wheat – your choice – warmed for serving)
- 1 Red Onion (quick pickled – for serving)
- Queso Fresco (for serving)
Directions
- Lay the prepared hatch chile peppers and tomatillos on a foil-lined baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil. Generously season with salt and pepper and roast for 20 minutes at 425ºF or until all the vegetables are charred.
- After the vegetables are roasted, let them cool for 10 minutes, then peel the skin off the hatch chiles and discard the skin.
- Add the roasted tomatillos and hatch chile to a blender with the juice of half a lime and about 1 tbsp. of olive oil. Blend until the salsa reaches your desired level of chunkiness. Season with salt and pepper to your taste.
- Make your tacos by adding the vegetable oil to a large skillet and heating it to medium-high heat. Add the chicken and diced white onion. Stir together and cook until the onion is softened.
- Add tomato paste and mix together, then add corn, and black beans. Mix together and cook over medium heat until warmed through.
- Add the juice from the remaining half of the lime to the taco mixture and season to your taste with your favorite taco seasoning.
- Assemble your tacos by filling tortillas (corn or wheat, your choice) with a helping of the chicken taco mixture, then topping with your hatch chile salsa verde, queso fresco, and pickled red onion – or your favorite toppings. Enjoy!