What do you get when you get five food bloggers, a new cookbook and master plan of cooking our way through it together over the whole US of A? Pioneer Woman Wednesdays’s! (Of course.)

I don’t know if my arteries are prepared for such fanatasticness! Yes, it’s word. Just go with it.

The wonderful women of Table for Two, Baked By Rachel, Running to the Kitchen, My Life as a Mrs., and yours truely will be teaming up these next few months to bring you Pioneer Woman Wednesdays where we pick our favorites from Ms. Ree’s (HI REE – not that you’ll see this – but I can be hopeful) newest cookbook.

Ms. Julie of Table for Two started us off with Ree’s Fried Chicken Tacos.

Yes, feel free to sit back and unbutton your jeans – because it’s ’bout to get all sorts of real up in here. Homegirl loves her Mexican food, so this choice was no surprise. These tacos were all sorts of epically tasty.

Cooking them on the other hand might have proved a bit…interesting? Challenging? Trying? Testing? READ ON! It gets hysterical…at least in retrospect it’s hysterical. It wasn’t at the time.

And no – it wasn’t because I was drinking a  (fine, two) margarita(s) to get me in the Mexican Food mood. That was just an added bonus.

To begin at the beginning, I prepped all the necessary acoutrements for this flavor packed adventure. The usual suspects made an appearance – lettuce, tomato, sour cream, and of course – CHEESE. And just for a burst of fun and rebellion I added a leftover shallot.

The seasonings were simple just cumin, chili powder and salt.

A pound of chicken boobs was roughly cubed and tossed into a non-stick skillet with a tablespoon of canola oil.

Into the skillet also went a can of green chilies. Did I mention that Ben is back in Eastern Washington, so I’m cooking for one again and halving most recipes… This usually calls for two cans and a 1 1/2 pounds of chicken boobs. I just went with one.

After the chicken and chilies sauteed together for a hot minute, the spices were added and it was left to finish cooking.

Now here is where it gets interesting. (Am I glad I poured a margarita before, or I would have resorted to just taking pulls right off the tequila by the end of it…)

The corn tortillas were filled with the chicken getup and all lined up on a plate ready to fry. But as they set stacked next to eachother I didn’t realize how stiff the tortillas were and they all cracked at the bottom!

As soon as they hit the grease they all split – leaving their delcious spicy chicken contents frying on the bottom of my pan.

Panic insued, as I ripped the broken shells out of the frying oil, threw the tortillas in the sink, scrambled to resource myself more tortillas, spoon the chicken into the new shells and plant them back into the pan before they all over cooked and more shells ripped after being folded to long.

AHHH!!

By the third and fourth round, they were holding up much better. But this is one of those recipes I have discovered – be prepared to sacrifice a couple tacos before you get them right.

At least I did the hard learning for you.  You’re welcome.

Case in point – round three. MUCH better. And by then, I was much more nimble on my feet and was quickening my pace to avoid the splatter for frying oil from getting all over my arms.

*Note to self* Wear Long Sleeve Shirt Next Time.

Here we have the sacrificial tortillas. In retrospect, I should have just let them fry and turned them into chips… cie la vie.

Good thing corn tortillas come in huge packs…plenty more where these came from.

Once a few (5) made it out of the grease unharmed, maimed or too damanged – they were drained, patted of excess oil, stuffed with cheese, vegg and promptly devoured…

This is quite possibly the fastest I’ve ever taken pictures of a dish. After 5 hours in the car driving home from visiting Ben, I was famished.

And dang did that margarita wash them down nicely. Fine, two.

Don’t forget to check out the other lovelies recipe experiences here! And the printable recipe is down below. Make these and be furiously happy. Just wear long sleeves.

Julie from Table for Two

Gina from Running to the Kitchen

Tina from My Life as a Mrs.

Rachel from Baked By Rachel

The Pioneer Woman's Fried Chicken Tacos - homemadehome.com

 
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PW Wednesdays – Fried Chicken Tacos

  • Author: Megan
  • Prep Time: 15 Minutes
  • Cook Time: 40 Minutes
  • Total Time: 55 minutes
  • Yield: 10 Tacos 1x
  • Category: Chicken
  • Method: Cast Iron
  • Cuisine: Mexican
Print Recipe

Description

Crispy fried tacos from Ree Drummond’s cookbook!

Ingredients

Scale

1 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup plus 1 tbsp. canola oil
1 1/2 pounds, boneless, skinless, chicken breasts, cut into cubes
2 4-ounce cans diced green chiles
14–16 small corn tortillas
1 1/2 cups finely grated cheddar or cheddar-jack cheese blend

Instructions

  1. In a small bowl, mix together the chili powder, cumin, and salt. Set aside.
  2. In a large skillet over medium heat, heat 1 tbsp. of canola oil and add the chicken and chiles. Saute for about 3-5 minutes or until the chicken has lost its color.
  3. Sprinkle in the spice mixture and saute the chicken until all is cooked through. Remove the pan from heat and set aside.
  4. In a separate skillet, heat up 1 cup of canola oil. Drop in a small piece of your tortilla to see if the oil is hot enough. It will sizzle as soon as it hits the oil.
  5. Spoon about 1/4 cup of the chicken into the tortilla then grasp the tortilla shut with tongs.
  6. Gently lay the filled tortilla in the hot oil, holding down the top half of the tortilla so it remains closed.
    Cook one side until golden brown, 30-45 seconds, then flip the taco over to fry the other side. Cook the other side until brown and crispy.
  7. Remove each taco from the pan, allowing the excess oil to drip out one end. Wrap in a paper towel and gently shake it to remove excess oil.
  8. While the tacos are still hot, gently stick some cheese inside then add whatever toppings you like to add to your tacos.

Keywords: Chicken, Tacos, Mexican, Fried