Tinga Chicken

There are 3 million chicken recipes on the internet. We're here to show you the good ones. Win, win.

Today: Let yourself be seduced by this spicy, slow-cooked chicken dinner.

When we think of chicken dinners, we think of weeknights -- of efficiency and practicality, of boneless, skinless breasts. Sexier meals -- pot roast, leg of lamb, short ribs -- are reserved for the weekends, when we feel free to indulge in time and money and taste. 

This is misguided, of course: Is there anything more seductive than a crispy-skinned whole roast chicken? A simmering pan of braised thighs? Or, like in this recipe for Tinga Chicken, spicy, slow-cooked meat coaxed off the bone?

The allure of chicken is its ability to transform from colloquial to exotic, from basic to elevated -- all while maintaining its ease and accessibility. Tinga Chicken is an almost-one-pot meal: The chicken cooks slowly in a stew of garlic, onion, hot peppers, and spices until the meat falls off the bone; the sauce is then blended in the very same pot. You'll be as happy making this on a Tuesday after work as you will be on Saturday for company. If the former, crack open a cold beer and serve the shredded chicken simply atop a tortilla or tostada with crumbled queso fresco, chopped tomatoes, and cilantro; if the latter, you'd do well to throw in a batch of refried beans and some margaritas. What could be sexier than that?

Tinga Chicken by nannydeb

Serves 6 to 8

1 whole chicken, cut into pieces with the skin and fat removed (as much as possible)
4 dried chipotle peppers
2 dried ancho peppers
3 to 4 fresh jalapeño peppers, cut in half
4 whole cloves garlic
1 medium yellow onion, coarsely chopped
8 Roma tomatoes, coarsely chopped
2 bay leaves
2 teaspoons dried Mexican oregano
2 teaspoons freshly ground cumin
1 teaspoon allspice
Water to cover
1/4 cup cider vinegar
Salt and pepper, to taste

See the full recipe (and save and print it) here.

Is there an undiscovered Food52 chicken recipe you love? Send us a paragraph or two at [email protected] about why you love it, and it could be next week's Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner.

Photo by James Ransom