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Am low key mad I didn’t try these before?! Maybe, because I am obsessed. These are a spin on the viral Arayes Smash Taco and they so easy and so good! When you top your crispy Chicken Smash Taco with your homemade caesar salad, you will fall in love with this pita recipe and never look back!
Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love Chicken Caesar Smash Tacos
These Chicken Caesar Smash Tacos are savory, zesty and just a really fun recipe to both make and eat! They’re perfect for company because of how easy they are to make and everyone just has fun with them. You can also play around and make them your own, check out my variations for different ideas on what top your pita and crispy chicken with.
How To Prepare
Make Your Dressing Up To 3 Days Ahead – If you want to be able to throw this dish together even quicker on the day of, make your dressing ahead of time! I love to make extra and use it on everything. The longer it sits in the fridge the more time the flavors have to meld!
Heat Matters – Make sure your pan or griddle is properly preheated before searing your smash tacos. You want to develop an amazing crust and if your surface is not hot enough it will just steam.
Grate Like a Parm Pro – Make sure you’re using a microplane grater for your cheese. This will make it small enough that it melts into your dressing so you get the flavor but keep the creaminess!
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🔥Chef Nadia’s Tip🔥
Leftover Tacos = Lunch Win. If you are heating these up the next day, make sure you crisp them back up on the stovetop and not to microwave so they keep their bite.
Substitutions and Variations
- Substitutions
- Caesar Dressing → Don’t have time to make your own? You can just use your favorite store bought dressing instead.
- Parmigiana Reggiano → Can’t find it? You can use Pecorino Romano or Grana Padano instead.
- Serreno → Want a milder pepper, you can use jalapeños instead. If you’re worried about the heat, you can deseed them or just omit it completely.
- Variations
- Make it Vegetarian → Sub the chicken with 2 cans of chickpeas to make this vegetarian.
- Greek Style Smash Tacos → Have fun with your toppings! Instead of a caesar salad, add some tzatziki with chopped cucumber, tomato and red onion.
- Buffalo Chicken Smash Tacos → Add buffalo sauce and blue cheese crumbles to your chicken mix. Top a romaine ranch slaw instead. You really can just have fun with these.
The Perfect Pairings
Drink: 🍹 Prickly Pear Cocktail – This drink has a lovely balance of sweet, tangy and it is also sooo fresh it will pair perfectly with this Chicken Caesar Smash Taco recipe.
Appetizers: 🧀 Stracciatella Dip – This is the perfect appetizer! It is sooo good and so easy to make. The herby sauce on the tomatoes is EPIC, it adds the best flavor.
🌶️ Cheesy Jalapeño Poppers – These are spicy, cheesy, and sooo delicious! They are very easy to make, and they will be a crowd pleaser
Dessert: 🍨 Melon Dessert – A light, easy and refreshing dessert that will finish your night out epically.
Drinks
Prickly Pear Cocktail
Appetizers
Stracciatella Cheese Recipe
Appetizers
Cheesy Jalapeño Poppers
Sweets
Melon Dessert 🍨
Chicken Caesar Smash Tacos: Questions Answered
Yes! Chicken thighs are juicer and more flavorful and chicken breast will keep your Smash Tacos leaner, but you can absolutely pick and stick with just one.
I highly recommend a food processor. Food processors are designed to chop, mix and pulse without overworking. Blenders are better for liquids and purees. I have never actually tried it in a blender so I can’t say exactly how it would turn out. If you don’t have a choice, I would just recommend working in smaller batches and pulsing instead of continuously blending.
Try to find a thick fluffy pita that can hold the weight of the chicken. I used Angel’s Bakeries Pita Bread from Whole Foods.
Yes, this is the normal way that caesar dressing is made and as long as the eggs are fresh it is safe. If you are concerned you can substitute it with 2-3 tablespoons of mayo.
Chicken Caesar Smash Tacos
Equipment
- grater/zester
- pan, or griddle
Ingredients
Chicken Smash Tacos
- 1 large chicken breast, cubed
- 4 chicken thighs, cubed
- 1 serrano, chopped
- 2 scallions, chopped
- 1 lemon, zest, no juice
- ½ tsp white pepper
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- ⅓ cup parmigiano reggiano
- 4 thick pitas
- Romaine hearts, to taste
- lemon slices, for serving
Dressing:
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 tsp dijon mustard
- ½ garlic clove
- 3 anchovies
- ¼ cup parmigiano reggiano, freshly grated, + more for shaving over the salad
- ¼ tsp worcestershire
- 1-2 squirts of tabasco
- 1 dash maggi
- ½ lemon, adjust to taste + more for serving
- ½ cup olive oil
- salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
Dressing
- Add the yolk, dijon, garlic and anchovy paste to a bowl. Mix well. Add in the parm, worcestershire, tabasco, maggi and some a squirt of lemon – don't add the whole thing, taste and adjust. Mix well. Emulsify* the olive oil until smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Chicken Smash Tacos
- Add the cubed chicken, serrano, scallions, lemon zest, white pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and parm to the food processor. Process until smooth.
- Cut your pitas in half.
- Divide the chicken mixture equally onto the each of the pitas and spread well.
- Drizzle some oil on the chicken side and sear on a preheated griddle or pan until nice and golden, about 5 minutes, pressing them down with your spatula often.
- Chop your romaine really small. Add in the caesar dressing and mix.
- Top your chicken smash tacos with caesar salad, lots of parm, black pepper. Serve with a slice of lemon and that's it.
Kitchen Cam
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
