A Twist On A Classic: Italian Style Chicken Tacos

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All of us have been in one of those moments where we end up in the kitchen going over everything that we have in the pantry and trying to figure out how we're going to put a meal together. This is exactly how this post came to be. The result? Nothing but extraordinary! Literally putting our creative juices to work, we managed to invent something on the fly that we know we'll be eating again in the very near future.
You read the title right, these are Italian Style Chicken Tacos. For anyone, that loves something a little gourmet now and then, you're going to want to try these out. Also, we can't forget to tell you that it took only about 30 minutes to throw this meal together. You might be asking yourself, what makes these Italian and easy? We'll explain in the recipe.



Ingredients:

• Already Cooked Chicken Strips - the quantity is up to you're appetite
• Italian Seasoning
• Taco Seasoning - this might sound contradictory for Italian tacos but it really added to the taste without making the chicken taste Tex-Mex in the least... just use a little
• Minced Garlic In A Jar
• Olive Oil
• Canola Oil
• White Corn Tortillas
• Tomatoes
• Shredded Cheddar Cheese - or go even more gourmet and try Mozzarella Cheese

Step 1: Heat your Canola Oil on medium in large skillet

Step 2: Yes, you read that first ingredient right, we said these were quick and easy to do and we meant it. Break out those frozen already cooked chicken strips from your local frozen section and zap them in the microwave about a minute. Don't be ashamed! Trust us, you can make this good and you won't even taste the difference. If you want to do more work, and cook your own chicken breasts you can do that as well and still do this recipe. If that's your boat, then it's as easy as leaving Step 2 out and continue the steps after you cook your chicken breasts strips just adding oil and the rest of the ingredients after you cook your chicken strips in the skillet. The result will still be the same. 

You can literally see the seasoning at work if look closely enough...

Step 3: Add your defrosted cooked chicken strips to the already heated oil, the oil should be fairly hot to get a good result.

    

Step 4: Drizzle Olive Oil on chicken in the skillet, add generous amounts of Italian Seasoning, Taco Seasoning and a teaspoon of Minced Garlic. 

Step 5: Let the chicken cook turning over occasionally until it looks nice and lightly crispy on the outside just like in the picture. This is very important to get a good result because you don't want the chicken to still be mushy especially if your using the frozen already cooked chicken strips. Warning: doing this step right will actually result in a tasteless frozen already cooked breast tasting like it was made in a gourmet restaurant. Just make sure you get good quality already cooked chicken strips. We used Foster Farms found at Costco. These are nice and plump chicken strips. You don't want to get any in the frozen section that look like they're thinly sliced because that wouldn't work as well. Trust us, we've had those variety.

Step 5: This is very important step and we've left it for last to get the desired result. In the skillet you used to crisp and marinate your chicken strips, throw in corn tortillas and fry them on both sides on medium heat for approximately 2 minutes or until the tortillas look crispy on the outside. Cooking it in the oil you used to marinate your chicken strips you will get the desired result because the Olive Oil, Minced Garlic, Italian Seasoning, and Taco Seasoning will flavor your fried tortillas resulting in a more tasty creation. 

Step 6: Dab your tortillas and chicken breasts with a paper towel to get all the excess oil off.

Step 7: Put your tacos together and add your Cheddar Cheese and sliced Tomatoes for extra taste.

You just might be surprised how much you enjoy these tacos. I know we were. The infusion of Italian Seasoning, Olive Oil, Taco Seasoning, and Minced Garlic made these literally taste like we ordered up from a gourmet restaurant. They weren't your typical tacos in that they didn't quite taste like Tex-Mex, and rightly so, because as much as we like Tex-Mex, this was a refreshing change of taste. That's why these deserve to get the title of Italian Style Tacos.

Eat Up!

Chef Matt