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Forget about chicken tacos in the Crock Pot or beef tacos in the skillet! These Dump-and-Bake Chicken Tacos are on the table in less than 20 minutes, making them the easiest and fastest way to serve tacos to your family. They’re crispy, creamy, zesty, and 100% kid-approved for quick last-minute dinners!
If you find that you have some leftover grilled chicken from a recent meal, or if you regularly pick up a rotisserie chicken as you’re running through the grocery store, then these chicken tacos are the perfect way to take advantage of the prepared meat. Your meal is already halfway done!
Thanks to just 6 ingredients and 10 minutes of prep, your Taco Tuesday just got a little bit easier.
How to Prepare Baked Chicken Tacos:
If you can grate some cheese, then you can handle this recipe!
It’s really just a matter of assembling some chicken tacos and baking them in a dish. Voila!
To be more specific, you’ll start by spooning about 2 tablespoons of refried beans into each taco shell.
Then stir together your chicken filling. This is simply a combination of diced, cooked chicken, sour cream, and taco seasoning. I use a packet of prepared taco seasoning for ease, but you can certainly substitute with about 12 teaspoons of your favorite homemade taco seasoning.
The beans and creamy, seasoned chicken are topped with grated cheddar and your work is done!
This pan is ready for the oven…
About 5-7 minutes later, you’ll have 10 chicken tacos ready to serve. Mexican night and family dinners just don’t get much better than that!
If your kids are anything like mine, then they will probably be happy with their dinner straight-up — no toppings necessary! But since Keith and I prefer to load our chicken tacos with plenty of fresh flavors, here are a few options. Just pick your favorites!
Suggested Toppings for Chicken Tacos:
- Fresh 5-Minute Homemade Salsa, fresh tomatoes, or Quick and Easy Pico de Gallo
- Avocado or guacamole
- Sour cream
- Chopped green onions or minced red onion
- Fresh cilantro
- Sliced olives
- A squeeze of fresh lime
- Sliced jalapeño
Did I miss anything? The options are truly endless!
I also love the fact that this easy dinner recipe can be prepared in advance. Just assemble the tacos in your dish, cover, and stash in the refrigerator until you’re ready to bake the chicken tacos!
They are perfect for busy nights, nap time meal prep, or parties with friends. And if you’re serving a larger crowd, try preparing two (or more) trays of tacos to bake in the oven at once. So simple!
Enjoy the ease of a family-friendly dinner with a quick prep time!
If you’ve tried these Dump-and-Bake Chicken Tacos or any other recipe on The Seasoned Mom, then don’t forget to rate the recipe and leave me a comment below! You can follow me on Facebook, on Instagram, on Pinterest, and on Twitter!
Dump-and-Bake Chicken Tacos
Ingredients
- 1 (4.7 ounce) package taco shells (I used Old El Paso Stand n’ Stuff)
- 2 ¼ cups cooked, diced chicken (I used the meat from about half of a large store-bought rotisserie chicken)
- ½ cup sour cream
- 1 (1 ounce) packet taco seasoning mix (12 teaspoons)
- 1 can (16 ounces) refried beans (I used fat free, but any variety will work)
- 1 ¼ cups grated cheddar cheese
- Optional toppings: lettuce; salsa; additional sour cream; sliced olives; chopped green onion or fresh cilantro; chopped red onion; lime wedges; diced avocado or guacamole
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Spray a 9 x 13-inch baking dish with cooking spray and set aside.
- In a large bowl, stir together chicken, sour cream, and taco seasoning.
- To assemble, spread about 2 tablespoons of refried beans in the bottom of each shell. Top each shell with about ¼ cup of the chicken mixture and 2 tablespoons of cheese.
- Arrange stuffed taco shells, standing up, in the prepared baking dish. Bake for 5-7 minutes, or until cheese is melted and tacos are heated through.
- Garnish with optional toppings and serve.
We don’t like refried beans….what could be substituted?
Hi, Beverly! You can either omit the beans entirely and just use the chicken mixture, OR you could substitute with other whole beans, like drained and rinsed black beans. Enjoy!
THIS SOUNDS SO GOOD AND SO SIMPLE. I AM GOING TO TRY THIS ONCE I GET TO STORE AND GET CHICKEN.
Perfect, Joyce! I’m so glad that you’ll give it a try!
12 teaspoons of taco seasoning mix?? Sounds like alot??
Hi, Lynn! That’s correct — 12 teaspoons is the amount that you’ll find in 1 (1-ounce) packet. 🙂
You can certainly use less if that’s too much for your tastebuds. Feel free to adjust as necessary, but we thought that amount worked well!
Thank you for this recipe Blair!! My family and I loved it. Great way to use up leftover chicken. Have you tried making this with Burger? My husband wants me to try that next time. Thank you again for sharing this awesome recipe!!
Hey, Sherri! Yes — it should work well with cooked ground beef, too! 🙂