This Post May Contain Affiliate Links. Please Read Ourย Disclosure Policy.
Two of the very best things, together at last! All the flavor of a loaded shredded BBQ chicken sandwich in taco form. Tender BBQ chicken is drizzled with a simple BBQ aioli, topped with classic coleslaw, and a sprinkle of queso fresco. Perfection!
A Note from Cheryl
- For the juiciest meat possible, remove the chicken from the grill just before it reaches the food-safe temperature, then let the chicken rest 5 minutes. During that 5 minutes, the chicken will finish cooking (thanks residual heat!) and the meat will reabsorb most of the juices.
How to Make This Recipe
See recipe card below for full list of measurements, ingredients, and instructions.
Grill the Chicken
Season chicken breasts or chicken thighs on all sides with plenty of BBQ dry rub, then grill the chicken over indirect heat for 8 minutes or so. Halfway through the cook time, flip the chicken over so that both sides cook evenly (and develop those gorgeous grill marks!).
Once the chicken reaches 160ยฐ Fahrenheit internally (or 175ยฐ Fahrenheit if you’re cooking thighs), take the meat off the grill, slather each piece on all sides with your favorite BBQ sauce, and set it aside to rest while you prep the rest of the taco components.
Cheryl’s Tip: Dark meat chicken is safe to eat at 165ยฐ Fahrenheit, but unlike white meat chicken, it’s actually juicier and much more tender at an internal temperature between 175ยฐ and 195ยฐ Fahrenheit. Whether you’re using thighs or breasts, stop cooking the chicken before it reaches your ideal serving temp, or you’ll end up with overcooked meat!
Make the Slaw
Shredded cabbage (store-bought or done yourself – check out my post on 3 ways to shred cabbage if you need a how-to!), mayo, lime juice, a lil sugar, and a touch of salt. Mix it all up, then taste and adjust the ingredients until you’ve got your ideal flavor and consistency.
Make the aioli
Again: put ingredients in bowl and stir. Easy peasy! You can use as much or as little BBQ sauce and dry rub as you like to get the aioli just right. If your BBQ sauce is on the thin side, you’ll likely end up with a runnier aioli, so keep that in mind when you’re adjusting quantities.
Steam the tortillas
Layer individual taco-sized tortillas between wet paper towels, making sure each tortilla is completely covered. If you’re unsure how wet the paper towels need to be, err on the side of “more”. The goal is to steam the tortillas in the microwave, and if the paper towels aren’t wet enough, that won’t happen.
Once you’ve built your cartoonish tortilla-towel tower, pop the stack in the microwave and nuke everything for 30 seconds. Check a few of the tortillas toward the center of the stack to make sure they’re warm and soft, and microwave them again if needed. Just be careful that the paper towels don’t dry out!
Cheryl’s Tip: If you’re doing multiple rounds in the microwave, be careful that the paper towels don’t dry out. If they don’t feel very wet after the first burst, don’t panic. You can rewet each individual sheet, or you can drape 2 wet, still-connected paper towels over the entire stack.
Assemble the Tacos
Chop or shred the BBQ chicken, then fill each steamed tortilla with as much chicken and slaw as you like. Drizzle a little aioli over the filling, then finish them off with sliced green onions and crumbled cheese. Serve and enjoy!
What I Love About This Recipe
- BBQ chicken tacos combine two of the very best summer foods: BBQ and tacos! Seriously, with this recipe, you’re basically eating a BBQ chicken sandwich with a tortilla instead of a bun. What could be better?!
Find Your Flavor
The flavor in this recipe comes primarily from the BBQ sauce and the dry rub. They’re really the stars of the show! Because of that, it’s super important to use versions of each that you absolutely love.
You can also change up the overall flavor each time you make these tacos just by using different brands and varieties of BBQ sauce. I mean, look at the options! You’ve got flavors like honey BBQ, hickory & brown sugar, bourbon, Hawaiian, and mesquite. There’s Memphis-style (the best), Kansas-City-style, and St.-Louis-style. Sauces that are vinegar-based, mustard-based, or ketchup-based. And those are just some of the sauces you can find at the store!
Making your own BBQ sauce is super easy, and you can give it any flavor you want, or tailor it to any dietary need. On my sites alone you can find recipes for keto BBQ sauce, Whole30 BBQ sauce, Whole30 chipotle BBQ sauce, and even vegan BBQ sauce!
Recipe Variations
- Thighs vs. Breasts: Both cuts of chicken will work in BBQ chicken tacos, so it just depends on what you like. Either way, I recommend boneless versions for easier shredding or chopping. Chicken thighs will need to be on the grill a little longer than their white meat counterparts, so adjust your cook time accordingly or you’ll end up with underdone meat.
- Fill ‘Er Up: I love a crispy, vibrant slaw on my tacos – especially with BBQ! You’re welcome to replace the slaw (and even the aioli) with any of your favorite taco or BBQ ingredients, though. Shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, grilled peppers and onions, corn (oooh, especially Mexican corn salad style!), whatever! You can also swap out the queso fresco for a Mexican-style cheese blend or shredded pepperjack.
Making changes to a recipe can result in recipe failure. Any substitutions or variations listed are simple changes that I believe will work in this recipe, but results are not guaranteed.
BBQ Chicken Tacos
Equipment
- grill gas or charcoal
- Large plate
- neutral-flavored cooking spray
- Tongs
- internal meat thermometer
- Cutting board
- Pastry brush
- medium mixing bowl
- Silicone spatula
- small mixing bowl
- whisk
- Sharp chef's knife or tools to shred chicken
- 13 Paper towels
- water
- Large microwave-safe plate
- Microwave
Ingredients
For the BBQ Chicken
- 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts or boneless, skinless chicken thighs
- 1 tablespoon BBQ dry rub plus more if desired
- salt optional, to taste
- ยฝ cup BBQ sauce store-bought or homemade, plus more if desired
For the Slaw
- 2 cups shredded cabbage shred your own or use bagged coleslaw mix
- ยฝ tablespoon fresh lime juice juice from approximately half of 1 medium lime
- 2 tablespoons mayonnaise plus more if desired
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar more or less to taste
- 1 pinch salt more or less to taste
For the BBQ Aioli
- ยผ cup mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons BBQ sauce
- 1 teaspoon BBQ dry rub
For the Tacos (All Optional)
- 12 tortillas corn or flour tortillas; 6-inch or 8-inch
- ยฝ cup thinly sliced green onions
- ยฝ cup crumbled queso fresco
Instructions
To Grill the Chicken
- Preheat grill to medium-high heat, between 375ยฐ and 400ยฐ Fahrenheit.
- While grill preheats, place 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts on large plate. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon BBQ dry rub and salt (optional) evenly over chicken breasts, seasoning all sides completely. Use more dry rub if desired.
- Once grill has preheated to target temperature, spray grill grate lightly with neutral-flavored cooking spray. Place seasoned chicken breasts on grill grates over indirect heat.
- Close grill lid and grill chicken, undisturbed, 4 to 5 minutes.
- After 4 to 5 minutes, open grill and flip chicken breasts over. Close grill lid and grill chicken, undisturbed, 4 minutes more.
- After 4 minutes, open grill lid and insert internal meat thermometer into thickest area of chicken breasts. If needed, continue grilling chicken until internal temperature reaches 160ยฐ Fahrenheit.
- Once target internal temperature is reached, carefully transfer chicken breasts to cutting board. Immediately brush ยฝ cup BBQ sauce onto grilled chicken, dividing sauce evenly between both sides of each chicken breast. Set chicken aside to rest 5 minutes.
To Make the Slaw
- While chicken rests, add 2 cups shredded cabbage, ยฝ tablespoon fresh lime juice, 2 tablespoons mayonnaise, 1 teaspoon granulated sugar, and 1 pinch salt to medium mixing bowl.
- Gently stir slaw ingredients together until fully incorporated. Taste mixture and stir in additional lime juice, mayonnaise, sugar, and/or salt as desired. Set aside.
To Make the BBQ Aioli
- Add ยผ cup mayonnaise, 2 tablespoons BBQ sauce, and 1 teaspoon BBQ dry rub to small mixing bowl.
- Whisk ingredients together until fully combined. Taste aioli and mix in additional BBQ sauce and/or dry rub as desired. Set aside.
To Assemble the Tacos
- Once chicken has rested 5 minutes, chop or shred chicken into small pieces. Set aside.
- Wet 13 paper towels under running water. Squeeze out some water from each paper towel, leaving paper towels wet but not dripping. Spread one damp paper towel out across large microwave-safe plate.
- Place 1 tortilla on top of paper towel. Cover tortilla with second wet paper towel, making sure all edges of tortilla are completely covered.
- Repeat, alternating tortillas and damp paper towels, until all 12 tortillas have been stacked on plate and covered by paper towels. Make sure each tortilla is completely covered with paper towel, with no edges exposed.
- Microwave tortillas in 30-second increments, checking tortillas after each burst, until tortillas are soft and pliable.
- Once tortillas have been steamed, fill each tortilla with BBQ chicken and slaw. Drizzle BBQ aioli over taco filling. Repeat until all tortillas have been filled.
- Top tacos with ยฝ cup thinly sliced green onions and ยฝ cup crumbled queso fresco if desired. Serve immediately.
- Chicken Thighs: Thighs will need to cook longer than breasts, so adjust the cook time as needed – approximately 6 to 8 minutes per side. Remove the chicken thighs from the grill when their internal temperature reaches 175ยฐ Fahrenheit. Let them rest 5 minutes before chopping or shredding.
Approximate Information for One Serving
Nutrition Disclaimers
Number of total servings shown is approximate. Actual number of servings will depend on your preferred portion sizes.
Nutritional values shown are general guidelines and reflect information for 1 serving using the ingredients listed, not including any optional ingredients. Actual macros may vary slightly depending on specific brands and types of ingredients used.
To determine the weight of one serving, prepare the recipe as instructed. Weigh the finished recipe, then divide the weight of the finished recipe (not including the weight of the container the food is in) by the desired number of servings. Result will be the weight of one serving.
Did You Make This Recipe?
Tag @40aprons on Instagram and be sure to leave a review on the blog post!
Never Miss A Meal!
New Recipes Straight To Your Inbox
A curated selection of our most recent recipes, delivered straight to your inbox once a week.
Thank you!
You have successfully joined our subscriber list.