Grilled Chicken Tacos with Avocado-Lime Blender Sauce

These quick and easy grilled chicken tacos start with a vibrant orange and lime juice marinade, and are layered with avocado-lime sauce, and a simple red cabbage and radish slaw. This post was created in partnership with Farmer Focus.

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Two or maybe three times a week, I’ll make a dinner that’s a little more involved and a little more delicious than our ordinary fare. My repertoire of especially tasty dinners are mostly dishes that simmer for hours or have a lot of steps and nuance. Occasionally though, I achieve on-point, super-delicious flavors in an actually simple-to-make dish.

Grilled Chicken Tacos: Weeknight Simplicity

These grilled chicken tacos are just such a creation. They start with Farmer Focus Chicken Tenders marinated overnight in a mix of fresh-squeezed orange and lime juice and a host of punchy spices. If you’re short on time, even an hour of marinating is great. Farmer Focus Chicken Tenders make prepping the chicken a breeze – they’re precut and grill up perfectly tender with tons of flavor.

I’m always thrilled to work with the folks at Farmer Focus. As the name suggests, supporting small family farmers and the chicken they raise is at the core of the Farmer Focus model. I like knowing that the partner farmers own their farms, chickens, and feed, and are compensated well above standard industry rates. I also love knowing that Farmer Focus chicken is USDA Organic, Certified Humane, and has a Step 3 Global Animal Partnership rating. But more than all that, I love Farmer Focus because I’ve visited their farms and chicken houses and have seen the care that goes into raising the chickens firsthand.

Tacos: All about the Fixings

Of course, while the chicken is the main event here, there’s more to these tacos. The purple cabbage slaw is perfectly delicious with just lime juice and sea salt (so feel free to keep it that simple if you’d like). I also added julienned watermelon radishes, cilantro, and green onions. The avocado-lime blender sauce is a variation on something I make a lot, and is as easy as blending avocados, cilantro, lime juice, and sea salt. After a few rounds of testing, my daughters have decided that this avocado blender sauce is the ideal condiment – perfect on tacos, sure, but also toast, salads, and according to my kids, apples. (Though I cannot personally vouch for it as an accompaniment to fruit, I can attest that it’s really very tasty.)

Print Recipe

Grilled Chicken Tacos with Avocado-Lime Blender Sauce

Prep Time

20 mins

Cook Time

10 mins

Marinating time

3 hrs

 

These quick and easy grilled chicken tacos start with a vibrant orange and lime juice marinade, and are layered with avocado-lime sauce, and a simple red cabbage and radish slaw.

Recipe Type: Dinner

Cuisine: American, Mexican

Keyword: grilled chicken tacos

Makes: 4 generous servings

Author: Elizabeth Stark

Ingredients

Marinade

• 3/4 cup orange juice (from 2 - 3 oranges)
• Juice of 1 lime
• 2 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon cumin seed, fresh ground
• 1 teaspoon spicy paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1 tsp dried oregano leaves
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 package Farmer Focus Chicken Tenders (about 1 1/2 pounds)
• Canola oil, for grilling

Slaw

• 1/2 head red cabbage, cored and sliced thin
• 1/2 cup watermelon radish or radishes of choice, julienned
• Juice of 1 lime
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin seed, fresh ground
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt, plus more to taste
• 2 green onions, trimmed and cut into thin strips
• 1/4 cup cilantro leaves

Avocado Sauce

• 2 avocados, peeled and pitted
• 1 - 2 jalapeños, seeded and chopped
• 1/2 cup cilantro (stems and all)
• Juice of 1 lime
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt, plus more to taste
• 3/4 - 1 cup water, as needed

For Serving

• 12 corn tortillas, warmed
• 1/4 cup cilantro leaves
• 1 jalapeño, seeded and sliced thin (if desired, toss with thinly sliced radishes and a squeeze of lime)
• Lime wedges

Instructions

1. The night before, or at least an hour ahead of time, set out a container with a tight fitting lid large enough to hold all the chicken. Combine citrus juices, ACV, olive oil, spices, and sea salt, and whisk with a fork. Immerse chicken in marinade. Cover and refrigerate until needed.
2. To make the slaw, toss cabbage and radishes with lime, cumin, and sea salt, and set aside. After 15 minutes, fold in cilantro and green onion. Slaw will keep well covered in the fridge for three days.
3. To make the sauce, pulse to combine avocado, jalapeño, cilantro, lime juice, and sea salt. With blender running on high, drizzle in 3/4 cup water. Mixture should be thin enough to just drip off a spoon, so add up to 1/4 cup more water as needed.
4. To grill chicken tenders, prepare a hot grill or heat a grill pan over medium-high/medium heat. Douse a paper towel with canola oil and lightly grease the grill grate or pan. Shake excess liquid from the chicken and arrange over indirect heat on a grill grate or in a grill pan. If using open flame, grill 3 minutes per side, and then move to indirect heat until internal temp reaches 165 degrees F. For a grill pan, grill 5 minutes per side or until internal temp hits 165 degrees F (edge heat down as needed if things get smoky). For either method, you’ll want to move chicken just a bit as it cooks to prevent it sticking to the grate or grill pan.
5. On a large cutting board, slice and pull chicken tenders into bite-sized pieces.
6. Serve grilled chicken with warm tortillas, cabbage slaw, avocado sauce, and the fixings of your choice.