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Make the marinade for Chipotle’s Famous Chicken at home.  Use chicken in whatever dish you’d like or I have you covered with my Chipotle Chicken Copycat And Nachos Recipe.

Chipotle Chicken {Copycat} And Nachos Recipe

Hi guys! As promised in my previous posts, today I’m sharing with you a recipe for chipotle chicken copycat and nachos recipe.

Chicken Nachos Recipe

I hope you are not getting bored with my recipes this week, but the reason for sharing the guacamole and salsa ones was because I used them in this easy chicken nachos.

Easy Chicken Nachos Recipe

What ingredients do you need to make Chipotle Chicken?

How to make chipotle chicken?

1. Remove stems and seeds from chile peppers and butterfly peppers. Place in a food processor (blender).
2. Drain as much adobo sauce ad you could from the can and discard chipotle peppers (or save for another recipe). Add adobo sauce to the blender. Add onion, garlic, cumin, oregano, salt and pepper and blend until smooth.
3. Add canola oil and pulse 3-4 more times. There should be 2 cups of marinade.
4. Place chicken in a large zip lock bag and pour in half of the marinade. Mash around to evenly distribute marinade. Push air out of the bag and seal it. Let chicken marinate in the fridge for 8 hours or overnight.
5. Preheat gas grill to medium. Clean the grates of your grill and spray with non stick spray.
6. Grill chicken for 5-6 minutes per side, until no longer pink in the center. (Thermometer should read 165 F).Let it cool for at least 10 minutes. Chop into small pieces. (Use in tacos, nachos or rice bowls).

I guess this recipe is more about the Chipotle Marinated Chicken than the nachos. Because most of you already know how to make nachos. It is quite simple: layer some tortilla chips, meat (ground beef, chicken, steak or carnitas), beans and cheese. Bake  (in an oven safe plate or skillet) until cheese melts. Top with scallions, salsa, guacamole, sour cream  (am I missing something?!) and you are all set!

As I’ve said before I love Chipotle! I eat there (or take it to go) at least once a week and this is one of the few fast food places with great quality food. My favorite item on their menu: chicken bowl !

That’s why I decided to make my own chipotle chicken at home. You can use it in burritos, rice (quinoa) bowls, tacos or nachos as I did.

Chipotle Chicken Thighs

Chipotle uses good quality  boneless skinless chicken thighs meat, which is marinated in spicy adobo and dried ancho chile sauce. The result is – tender, juicy and flavorful chicken meat.

I did try this marinade on chicken breast meat, too and it was pretty good, but my meat got a little dry.

Chipotle Chicken {Copycat} Recipe

A lot of people have recreated Chipotle’s marinade before me (including my friend Meggan from Culinary Hill), so I did some research and finally got to make it myself.

Marinade: this recipe yields 2 cups it, which is enough to marinate around 10 pounds of chicken, which is a lot. I did make 2 cups of marinade, but used just some of it, since I only needed around 3 pounds of chicken. The rest of the marinade I put in the freezer, so I can use it later.

When I first read a chipotle chicken marinade recipe, I was… How do I find all the ingredients? Luckily this was pretty easy! I found dried ancho chile peppers in my local Mexican grocery store. The brand I used is Mi Costenita and I paid $1.99 for a 3 oz package. These needed to be soaked for at least 12 hours, though. This is what takes some time, so it is best to soak them the night before you are planning to make the marinade.

The recipe also calls for a can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, but you only use the sauce, not the peppers. Discard the peppers or save the for another recipe. You can easily find cans of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce in any supermarket, Target and Walmart have them for sure.

Grilling these chipotle marinated chicken thighs is the best way to cook them and that’s what I did. You can also cook them in a skillet on the stove top. The only reason why I did not do so is because I was concerned with the smell, since I had people come over in a few hours, but I’m sure it would work, will try it next time.

This recipe makes 2 cups marinade which is enough for 10 pounds of chicken. Please either reduce the ingredients of you are planning to make a lot less than 10 pounds, or simply freeze some of the marinade for later. It takes some time to make it, since the ancho chile peppers have to be soaked for 12 hours, so freezing a part of the marinade is a great option.

I’ve also included a chicken nachos recipe, which I made with this chicken. (Sorry no beans in it, since my husband doesn’t like them in nachos, but of course you can add some.

Chipotle Chicken Thigh Nachos

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Servings: 4

Chipotle Chicken {Copycat} And Nachos Recipe

Prep Time:

10 mins

Cook Time:

20 mins

Total Time:

30 mins

Make the marinade for Chipotle Chicken at home. Use in in whatever dish you'd like or I have you covered with my Chipotle Chicken {Copycat} And Nachos Recipe.

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Ingredients

Chipotle Chicken:

• 1 (2 oz) package ancho chile peppers soaked in water for 12 hours
• 1 (7 oz ) chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, sauce drained
• 5 cloves garlic chopped
• 2 tsp cumin
• 3 tsp dried oregano
• 4 tsp salt
• 2 tsp black pepper
• 3/4 cup canola oil
• 5 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs

Chicken Nachos:

• 4 cups tortilla chips
• 1 1/2 cups chopped chipotle marinated chicken — (2 large boneless skinless chicken thighs)
• 1 cup shredded cheese — (I used a blend of Mexican cheeses)
• 3/4 cup canned beans — (black or pinto)

For Garnishing

• 1/2 cup salsa
• 1 cup guacamole
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• chopped jalapeno peppers
• 2 scallions chopped
• 1 tbsp fresh chopped cilantro
• lime wedges

Instructions

For The Chipotle Chicken: (This marinade recipe is enough to marinade 10 pounds of chicken)

1. Remove stems and seeds from chile peppers and butterfly peppers. Place in a food processor (blender).
2. Drain as much adobo sauce ad you could from the can and discard chipotle peppers (or save for another recipe). Add adobo sauce to the blender. Add onion, garlic, cumin, oregano, salt and pepper and blend until smooth.
3. Add canola oil and pulse 3-4 more times. There should be 2 cups of marinade.
4. Place chicken in a large zip lock bag and pour in half of the marinade. Mash around to evenly distribute marinade. Push air out of the bag and seal it. Let chicken marinate in the fridge for 8 hours or overnight.
5. Preheat gas grill to medium. Clean the grates of your grill and spray with non stick spray.
6. Grill chicken for 5-6 minutes per side, until no longer pink in the center. (Thermometer should read 165 F).Let it cool for at least 10 minutes. Chop into small pieces. (Use in tacos, nachos or rice bowls).

To make the nachos:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F (177 C).
2. In an oven safe plate or a skillet layer tortilla chips, chicken, (beans if you are using any) and cheese. Bake on 350 F for about 10 minutes, or until cheese melts. Remove from heat and sprinkle with scallions, cilantro, jalapeño peppers. Top with salsa, guacamole and sour cream, or serve them on the side.
3. Enjoy!

Recipe Notes

This recipe makes 2 cups marinade which is enough for 10 pounds of chicken. Please either reduce the ingredients of you are planning to make a lot less than 10 pounds, or simply freeze some of the marinade for later. It takes some time to make it, since the ancho chile peppers have to be soaked for 12 hours, so freezing a part of the marinade is a great option.
Ancho Chiles have to be soaked in water for 12 hours, prior to using.

Recipe adapted fro CulinaryHill and Kitchenscoop.

Course: Appetizer

Cuisine: Mexican

All text and images © Lyubomira from CookingLSL.

Nutrition Information

Calories: 1926, Fat: 114g, Saturated Fat: 20g, Cholesterol: 575mg, Sodium: 3846mg, Potassium: 2399mg, Carbohydrates: 98g, Fiber: 15g, Sugar: 8g, Protein: 129g, Vitamin A: 61.9%, Vitamin C: 13.7%, Calcium: 48.7%, Iron: 55%