Smoked Chicken Tacos with Black Bean Pico De Gallo

Well, I think we all know what tacos are, so, there is probably no need to explain what they are.

What I do have to say about tacos is that whether you prefer a crunchy shell or a soft shell, I think we can all agree that tacos are awesome.

Other than the fact that they can taste delicious is that they are extremely versatile.

You can make tacos of all sorts. Beef tacos, chicken tacos, fish tacos, or even vegetarian tacos. There are also plenty of things you can add to make your tacos tastier.

Some of my favorite things to add to tacos are salsa/pico de gallo, avocado, cheese, and top the tator/sour cream.

Not a Fan of Tacos? You have to Try This Instead: The Best Fried Chicken and Waffles

Secret to Make Smoked Chicken Tacos Taste so Good

How I make my chicken tacos so tasty, I did these three things to increase the flavor. Those three things are marinating the chicken, making homemade pico de gallo, and smoking the chicken.

By marinating the chicken, it is possible to get flavors to penetrate into the meat. With a meat like chicken, marinating is just the thing to help add flavor, since alone, chicken is rather bland.

Creating a homemade pico de gallo, it adds freshness to the tacos and also flavors that taste great.

The last thing which adds a depth of flavor to this dish is smoking the chicken. Just about everything is better smoked. This includes chicken.

After combining all of these things, you get one hell of a taco!

For Other Delicious Smoked Poultry Recipes Also Read:

• Smoked Chicken Drumsticks
• Smoked Chicken Lollipops Recipe
• Pit Boss Smoked Spatchcock Turkey Recipe

Smoked Chicken Tacos and Black Bean Pico De Gallo Recipe

These are hands down the best chicken tacos I have ever made and cannot wait for you to try them. Try them out the next time Taco Tuesday comes around!

Ingredients

• Taco Shells! Cannot have a taco if you forget the shells. I prefer to use soft tortilla shells.
• Avocado
• 2 Packs of Boneless and Skinless Chicken Thighs
• 2 Lemons (Not for Marinade)

Marinade Ingredients

• 1/3 of an Onion
• 1 Cup Canola Oil
• 1/2 Cup Fresh Lemon Juice (Roughly 3 Whole Lemons)
• Lemon Zest from 1 Lemon
• 1/2 Cup Water
• 1 Tbsp Kosher Salt
• 1 Tbsp Ground Black Pepper
• 6 Cloves of Garlic
• 1 Tbsp Ground Cumin
• 1 Poblano Pepper
• 1/2 Cup Cilantro

Chicken Seasoning Ingredients

• 1 Tsp Kosher Salt
• 1/2 Ground Black Pepper
• 1/2 Tsp Chili Powder
• 1/4 Tsp Paprika
• 1/4 Tsp Oregano
• 1/4 Tsp Onion Powder
• 1/4 Tsp Garlic Powder

Black Bean Pico De Gallo Ingredients

• 5 Roma Tomatoes
• 1/3 of an Onion
• 1 Can of Black Beans
• 1/2 Cup Cilantro
• 1 Tbsp Kosher Salt
• 1/2 Tbsp Ground Black Pepper
• 1/2 Jalapeno
• ½ Lemon

Crema Sauce Ingredients

• 3 Tbsp Sour Cream
• 1 Tbsp Tapatio Hot Sauce
• Dash of Kosher Salt and Ground Black Pepper
• Lemon Juice from 1/2 Lemon

Equipment

• Pellet Grill
• Hickory Wood Pellets
• Tongs
• Cutting Board
• Chef Knife
• Medium Glass Bowl
• Gallon Ziplock Bag
• 2 Small Bowls
• Baking Sheet/Platter
• Aluminum Foil
• Tongs
• Meat Thermometer

Making Your Marinade

Step 1: Take your boneless and skinless chicken thighs and trim off any large chunks of fat. No need to trim off every piece of fat you see. Add your trimmed chicken to the ziplock bag.

Step 2: Cut your 3 lemons and squeeze the juice out until you have 1/2 cup. Then add lemon juice, 1 cup canola oil, ½ cup water to the gallon ziplock bag.

Step 3: Finely chop 1  poblano, ½ cup cilantro, and 1/3 of an onion, and 6 garlic cloves. Add all ingredients to the ziplock bag.

Step 4: Zest 1 lemon. Take the zest, 1 Tbsp kosher salt, 1 Tbsp ground black pepper, 1 Tbsp ground cumin and add to ziplock bag as well.

Step 5: Close the ziplock bag and start mixing all the contents inside until everything seems evenly mixed, and all of the chicken is coated in the marinade.

Step 6: Place the ziplock bag into the fridge for 2 hours. If you are in a rush, it is okay to take out sooner to cook.

Joshs Cookhouse Tips: The longer the chicken sits in the marinade, the more flavor it will be able to absorb. You can do a shorter marinade if you do not have 2 hours. I would recommend doing at least 30 minutes.

While your chicken is in the fridge marinating, you can go ahead and start getting some of the other steps done now. Let us start with the dry seasoning for the chicken. It is quick and simple.

Dry Seasoning for the Chicken Thighs

Step 1: Grab a small bowl and place all the ingredients into the bowl. This consists of 1 tsp kosher salt, ½ ground black pepper, ½ tsp chili powder, ¼ tsp paprika, ¼ tsp oregano, ¼ tsp onion powder, ¼ tsp garlic powder.

Step 2: Mix all ingredients together.

Step 3: Place off to the side to use once the chicken is out of the fridge.

Joshs Cookhouse Tip: For the best chicken, I buy from Crowd Cow.

Making the Black Bean Pico De Gallo

Step 1: Get out your medium bowl, chef knife, and chopping board.

Step 2: Finely chop 5  roma tomatoes, 1/3 of an onion, ½ cup of cilantro, and ½ jalapeño. Then add to medium bowl.

Step 3: Squeeze juice from ½ lemon into the bowl.

Step 4: Add the 1 Tbsp of kosher salt and ½ Tbsp Ground Black Pepper to your bowl.

Step 5: Open your can of black beans and give the beans a good rinse with water. Use as many beans as you would like in the pico de gallo. I used roughly 2/3 of a can.

Step 6: Thoroughly stir all of the ingredients together until evenly mixed.

Step 7: Cover the bowl and place it into the fridge. Let it sit until ready to add to your tacos.

Making the Crema Sauce

Step 1: In a small bowl add 3 Tbsp of sour cream, 1 Tbsp of Tapatio hot sauce, dash of kosher salt and ground black pepper, and the lemon juice from half a lemon.

Step 2: With a spoon start mixing everything together. Once mixed, slowly add 1 tsp of water to the sauce, continuously stirring until it is a drizzly consistency. Do not add any more water once it is drizzly.

Step 3: Place in the fridge to keep cool.

Joshs Cookhouse Tips: With the last 15 minutes of letting your chicken marinade, go and start up your smoker so it is ready for the chicken. Set the temperature for 250 degrees Fahrenheit.

Enjoy Another Smoked Chicken Recipe: Smoked Chicken Lollipops Recipe

Smoking the Chicken Thighs

Step 1: After 2 hours take the chicken thighs out of the fridge. Get a baking sheet or tray out and place aluminum foil over it. This will help save you from doing anymore dishes.

Step 2: Place the chicken in a single layer onto the baking sheet or tray.

Step 3: Take the dry seasoning you put together and lightly season both sides of your chicken.

Step 4: Place your chicken on the middle rack of the pellet smoker and let smoke for 30 minutes. Flip halfway through. While waiting, throw away your dirty aluminum foil and grab a clean sheet.

Step 5: Once 30 minutes is up crank the heat up to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. When the smoker gets to temperature place your chicken onto the bottom rack.

Cook until the smoked chicken thighs hit 160 degrees Fahrenheit internal.

Joshs Cookhouse Tips: Because the chicken thighs are boneless, they lay quite flat on the grill, so if you are using a thermometer for checking temperatures, you will want one that has a thin probe. This worked best for me.

Step 6: Now that your smoked chicken is 160 degrees internally, take it off the smoker and set it on your baking sheet.

Step 7: Shut down your smoker, bring your chicken inside and let it rest for 10 minutes.

Assembling Your Smoked Chicken Tacos

Your tacos are almost done! Just a few more minutes and your mouth will be in heaven.

Step 1: On a chopping board, thinly slice chicken.

Step 2: Take however many shells out for the number of tacos you plan to eat. Put them on a plate wrapped in a damp paper towel. Microwave for 15-30 seconds. Your shells should be easier to manipulate.

Step 3: Grab your black bean pico de gallo and crema sauce out of the fridge.

Step 3: Put your taco shell onto a plate, and place some of the smoked chicken thigh meat onto the shell. Then top with some of the pico de gallo and drizzle the cream sauce onto the taco.

Step 4: If you have any more lemon left over, you can give a small squeeze of lemon juice onto the final taco. Thinly slice avocado and add a couple of slices to the taco.

Bam! After all that hard work, you can sit down and dive into a plate of mouthwatering tacos! Heck, if it was me, I would make sure to have a margarita ready to go as well.

Now that sounds like a meal to me!

You may notice there is quite a bit of the black bean pico de gallo and what I like to do with that is eat it with tortilla chips as a snack.

Joshs Cookhouse Tips: Just a side note, but if you give it a try, this chicken is to die for by itself. Just cook up some sides and you will have a tasty meal.

Let me know how these tacos taste on your next Taco Tuesday at Joshs Cookhouse, where nothing is off the table.

To See the Pros and Cons of the Pit Boss I Use Also Read: Pit Boss Pro Series 1600 Wood Pellet Grill