These Chicken Tinga Bowls are the BEST! Made in just 15 minutes, all on a sheet pan. My favorite kind of meal prep!
Sheet Pan Chicken Tinga Bowls
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Made this tonight with chicken breasts, lime/cilantro rice and black beans. SO. GOOD. This one is a keeper. Thanks for the recipe!
Meagan
What is better than saucy, smoky, delicious chicken tinga for tacos and bowls and beyond?
Answer: SHEET PAN chicken tinga that is just maaade for meal prep.
This chicken tinga is juicy and delicious, brain-less, totally hands-off (hello sheet pan), generously saucy, and paired with some buddies like roasty bell peppers and quinoa and black beans to round it out into a meal that tastes like my favorite tacos of all time and yet is practically the same as a salad.
These chicken tinga tacos remain, to this day, one of my favorite taco recipes ever. Which is saying a lot. I love tacos. I dream of tacos. I eat a LOT of tacos.
So this week’s meal prep situation is my solution to the WANTS TO EAT TACOS BUT WANTS TO ALSO BE HEALTHY dilemma.
Here we go.
First, throw the peppers and chicken on a sheet pan. Roast it up.
Yes, you are a meal prep genius, and yes, you need to be grammin’ this.
While it’s roasting, make your sauce, which I don’t have a picture of. Just imagine a sizzling pan of onion, garlic, oil, tomato, chipotle, etc.
And then, because I am lazy (or smart?) I just shred that chicken right on the sheet pan and pour my sauce right on there.
Done! Chicken Tinga Meal Prep. Made on a sheet pan.
You will likely have a little extra sauce which has never, in the history of ever, been a problem for me. I’m confident you can find some extra space in your bowls for that lil spoonful of chipotle goodness.
This is one of those times that I’m getting jealous of my own lunch.
Long live chicken tinga.
Check Out Our Video For How To Make Chicken Tinga Bowls:
15 Minute Meal Prep: Sheet Pan Chicken Tinga Bowls
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 3-4 1x
Description
These Chicken Tinga Bowls are the BEST! Made in just 15 minutes, all on a sheet pan. My favorite kind of meal prep!
Ingredients
Units
Scale
Sheet Pan:
- 1 lbs. boneless skinless chicken thighs
- 3 bell peppers, sliced (I used one of each color)
- 1 teaspoon salt, pepper to taste
- 1–2 tablespoons olive oil
Tinga Sauce:
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- half of an onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1–2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, chopped
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 14–ounce can crushed fire-roasted tomatoes
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Chicken and Peppers: Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Pat chicken dry with paper towels. Arrange chicken and peppers on a baking sheet. Toss with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast for 30 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.
- Sauce: While the chicken and peppers bake, heat olive oil in a skillet. Add onion, garlic, chipotles, and spices. Saute for about 10 minutes. Add tomatoes and salt. Simmer for another 10 minutes. Transfer to a blender and blend until smooth.
- Finish: Remove sheet pan from the oven. Shred chicken. Toss with the sauce (some, most, all… up to you). Serve chicken and peppers with quinoa, rice, cauliflower rice, beans, tortillas, greens, or just on its own!
Equipment
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Notes
If you combine this with other ingredients like black beans and quinoa, you will easily be able to get 4 servings out of it! If you are serving it alone, or with fewer ingredients, you will probably get closer to 3 servings.
You will probably have a little extra sauce, which is reason to party. This sauce freezes super well! Save it for later, or add a little extra to your bowls when you reheat them for lunch.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: Mexican-Inspired
Keywords: chicken tinga bowls, sheet pan chicken tinga, chicken tinga recipe
One More Thing!
This recipe is part of our best healthy spring recipes page. Check it out!
Filed Under: All Recipes Bell Pepper Bowls Dairy-Free Dinner Gluten-Free Healthy Lunch Main Dishes Meal Prep Meat and Chicken Quick and Easy Recipes Sheet Pan Spring Sugar-Free Tomato
March 14, 2019
Nice to meet you!
I’m Lindsay and I ♡ FOOD. I used to be a teacher, and now making food and writing about it online is my full-time job. I love talking with people about food, and I'm so glad you're here.
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‘Answer: SHEET PAN chicken tinga that is just maaade for meal prep.’ Totally agree with you, Lindsay! 😀
Thank you for reminding me of this recipe. Gonna try it again on weekends!
Hope you enjoy it, Andrew!
How can you make this vegan or vegetarian? Or could you use a white fish instead of chicken ?
This looks crazy good. i wish i could have this Bowl for lunch today!!
Yummy! Thanks for this recipe.
Ohhhhhh this is looking delicious and healthy! 🙂
Any chance this could be done with tofu?
I just made Tofu the other day and added Bragg Aminos to the Tofu with Garlic powder and bread crumbs. Talk about something soooooo deliciously good! 🙂
What could be better than a meal prep sheet pan meal? Other than a fabulous flavored one like this. Wow – that tinga sauce has got to be dynamite! It’s making my mouth water as I’m looking over the ingredients. Such a GREAT recipe. Thanks.
Hope you enjoy it!
this is a healthy food that’s make me a have good health,i’ll say to my friends to visit your website
That Tinga sauce looks wonderful! And you read my mind when you served this with the beans and the quinoa….protein central! Which is exactly what I need (:
The sauce on this sounds amazing!! I am ALL about meal prep.
Looks good. But can’t eat spicy peppers. Can I leave them out without losing flavor? I love one sheet meals.
You could try a substitute like some chipotle powder or smoked paprika!
I am in the uk where the chipotle peppers are hard to get. What could I use instead?
It will be a *little* different, but you could give some tabasco, chipotle powder, or a smoked paprika/cayenne mix a try as a sub!
We made this today for the work week ahead. Everything went smoothly-just watch the spice level with the sauce. We found it intense for our palette.
Hey Lindsay, just want to say that I believe you to be a fabulous ‘chef’ & I have been following you for years (?), however, I am saying goodbye. Though you often have vegan options, I have cruelty-free blogs that I follow who ‘ get it.’ That chicken you show probably lived it’s life in a cage & was unable to even turn around ’til it quit laying eggs, then was dropped into a ‘skinning bin’
( yep, alive.) If u r not buying free-range chicken, & very little of it TRULY is, u r eating pain & fear. Ignorance is no longer an excuse. My best for God & His creatures.
You are a ‘crazy lady’ Ruth. I respect your decision to follow or not follow the blogs of your choice… but if you could kindly refrain from posting accusations about possible ‘skin bin chicken’, that would be great. Unless you have personally vetted the source of this chicken, I would say your comment went a little ‘too far.’
Could chicken breasts be used instead of thighs? I’m sure they could, but would the baking time/temp need to be changed? Thanks!
Yep! Should be the same time/temp. 🙂
Hi! I have commented before, but I don’t think it posted. I have recently made a food blog. Will you check it out?
I’ve enjoyed so many of your recipes! This one looks great and I can’t wait to try it.
I’m a bit confused though… it says 15-minute meal prep, but to roast the chicken for 30 minutes. I just want to make sure I didn’t read something wrong! (Maybe just 15 minutes to throw together after it’s ready?)
Thank you so much!
Oh gosh… I just re-read the printable recipe and now see it says “prep-time 15-minutes” and “cook time 30 minutes”. DOH! Sorry about that.
Just made these for the week. Easiest meal prep recipe I’ve tried and super easy clean up too. Can’t wait to have these for lunch!
Just ate one of the bowls for lunch and wow! So good! Has a kick to it, which I like. Definitely keeping this one in the rotation! First recipe I’ve tried on this site but won’t be the last! Thank you!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Glad to hear it!
Hey I have an eating disorder. I’m super weird with chicken but I do enjoy it. Once cooked, how long should I leave it to cool before putting it in the freezer and then how long should I let it defrost and then how long should I reheat? IM SORRY SO MANY QUESTIONS! 😂😂😂x
Hi, Olivia! We’d probably suggest letting it cool about 1 hour before putting it in the freezer. You can thaw out the meat in the fridge safely and you can reheat it in a microwave for a few minutes. 🙂
Wow! It’s amazing recipe and easily prepared. I’ll try this Sheet pan chiken.. I love chicken. i can prepared this before going to office because it’s preparing time is only 15-20 minutes…so nice recipe
Thank you so much
This sauce is one of my favorites! It even won over my picky boyfriend so it’s definitely a keeper!
P.S. which containers are these? I like that they’re glass with no compartments!
LOL @ picky boyfriend. Is he eating healthy?
Made this last night for lunch this week! It’s so so sooo delicious and easy to prep! Totally get what you mean by being jealous of your lunch. Thanks for another great recipe! 🙂
Glad you enjoyed it!
This is one of my favorite meal preps so far! I’ve made the chicken tinga tacos many times and even my super picky boyfriend loves it. Definitely a keeper!
P.S. Which meal prep containers are you using? I have been looking for some rectangle ones without compartments. Thank you!
Glad to hear it! Here are the ones we use: https://www.amazon.com/Pyrex-Rectangle-Storage-Container-Containers/dp/B01BK3EV9G/ref=as_li_ss_tl?keywords=3+cup+pyrex+rectangle+lid&qid=1552940802&s=gateway&sr=8-4&linkCode=sl1&tag=recipepost-20&linkId=0cc6472129a3e61f13cede53067b42bf&language=en_US (affiliate link)
@Jenna
I see you dabble with “affiliate marketing” also. 🙂
its looking tasty i love it its easy to prepare love it thanks for sharing this recipe
Wow! I l.ove chicken recipe but this is a really unique recipe for me and i’ll surely try this, Because of i really never heard about this recipe before so i can’t wait for this mouthwatering recipe…
Thank you so much.
I made this & love how easy it is! The sauce is the best. I added an extra chipotle pepper and that was ooof! So hot. So I’ll go back to 2 next time. The peppers burnt while the chicken was still needing a few minutes. So I’ll either get bigger peppers next time or take the peppers out early…
Glad you enjoyed it, Melissa!
Awesome recipe. Thanks for sharing.
Amazing taste. Thanks for sharing this recipe.
These quick meal prep reciepe give me life! I made these and the breakfast sandwiches last week and both were delish. It also was nice to be done with my meal prepping in an hour rather than spending my whole Sunday cooking. THANK YOU
Glad to hear it, Sarah!
yummy, quick and easy