Name: Cuban-Style Crispy Chicken Tacos (Vaca Frita De Pollo)
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 15 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Cuban
Ingredients: 2 cups chicken breast (leftovers or store-bought rotisserie, shredded); 1/2 medium onion (sliced); 2 tablespoons olive oil; Salt and pepper to taste; 1/2 can black beans (about 7 oz); 8 corn tortillas; Lime wedges; Optional Toppings: avocado, cheese, diced tomato, sour cream, shredded red cabbage, cilantro

Cuban-Style Crispy Chicken Tacos (Vaca Frita De Pollo)

Chicken tacos made with crispy, citrus-marinated shredded chicken, sautéed onions and black beans! Great use for leftover chicken or store-bought rotisserie chicken. You ever have one of those days where you’re hungry and the last thing you want to do is get fancy with dinner?…

Ready 15 minutes

Serves 4 servings

Prep 5 minutes

Cook 10 minutes

Jump to the recipe

You ever have one of those days where you’re hungry and the last thing you want to do is get fancy with dinner?

Me too! ALL. THE. TIME. Especially after being on the road, stuck in traffic, for what feels like an eternity.

UGH.

Enter these quick, easy and crispy chicken tacos!

This is one of my favorite cooking hacks. On those days when you either don’t feel like cooking, come back from a vacation or have leftover chicken and have no idea what to do with it, you shred it and crisp it up with some onions, add black beans and tortillas and… voilà, dinner’s ready!

For me, crisping up chicken in a skillet is called vaca frita style. So easy to make!

Recommended For This Recipe

Skillet

A 10-inch skillet perfect for cooking all kinds of dishes! It’s non-stick, with a wide flat bottom for frying, sautéing, or browning.

**What does vaca frita style mean?**

Vaca frita literally translates to “fried cow”. Vaca frita is a Cuban dish made with shredded beef, like flank steak, marinated overnight in lime juice, sour orange and spices and then pan fried with onions until crispy. For reference, see my vaca frita sliders.

Making chicken vaca frita style is basically the same concept except you’re using chicken instead of beef. In this context/recipe, vaca frita is used as more of the cooking style for the chicken than an actual crispy beef dish.

And let me tell you, it is just as delicious! Crispy chicken with sautéed onions and black beans is a classic Cuban dish too called Chicken Vaca Frita. Confused yet? Hope not! I’d be more than happy to explain. Just drop me a note. :)

Of course, to keep things fun around here, I couldn’t JUST make chicken vaca frita. I turned them into tacos! Make sure you charr the tortillas a bit in a skillet before serving. Seriously, it’s a game changer.

These crispy chicken tacos with sautéed onions, black beans and a twist of lime makes this dish the perfect quick meal for any day of the week!

I hope you make these and LOVE them!