These tostadas de pollo (chicken tostadas) are so easy to make. The recipe features delicious grilled and shredded chicken, refried beans, and your favorite classic toppings.
Enjoy those tostadas for an easy and fun dinner any weeknight or serve them for Sunday’s brunch!
What are tostadas de pollo?
Tostadas de pollo (chicken tostadas, in English) is one of the thousand versions of the traditional tostadas, a crispy tortilla topped with various ingredients and served as lunch, dinner, or snack.
This recipe in particular features a crispy tortilla spread with refried beans and then topped with shredded chicken, vegetables, and drizzled with any salsa you prefer.
The chicken is first marinated in various seasonings and lime juice, then grilled to perfection and shredded to top those tostadas.
Mexican tostadas are colorful, versatile, and delicious because they can be prepared with whatever you have on hand. So do not feel discouraged if you don’t have all ingredients listed below.
Because, if you have tortillas and chicken that will be enough to create this amazing recipe with some other ingredients that you maybe have in your pantry and fridge.
Ingredients for chicken tostadas
- CHICKEN. We have prepared a quick spiced grilled chicken, so easy to make and comes out in a matter of minutes. You can also use rotisserie chicken or turkey leftovers.
- TOSTADAS. If you live in Mexico or the US you probably have seen tostadas at any Latin American supermarket sold in packs and ready to pile your favorite ingredients. But, if you don’t have access to those store-bought tostadas, you can make them at home using regular corn tortillas. It’s pretty simple because you just need to fry tortillas until golden and crispy.
- BEANS. You can use homemade cooked beans (frijoles de la olla) or canned beans to make the puree for spreading on tostadas, or just head over to our refried beans recipe for more tips about how to make them.
- VEGETABLES. Juicy slices of fresh tomato and shredded lettuce. Or you can bring your tostadas de pollo to the next level and use pico de gallo (aka salsa bandera) for topping.
- ONIONS. Pickled onions are so good in this recipe. They add a nice sweet and sour flavor and you can make them with any type of onions you have at home.
- DAIRY. Use Mexican queso fresco, or sub is with your favorite cheese.
- SALSA. So, there are many options when it comes to sauces for chicken tostadas. From red to green or even copy-cat branded salsa, we got you covered. Read our suggestions below.
How To Cook The Chicken
In a medium bowl add oil, lime juice, garlic, pepper, salt, onion, and chili powder. Mix with a fork to combine. Add chicken and turn it to coat well with the seasonings. Marinate for 20 minutes.
NOTE: You can also place the chicken to marinate the night before, so the flavors will infuse the meat nicely.
Heat a griddle pan or a cast-iron skillet until smoking. Brush with a little bit of oil to coat lightly the bottom. Add chicken and grill (flipping from time to time) on both sides until golden, charred, and well cooked through.
NOTE: The time of cooking will depend on how thick your fillets are, mines took 8 minutes per side.
Place grilled chicken in a bowl and cover with foil, allow to rest for 5 minutes then shred it using two forks. Set aside covered, to prevent it from drying, until needed.
Related: How To Handle Raw Chicken.
Assemble
- Spread each tostada shell with refried beans.
- Then add a layer of shredded chicken.
- Top with shredded lettuce, tomato slices, and pickled onions.
- Finish with cheese and a drizzle of your favorite salsa.
Best Salsas To Pair
- Chile de árbol salsa – Made with chile de árbol, tomatoes and garlic.
- Guacamole salsa – With avocado, cilantro, and green chilies.
- Salsa de cacahuate – Made with peanuts, chile de árbol. Very spicy!
- Molcajete salsa – Made with tomatoes, green chilies, and onions. All roasted to perfection to create this amazing salsa.
- Fake guacamole – Not avocados available? don’t worry, you can make this creamy avocado-like salsa with just a few ingredients.
- Valentina – A homemade copycat of the most famous Mexican spicy salsas.
Make your own tostada shells
Here are a few steps to make your own tostada shells and use them for this recipe. You just need tortillas and oil for frying:
- Heat plenty of oil in a frying pan.
- Carefully, add a tortilla and fry on one side for about 20 seconds.
- Flip and fry for another 20-30 seconds.
- Keep flipping and frying the tortilla in small intervals on both sides until golden and crispy.
- Place the tortilla on a plate lined with kitchen paper towels to absorb excess oil.
- Repeat the same steps with all tortillas.
How To Make Ahead
You can make ahead some prep for your tostadas de pollo. For example, cook the chicken up to 3 days ahead, shred it and then place it in an air-tight container. Remember to heat them up a bit in the microwave or in a pan before making your chicken tostadas.
The pickled onions can be made up to 1 week ahead! And the toppings such as lettuce and tomatoes can be chopped the day before and stored in containers in the fridge. Read this article about how to store cleaned and chopped lettuce for up to a week!
Similar Recipes
If you loved this tostadas de pollo recipe, try also some other similar recipes:
- Chorizo tostadas. Topped with chorizo and guacamole salsa.
- Tostadas de camarón. Prepared with shrimp and creamy chipotle salsa.
- BBQ chicken tostadas. Delicious bbq chicken is used to top crispy tortillas.
- Tostadas de cueritos. Made with pickled pork rinds and vegetables.
Tostadas de Pollo (chicken tostadas)
Ingredients
For the chicken
- 2 boneless chicken thighs
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- ½ lime (juice)
- ½ tsp powdered cumin
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp chili powder
- ½ tsp pepper
- salt (to taste)
For the tostadas
- 8 corn tostadas (read notes)
- 1 cup refried beans
- queso fresco or Feta (crumbled, as needed)
- 3 cups iceberg lettuce (shredded)
- 1 medium tomato (sliced)
- oil for frying
Instructions
- Place oil, lime juice, garlic, onion, chili powder, pepper, and salt in a bowl. Mix with a fork to combine.
- Add chicken and turn it to coat well with the seasonings. Marinate for 20 minutes.
- Heat a griddle pan or a cast-iron skillet until smoking.
- Brush with a little bit of oil to coat lightly the bottom.
- Add chicken and grill (flipping from time to time) on both sides until golden, charred, and well cooked through.
- Place grilled chicken in a bowl and cover with foil, allow to rest for 5 minutes then shred it using two forks.
- Cover again to prevent it from drying and set aside until needed.
- Assemble
- Spread each tostada shell with refried beans.
- Add a layer of shredded chicken.
- Top with shredded lettuce, tomato slices, and pickled onions.
- Finish with cheese and a drizzle of your favorite salsa.
Notes
Nutrition Information
I hope you liked this tostadas de pollo recipe and please don’t forget to rate it, comment below, and share it on your social media.
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this looks good!such a nice recipe! yummy!