Chicken for Tacos and Enchiladas

Notes:

For a drier product, you may want to try draining some of the liquid from the Rotel before adding it to the sauce. If you don’t there may be liquid in the bottom of the pan. I drained most of the liquid from the Rotel in the last batch and the sauce was still good.

Don’t buy bone-in or skin-on thighs or breasts.  The loss during cooking is 40%.  If you buy boneless, skinless, the loss is more like 12.5% (or almost zero after you add the canned goods).

The last time I made this, I only put in 2/3 of the enchilada sauce and it was still plenty spicy. We are going to experiment with lime juice stirred in just before serving. The acid should help reduce the spice and the lime flavor will add another layer to the dish. I think we should start with no more than 2 teaspoons per pound of chicken. I will update this after we determine the correct amount.

Ingredients:

  • 3 lbs boneless-skinless chicken breasts
  • 3 lbs boneless-skinless chicken thighs
  • 4 bay leaves
  • 20oz (2 cans) Rotel Original Diced Tomatoes & Green Chilies
  • 14oz Aldi Pueblo Lindo Green Enchilada Sauce or equivalent (comes in 28oz cans) (Be careful, too much can make the chicken very spicy)
  • 8 oz Taco Sauce (homemade recipe or Ortega)
  • 2 Tbsp Masa Flour
  • Randy’s Poultry Rub
  • Salt to taste
  • Pepper to taste

Instructions:

  1. We are going to cook the breasts and thighs separately because we need different cooking temperatures for the best results.
  2. Coat the breasts in Randy’s Chicken Rub and place in a sous vide bag with 2 bay leaves.  Seal.
  3. Coat the thighs in Randy’s Chicken Rub and place in a sous vide bag with 2 bay leaves.  Seal.
  4. Sous vide the breasts for 1 hour at 158 degrees.
  5. Sous vide the thighs for 1 hour at 167 degrees.
  6. Drain both and remove the bay leaves.
  7. Chop the meat into 1/2″ or smaller cubes.
  8. Heat the Rotel, both sauces, and masa flour in a separate pan until thickened
  9. Stir the sauce into the chicken.
  10. Salt and pepper to taste.
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