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Taqueria Chicken Marinade (Nachos & Tacos)

A bright citrus-chile soak for chicken breast — short on purpose, charred hard, sliced for nachos or tacos

~1½–2 lb · 5 min

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  • ¼ cup olive or neutral oil
  • 2 limes, juiced · 1 orange, juiced (or ¼ cup OJ)
  • 4 garlic cloves, grated
  • 1 Tbsp chili powder · 2 tsp cumin
  • 1 tsp each smoked paprika · dried oregano (Mexican if you have it)
  • 1 tsp salt · 1 tsp sugar or honey
  • optional: 1 tsp chipotle in adobo (smoke + heat) · handful chopped cilantro
What you need
  1. Mix & even out the breast. Whisk everything together. Pound the breasts to an even ½ inch, or slice into thin cutlets or strips — thin and even is what lets lean breast cook fast before it dries.
  2. Soak short — 30 min to 4 hours. Toss the chicken to coat and fridge. Don't push past ~4 hours — this one is acid-forward, and lean breast left in citrus overnight turns mushy and chalky on the surface.
  3. Dry, then cook hot (the fast way). Pat the chicken dry and cook on a screaming-hot grill, cast iron, or skillet, 3–4 min a side to about 160°F and well charred. Keep an eye on it — the sugar wants to char, not burn.
  4. Or reverse-sear it (the forgiving way — thick or whole breasts). Don't want to pound? Pat the marinade off, roast on a rack at 275°F until the center hits 145–150°F (~20–30 min), rest 5 min, then sear hard in a screaming-hot pan 45–60 sec a side to 160°F. The inside's already cooked, so the sear is only for char. Slower, but much harder to dry out.
  5. Rest & cut. Rest 5 min, then slice or chop across the grain. Pile over layered nachos (wet toppings on after the oven) or into warm tortillas with pico, guac, and lime.
Steps — tap one to keep your place

✨ Untested — Claude drafted this one from scratch; it hasn't been cooked and amended in our kitchen yet, so treat the amounts as a starting point. Low salt — salt at the end and taste as you go; broth, cheese, and canned goods already bring salt.

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