These grilled chicken tacos with mango are made with cumin, chili powder, scallions, and flour tortillas along with all the usual fixins. Perfect for Taco Tuesday. And any day.
Adapted from Kate McMillan | Williams-Sonoma Taco Night | Weldon Owen, 2014
Grilled chicken tacos with mango. Simple. Sublime. And pretty darn special on a random weeknight dinner. Prepare to be astounded.
Grilled Chicken Tacos with Mango
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons olive oil or mild vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs
- 1 bunch scallions ends trimmed
- 2 firm but ripe mangoes pitted, peeled, and each cut into 4 thick slices
- 10 to 12 small flour or corn tortillas* warmed
- Chunky guacamole for serving
- Lime wedges for serving
Instructions
- Build a medium-hot fire in a charcoal grill or preheat a gas grill to medium-high.
- In a large bowl, whisk together 2 tablespoons oil, the cumin, chili powder, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, and 3/4 teaspoon pepper. Add the chicken and toss to coat thoroughly. Let stand for 10 minutes at room temperature.
- Meanwhile, arrange the scallions and mangoes on a small baking sheet. Brush on both sides with the remaining 1 tablespoon oil and season lightly all over with salt and pepper.
- Arrange the scallions and mangoes on the grate directly over the heat and grill, turning once, until nicely grill-marked on both sides, about 2 minutes per side for the scallions and 4 minutes per side for the mangoes. Move everything to a cutting board as it’s finished. Let cool slightly, then cut the mangoes and scallions into 1-inch (2 1/2-centimeter) pieces. Place everything on a platter and cover with aluminum foil to keep warm.
- Arrange the chicken on the grate directly over the heat and grill, turning once, until nicely grill-marked and cooked through, 6 to 7 minutes per side. Move to a cutting board and let rest for a few minutes, then cut into 1-inch (2 1/2-centimeter) pieces and add to the platter with the mangoes and scallions.
- Pass the chicken, mangoes, scallions, and tortillas at the table and serve with the guacamole and limes on the side.
Notes
*What’s the best way to heat my tortillas?
The best way to heat your tortillas is to warm a comal, griddle, heavy skillet over medium-high heat. When it’s hot, add a corn tortilla. After 30 seconds, you should see steam escaping from underneath the disk. If you don’t, turn up the heat a bit before you heat the next tortilla. After another 15 seconds, flip the tortilla. Soon you should see some pockets of air forming. Heat it for another 45 seconds, flip it once more (you’ll see a few golden brown spots), and cook it for a final 15 seconds. Flour tortillas take about the same amount of time to cook as corn tortillas, but they require slightly lower heat, more frequent flipping, and, occasionally, a little less time because they’re more susceptible to burning. Keep the tortillas warm by wrapping them in a towel as you heat the others. Devour as soon as possible.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Recipe Testers’ Reviews
This super-simple grilled chicken tacos with mango recipe made me a taco hero tonight. My family loved and devoured them!
Let’s talk grilled chicken—it was outrageously tender and flavorful. The 10-minute marinade on these boneless skinless chicken thighs is a busy mom’s dream, and the marinade ingredients are simple to throw together, and the spices may already be in your pantry. Win.
The mangoes and scallions were easy to grill—make sure that the grill is smoking hot to get nice grill marks on them. The combination of flavors when the tacos are assembled and eaten is fabulous. I used the LC recipe for tomatillo and avocado salsa, and a squeeze of lime was the last touch before devouring these. This recipe served 3 adults—2 thighs per person. I’m definitely making these again.
The mangoes were a little hard to dice without getting mushy, but they still tasted great. The grill time depends on how hot the grill is, which can be hard to gauge—ours could have been hotter so it took about 5 minutes for the scallions and 5 minutes per side for the mangoes. This only served 3 people with 2 thighs per person, as these are too good to eat just one.
The one downside to this grilled chicken tacos recipe is that I wish we would have doubled the amount of meat, as it disappeared too fast—both tucked inside the tortillas as well as grabbed by little hands and eaten as is. This is one of the juiciest, tastiest pieces of chicken we have ever grilled.
The mix of guacamole, grilled mangoes and scallions, and chicken is nothing less than spectacular. I seriously wouldn’t bother with anything else, whether it’s cheese or sour cream, on your tacos. This is a recipe we will make often. The other great things is that this recipe is super easy and fast to make—perfect for a weeknight.
My favorite LC recipe so far! These grilled chicken tacos with mango couldn’t have hit the spot more perfectly. I came home late on a Thursday evening but had prepped the chicken and some sides ahead of time. I don’t have an actual barbecue, but I have a well-seasoned Griswold cast iron grill pan that I began preheating (for about 10 minutes) as soon as I was ready to get cooking.
While the pan heated, I prepped the mango, scallions, and some sides. Once on the grill, the scallions took longer than suggested to sear and soften, I’d say closer to 4 minutes on each side. The mango seared beautifully and quickly (thanks to the high sugar content) in definitely no more than 4 minutes per side. The chicken took longer than expected to sear and cook through, probably more like 6 to 7 minutes per side. I’m also not sure why the chicken is grilled after the mango and scallions, as meat needs to rest and vegetables/fruit don’t. Since I had everything else ready, it was torture waiting for the chicken to rest a few minutes. Also, the scallions and mango would pick up flavor left behind from the chicken if they were cooked last.
For the toppings, I felt that less was more. I preferred a “cleaner” deconstructed guacamole of avocado slices, minced jalapeño, lime, and cilantro. I also felt the cheese took away from the fresh flavor profile of mango and scallion and ultimately went without it.
This recipe makes great grilled chicken tacos! It was really bright—in taste and color—and the combination of spiced chicken, sweet mango, and grilled scallion was so perfect for spring. I used the chicken cooking time to make the guacamole, so I was hands-on the whole time.
I found that my scallions were a little too charred after 2 minutes per side, so I’d probably cut that back to 1 to 1 1/2 minutes per side. Otherwise, all cooking times were accurate, and the mangoes had great flavor and texture after 4 minutes per side on the grill—slightly softened but not mushy at all.
I cut the mango into 1-inch chunks and cut the scallions on the diagonal into 2-inch pieces for ease of assembling the tacos. I served these grilled chicken tacos mango with both corn and flour tortillas, which I warmed on the grill while the chicken was resting.
Yum, yum. These spicy grilled chicken tacos with mango disappeared quickly! This is poultry’s answer to tacos al pastor (grilled pork and pineapple). Chicken thighs stay nice and juicy, cooked just right at 2 minutes a side, and the quick rub adds a lot of flavor in no time.
Whole scallions and big mango pieces are easy to manage on the grill with tongs, and you can quickly run a knife through them while the chicken cooks. Though prepping the mango took the longest, I really liked the pace of this recipe—not too much prep and an efficient flow made me feel successful, not stressed. We served these with rice and guacamole. The cheese was overwhelming and could easily be skipped. And if avocados aren’t on hand, sour cream could be subbed for the creamy guac.
These grilled chicken tacos with mango were straightforward, easy, and delicious. The marinade for the chicken was especially tasty. I used a gas grill, which helped keep this recipe under an hour in total time.
I found the recommended time to grill the scallions, mango, and chicken accurate. Along with the recommended toppings, I served the tacos with salsa and sour cream. My children steered clear of the mango and scallions, but I loved these adult palate-pleasing toppings.
Grilling the mangoes and scallions really elevates this dish and sets it apart from other grilled chicken taco recipes. In addition to serving the tacos with lime, guacamole, and shredded cheese, I set out sour cream, hot sauce, chopped tomatoes, and some extra cilantro. Very easy and quite satisfying. Four minutes per side was just the right time for the mangoes on the grill.
