Beer-Marinated Chicken Tacos Recipe | Grilling

Updated August 09, 2018

Each week Joshua Bousel drops by with a recipe for you to grill over the weekend. Fire it up, Joshua!

I've covered beef and pork tacos before, so the next logical step in my taco journey was chicken. I've always had my eye on this one particular recipe for beer-marinated chicken tacos, partly because chicken marinated in Negra Modelo sounded delicious, but mostly as an excuse to make a large batch of guacamole.

The combination ended up being fantastic. The recipe called for a 2 to 4 hour marinade, but I pushed it further to overnight, and the chicken really picked up the deep flavor of the beer. The marinade also caramelized over the high heat, forming a crisp crust. These two factors added a nice contrast to the creamy and fresh guacamole, making each bite a pleasing one. From now on, making guacamole will mostly be an excuse to grill up a batch of this chicken for more taco goodness.

Beer-Marinated Chicken Tacos

Adapted from Weber's Real Grilling by Purviance

Recipe Details

Beer-Marinated Chicken Tacos Recipe | Grilling

Prep 35 mins

Cook 20 mins

Marinating Time 2 hrs

Total 2 hrs 55 mins

Serves 3 to 4 servings

Cook Mode (Keep screen awake)

Ingredients

For the Marinade:

1 cup dark Mexican beer, such as Negra Modelo
2 tablespoons dark sesame oil
1 tablespoon finely chopped garlic
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
6 boneless skinless chicken thighs

For Assembly:

2 cups of your favorite guacamole
8 to 12 taco-size corn tortillas

Directions

Mix all ingredients for marinade together in a small bowl. Place chicken thighs in a large Ziploc bag and pour in marinade. Seal the bag, removing as much air as possible, and place in the refrigerator to marinate for 2 hours to overnight.
Remove chicken from the refrigerator while lighting the fire. Light one chimney full of charcoal. When all the charcoal is lit and covered with gray ash, pour out and spread the coals out evenly over the charcoal grate. Grill chicken until fully cooked and browned on both sides, about 4 to 5 minutes per side. Remove from grill and allow to rest for 5 minutes. Cut chicken into thin strips.
While chicken is resting, warm tortillas on grill until pliable, about 30 seconds to 1 minute per side. To assemble, spread a heaping spoonful of guacamole along the middle of each tortilla. Pile with chicken slices and serve.

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
610	Calories
35g	Fat
42g	Carbs
37g	Protein

Nutrition Facts
Servings: 3 to 4
Amount per serving
Calories	610
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 35g	44%
Saturated Fat 7g	33%
Cholesterol 156mg	52%
Sodium 1067mg	46%
Total Carbohydrate 42g	15%
Dietary Fiber 12g	42%
Total Sugars 1g
Protein 37g
Vitamin C 13mg	67%
Calcium 96mg	7%
Iron 3mg	16%
Potassium 1037mg	22%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.