Let your tastebuds do the talking with some Grilled Jerk Chicken Tacos with Mango Avocado Slaw! Spicy with a touch of sweetness, this recipe features a simple dry rub of fragrant spices that gets thrown on the grill to build a dark sear while sealing in all the moisture and flavor. Topped with a super simple mango avocado salad with fresh cabbage and tangy lime, these grilled jerk chicken tacos will be a hit all season long! Keep it gluten-free by serving with toasted corn tortillas!
What’s Jerk Chicken?
Jerk chicken is notorious for being crazy spicy. Its delicious, Caribbean roots bring flavors of allspice and scotch bonnet peppers, for a meal that will most assuredly leave you sucking in air trying to find elusive relief from the glorious burn.
For this recipe, we turn to more easily available kitchen spices to mimic the flavors of authentic Caribbean jerk chicken, but we’ve also toned it down just a smidge so that those who have a hard time handling the spice can still enjoy the classic jerk flavors without being burned.
Har har har.
Jerk Chicken Seasoning
Thankfully, this grilled jerk chicken recipe contains easily available spices founds in most all stores! Yay! A slightly sweet, but spicy combination, this seasoning contains:
Stir the whole mixture together and cover the chicken with a thick layer. When it comes to cooking the chicken, you want the spice layer to form a bit of crust, which seals in the flavor and the moisture of the chicken!
Mango Avocado Slaw
This fresh and fruity topping is the perfect complement to these grilled jerk chicken tacos. I originally wanted to create a mango avocado salsa, but I just couldn’t let go of adding some green and purple cabbage slivers. So, you could potentially call this a mango avocado salad, and feel fancy AF. But I like slaw, because cabbage always says slaw to me.
What will you call it?
In this zippy slaw:
- green and purple cabbage
- fresh mango
- fresh avocado
- red onion
- lime juice
- olive oil
- salt and pepper
Super simple! Just toss together and throw it right on your tacos. I like to sprinkle them with cilantro, but you can always toss that right into this mango avocado salad as well. See?! It just sounds right, right?!
Grilled Jerk Chicken Tacos with Mango Avocado Slaw
Get ready to indulge in the flavors of the Carribean when you dive into these grilled jerk chicken tacos topped with a zippy, lime-infused mango avocado slaw! Served with a simple cumin-lime crema and toasted corn tortillas, these tacos will be the talk of the town all season long!
If you like this recipe, please give it a 5-star rating.
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Grilled Jerk Chicken Tacos with Mango Avocado Slaw
Ingredients
Jerk Chicken
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons allspice
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- ¼ teaspoon cloves
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
- ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 ½ lbs. boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1 tablespoon canola oil
- 12 corn tortillas
Mango Avocado Slaw
- 1 large mango peeled and diced
- 1 large avocado peeled and diced
- 2 cups cabbage red, green, or combo, sliced thin
- ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro
- ⅓ cup chopped red onion rinsed and drained
- 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- kosher salt to taste
- freshly ground pepper to taste
Cumin-Lime Crema
- ¼ cup sour cream
- 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- 1-2 tablespoons water as needed
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, combine the brown sugar, allspice, cumin, cloves, cinnamon, salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper. Rinse and pat dry the chicken, then place between two sheets of plastic wrap and pound with the flat side of a meat mallet until even in thickness. Brush the chicken with the canola oil, then sprinkle with the spice rub until every breast is thickly covered.
- Preheat a grill pan over medium heat. Once hot, coat with a thin layer of oil or cooking spray, then place the chicken in a single layer and cook for 5-6 minutes. Flip the chicken and continue cooking for an addition 5 minutes, or until a meat thermometer reads 165 degrees. Remove from heat, wrap each breast in aluminum foil, and allow to rest for five minutes. While the chicken is cooking, heat tortillas on a comal over medium until tortillas crisp around the edges and blacken slightly. Keep heated tortillas wrapped in a clean towel and set aside.
- In a large bowl, add the mango, avocado, cabbage, cilantro, and red onion. Add the lime juice, olive oil, salt and pepper, and toss to coat. Adjust seasoning as necessary. In a small bowl, whisk together the sour cream, lime juice, and cumin. Slowly add water until mixture can be lightly drizzled. Plate tortillas with sliced chicken, top with a heaping spoon of slaw, and a drizzle of crema. Serve immediately.
Nutrition
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Milisa says
This is the kind of dinner my family will beg for again and again! So flavorful and delicious!
Claire says
This is just gorgeous!!! The spices n that chicken….YUM!!!
And I love the fruit in the slaw.
Definitely a keeper.
Thanks for a greta recipe.