Tacos de tinga
Tinga is a Puebla dish of shredded meat, most often chicken today, stewed with tomato, onion and chipotle chile, and widely eaten in tacos, on tostadas and in other antojitos. Its smoky, slightly sweet sauce makes it one of the most common home-style taco fillings in central Mexico.
Name and history
Mexican dictionaries record tinga as a word for something vulgar or disorderly; the newspaper El Mañana cites Francisco Javier Santamaría's Diccionario de mejicanismos to that effect and notes that Diana Kennedy described the dish as a very tasty mess. According to Larousse Cocina, tinga originated in Puebla, and its first documented appearance is in La cocinera poblana, published in 1881, which already offered several versions linked by the use of chipotle. In those early recipes pork was the principal meat, and variations such as tinga caliente, tinga escandalosa and tinga sencilla were served with fresh cheese, avocado or sliced onion.
El Mañana summarizes those historical variants: tinga caliente was served with fresh cheese and avocado; tinga escandalosa was served cold, dressed with chipotles, vinegar, avocado and sliced onion; and tinga sencilla came with onion, chipotle and fresh cheese on the side. Larousse Cocina later reprinted several of these nineteenth-century recipes.
Preparation
The meat is cooked, shredded and then simmered in a sauce of tomato, onion and chipotle; chipotle and onion are the constants, while serrano or jalapeño may be added for heat. Chicken, pork and beef are all used, alone or mixed, and many cooks add crumbled longaniza or chorizo. Regional versions differ: in Tlaxcala tinga may include potato and sausage, and in Morelos a version made with cazahuate mushrooms replaces the meat entirely.
Serving
Tinga is a filling for tacos, quesadillas, molotes and tostadas, and can also be eaten as the main course of the midday meal. Tostadas de tinga are a customary dish for the dinner on the night of September 15, Mexico's Independence Day eve. Fresh cheese, avocado and sliced onion, the garnishes named in the nineteenth-century recipes, remain typical toppings. Molotes, fried masa turnovers, are a frequent vehicle for tinga, and the Tlaxcala version with potato and sausage is used specifically to fill them.
Recipe
Ingredients
- 750 g boneless chicken breast or thighs
- 1/2 onion, plus 1 large white onion thinly sliced
- 2 garlic cloves
- 500 g ripe tomatoes
- 2 to 4 chipotle chiles in adobo, plus 1 tbsp adobo sauce
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil or lard
- 100 g Mexican chorizo or longaniza (optional)
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- 1 bay leaf
- Salt
- 16 corn tortillas
- Crema, crumbled queso fresco and sliced avocado to serve
Steps
- Poach the chicken with the half onion, 1 garlic clove and salt in water to cover for 20 to 25 minutes. Cool, shred and reserve 1 cup of the broth.
- Blend the tomatoes, chipotles, adobo sauce and remaining garlic with 1/2 cup of the broth.
- Heat the oil in a wide pan. If using chorizo, fry it until crumbly. Add the sliced onion and cook until soft and translucent.
- Pour in the tomato-chipotle sauce with the oregano and bay leaf and simmer 8 minutes.
- Add the shredded chicken and enough broth to keep it moist. Simmer 5 minutes more and season with salt.
- Serve in warm tortillas topped with crema, queso fresco and avocado.
Where to try it
- Coolinaria, Oakland, California
- Guisados, Los Angeles, California
Reviews
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See also
References
- "Tinga". Larousse Cocina. Retrieved 2026-10-10.
- "¿Por qué se le llama tinga? Las tostadas de la cena en la noche mexicana". El Mañana. Retrieved 2026-10-10.