Mexican Chipotle Chicken – A Naturally Gluten-Free Dish
What is chipotle?
Chipotle is a smoked and dried jalapeño chilli. It has a deep, smoky flavour with a medium-to-hot level of heat, and its dark, wrinkled appearance can look a little like a prune.
Chipotle chillies are usually sold either dried or preserved in adobo sauce, a rich tomato-based sauce made with onion, garlic, vinegar and spices. The adobo sauce softens the heat slightly and adds a lovely sweet, tangy depth.
This smoky-sweet combination is perfect for adding bold Mexican flavour to marinades, meats, sauces, dips and even mayonnaise.
These days, chipotle sauce is much easier to find, popping up on restaurant menus, supermarket shelves and even in well-known hot sauce ranges. For this recipe, I prefer to make my own homemade chipotle sauce using tinned chipotle peppers in adobo sauce. They bring a wonderful smoky, sweet and spicy flavour, and can usually be found in Mexican or international supermarkets. The remaining ingredients are simple pantry staples available in most supermarkets.
How to eat Mexican Chipotle Chicken
Serve the cooked Mexican Chipotle Chicken with steamed rice, gluten-free corn tortillas, gluten-free corn & cheese waffles or gluten-free flour tortillas.
Mexican Chipotle Chicken
Equipment
- Skillet or griddle pan
- Large roasting tray
Ingredients
- 1 kg chicken thighs, skin and bone removed
CHIPOTLE MARINADE
- 3 garlic cloves, sliced
- 1 small red onion, sliced coarsely
- ½ tbsp olive oil
- 1 tin chipotle in adobo sauce (215g per tin)
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 80 ml white wine vinegar
- 80 ml water
- 1 orange, juiced
- 1 lime, juiced
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
To serve with Chipotle Chicken
- 1-2 tbsp olive oil
- 3 red capsicums (bell peppers), sliced coarsely
- 4 whole cooked corn on the cob, cut into small portions
- ¼ bunch fresh coriander (cilantro) leaves, to garnish
- 2 limes, quartered
- Salt & freshly cracked black pepper, to taste
Instructions
CHIPOTLE MARINADE
- Cook the garlic and onions lightly in ½ tbsp of olive oil for 2 minutes.
- Add the softened garlic, onions and any leftover oil to a blender.
- Add all the remaining Chipotle marinade ingredients to the blender. Blend on high until the mixture is relatively smooth.
CHIPOTLE CHICKEN
Marinating
- Allow the Chipotle marinade to cool down for 5 minutes before pouring it over the chicken thigh pieces in a glass or ceramic container.
- Cover and chill for at least one hour. Marinating it overnight will develop the flavours immensely.
Cooking the Chipotle Chicken
- Remove the chicken from the fridge and let it come to room temperature.
- Preheat the oven to 160°C fan-forced (180°C/350°F).
- Either using a skillet or griddle pan, heat it up on high heat for a few minutes.
- Once smoke can be seen rising from the pan, lower the heat to medium and add a small amount of oil to the pan.
- Add the chicken pieces and fry for 3 minutes on each side or until a nice crispy, slightly charred appearance develops.
- Transfer the chicken pieces to a large, greased roasting tray. Add the red peppers and corn-on-cob pieces. Drizzle olive oil over everything.
- Cook for another 20 minutes in the oven, turning the chicken and vegetables halfway through.
- Transfer the chicken and vegetables to a serving platter and cover.
To serve
- Sprinkle the chipotle chicken with fresh coriander leaves, salt and freshly cracked black pepper and serve with lime quarters.
Notes
- Keeps for 3 days chilled
- The uncooked chicken pieces are suitable to freeze in the chipotle marinade
