I think leftovers are essential if you’re a home cook. I actually prefer some dishes the next day and look forward to a meal made of leftover food. Last night I made a delicious roast chicken and consciously decided to leave a couple chicken pieces to use the next day for some easy tacos with kale and fresh vegetables.
I love experimenting with leftovers. Roast chicken is great to use if you want to make tacos because you can easily shred or chop it up and season with any kind of Latin spices you want.
Click for recipe…
Cut the kale, onions and radishes and set aside.
Saute leftover chicken with onions, spices and kale. Warm tortillas on a hot pan 30 seconds per side.
Serve with tomatoes, radishes and a squirt of lime on top.
Simple Tacos with Leftover Chicken and Kale
Prepare your vegetables by dicing the shallot, chopping tomatoes and slicing a radish into thin rounds; set all aside.
In a pan on medium-high heat, saute shallot with oil for about 3 minutes. Add leftover chicken and kale. Season with cumin, smoked paprika, chili powder, salt and pepper and cook until the kale wilts down, about 5 minutes. Heat another pan on medium-high heat and warm the tortillas for 30 seconds on each side. To serve, top the tortillas with the chicken and kale mixture. Top with tomatoes, radishes and a squirt of lime.
Total Time: 30 minutes
Yield: makes 4 tacos
print recipe
[Sign up for my newsletter or follow me on facebook / twitter to get new recipes]
This is a terrific idea! Now I know what to do when we have leftover chicken and a salad. Thanks for sharing, Barb!
I made this for dinner tonight and it was flavorful but dry…maybe add more oil or use a wetter green like spinach? I ended up using the chicken/kale as filling for quesadilla with just a little cheese to hold everything together and that turned out yummy!
Hmm, what part of the chicken did you use? I had leftover chicken thighs so the meat was juicy. Maybe add a little chicken broth to the pan when cooking?
It was the breast part which is always what’s left over when we have whole chicken. Good idea, I’ll add broth next time. Thanks!