BBQ Chicken Tacos With Coleslaw

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Super-speedy BBQ Chicken Tacos with Coleslaw requires minimal ingredients and packs a flavor punch! We toss packaged coleslaw with coleslaw dressing and load that up in a tortilla. Top with saucy BBQ chicken and fresh sweet corn and dinner’s on the table!

BBQ Chicken Tacos with Coleslaw

These BBQ Chicken Tacos with Coleslaw are a part of our Back-To-School Lifesavers — a series of recipes that are intended to have little (or no) veggie chopping, minimal prep time, around 10 ingredients or less (not including pantry staples), and use kid-friendly ingredients. Click here to see all the recipes in the series!

BBQ Chicken Tacos with Coleslaw

We love all things BBQ Chicken at my home (these BBQ Chicken WrapsBBQ Chicken Sandwich, and BBQ Chicken Salad are a few favorites! And now these tacos are here to join in on the fun.

We’ve featured a BBQ Chicken Tacos recipe before, but this version is pretty different. Those BBQ chicken tacos ended up more Southwestern-inspired with black beans and peppers and a cilantro-lime sauce. We make these ones with coleslaw instead — more of a classic BBQ chicken flavor!

They also couldn’t be much easier to make; these BBQ Chicken Tacos with Coleslaw take minutes to whip together and the whole family will flip for them!

Ingredient shot-- images of all the ingredients used in this dish

BBQ Chicken Tacos with Coleslaw Ingredients

  • Corn. We love raw sweet corn cut right off the cob to top these tacos — it’s delicious raw and adds a nice crunch. No corn on the cob? Frozen corn (thawed) or even canned (drained) will work too.
  • Coleslaw mix. Nothing fancy here — just a store-bought package of coleslaw works great! You’ll find most coleslaw mixes in the produce section of the grocery store near other packaged salad mixes.
  • Fresh (refrigerated) coleslaw dressing. The refrigerated coleslaw dressings are typically found in the chilled area of the produce section, not with the shelf-stable dressings. The freshly made ones have a nice fresh flavor; our two favorites are Litehouse® or Marie’s®
  • Rotisserie chicken. Pre-cooked and seasoned chicken saves loads of time on its own, but to save even more time on the chicken, you can purchase rotisserie chicken meat already pulled from the bones and shredded or diced — a lot of grocery stores sell this conveniently prepared chicken!
  • BBQ sauce. Any BBQ sauce you enjoy is one you’ll likely enjoy in these BBQ Chicken Tacos with Coleslaw. My personal favorite is Sweet Baby Ray’s BBQ® (original) sauce or Stubb’s Original BBQ® sauce.
  • Corn tortillas. More on this ingredient below

Process shots-- mix coleslaw with dressing; toss; load into charred tortillas.

Tortillas 

We love corn tortillas with this saucy slaw and sweet BBQ chicken. They can be tricky to work with, though, because they break easily and dry out quickly. I recommend charring the tortillas for the best flavor and texture! When charring, work with one at a time, leaving the rest in the bag so the others don’t dry out too quickly.

We like thin corn tortillas best for these tacos. My family enjoys Mission® extra-thin corn tortillas (not sponsored).

Here’s how we char the tortillas:

  1. Spray both sides of the tortillas with cooking spray. I use an olive oil-based spray (canola works as well) and give each side a good spritz.
  2. Very lightly char each side of the tortilla over an open flame on the stovetop. If you don’t have an open flame, warm for 10-15 seconds in a skillet.
  3. Immediately remove the tortilla from the heat and fold in half. Place under a towel (keeps them warm!) and repeat until all the tortillas are charred.
  4. Once all the tortillas have been charred and folded, add the slaw and BBQ chicken.

This recipe is supposed to be quick, but charring tortillas is super fast and well worth the extra minute — it adds an incredible amount of flavor and texture to the tacos.

QUICK TIP

If you don’t love corn tortillas, use flour ones. Even though flour tortillas fold nicely, I still like to spray them with cooking spray and brown them in a skillet or over an open flame; this adds so much flavor! If using flour tortillas, I like the unbaked ones (by TortillaLand®; not sponsored) and cook them in a skillet first. And if you aren’t in the mood to char them, they make a nice sandwich wrap without being heated.

Process shots-- add chicken and BBQ sauce to a pan; toss and warm through; add onto the tortillas.

VARIATIONS

For a little more pizzazz, add a thinly sliced, ripe avocado to these tacos. It adds a nice creaminess! A few sprigs of cilantro also add a nice contrasting and fresh flavor to these BBQ Chicken Tacos with Coleslaw.

QUICK TIP

Add sauces to personal preference. This recipe is very forgiving and you can really play around with quantities to get things exactly as saucy as you’d like. For saucier chicken, add a touch more BBQ sauce. For a saucier slaw, add a touch more coleslaw dressing. And of course, if you prefer less sauce, just reverse this! 

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BBQ Chicken Tacos with Coleslaw

5 from 1 vote
Super-quick BBQ Chicken Tacos with Coleslaw requires minimal ingredients and packs a flavor punch! We toss packaged coleslaw with coleslaw dressing and load that up in a charred tortilla. Top with saucy BBQ chicken and fresh sweet corn and dinner's on the table!
Print Recipe

BBQ Chicken Tacos with Coleslaw

5 from 1 vote
Super-quick BBQ Chicken Tacos with Coleslaw requires minimal ingredients and packs a flavor punch! We toss packaged coleslaw with coleslaw dressing and load that up in a charred tortilla. Top with saucy BBQ chicken and fresh sweet corn and dinner's on the table!
Course Dinner, Main Course, Sandwich
Cuisine American
Keyword BBQ Chicken Tacos with Coleslaw
Prep Time 20 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes
Servings 4 servings
Chelsea Lords
Calories 639kcal
Cost $10.74

Ingredients

Instructions

  • COLESLAW: Toss coleslaw mix and coleslaw dressing together with tongs. Feel free to play around with quantities adding more dressing for a saucier slaw or more coleslaw for a less saucy slaw. Let stand, tossing once more before assembling tacos.
  • CHICKEN: Shred a rotisserie chicken (or use a pre-shredded rotisserie chicken) and add to a small pot. Add BBQ sauce (start with ½cup and add more as needed, depending on how saucy you like the chicken). Gently stir over low heat with tongs until the chicken is coated and warmed through. (See Note 1.)
  • TORTILLAS: See Note 2
  • ASSEMBLY: Divide saucy coleslaw among the charred tortillas. Top with warmed BBQ chicken. Sprinkle corn (cut off the cob or thawed) evenly on top of the chicken. If desired, add fresh sliced avocado and cilantro to tacos. Enjoy immediately!

Video

Recipe Notes

Note 1: Chicken: We don't want to cook the chicken (it's already cooked -- it will get dry and lose flavor if heated too long or at too high of a heat)--we just want to take the chill off. Warm gently over low heat until just warmed through. If using a hot and ready rotisserie chicken, no need to warm it through, simply warm the BBQ sauce in the microwave (covered) for about 30 seconds and then toss with the already-warm chicken.
Note 2: Tortillas: Spray both sides of the tortillas with olive oil cooking spray and char the tortillas directly over the gas flames for a few seconds. Use tongs to flip until tortillas are lightly charred and soft. Immediately fold the tortilla in half (so it will fold into a taco nicely later) and place it under a towel to keep warm. Alternatively, warm tortillas in a large skillet over medium heat (in batches, so the skillet isn't over-filled). Flip to warm each side, remove from heat, fold in half, and place under a towel to keep warm. Alternatively, warm through in microwave, covered with a damp paper towel.

Nutrition Facts

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 639kcal | Carbohydrates: 62g | Protein: 40g | Fat: 26g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 8g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Cholesterol: 126mg | Sodium: 1496mg | Potassium: 342mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 24g | Vitamin A: 252IU | Vitamin C: 22mg | Calcium: 124mg | Iron: 3mg

We do our best to provide accurate nutritional analysis for our recipes. Our nutritional data is calculated using a third-party algorithm and may vary, based on individual cooking styles, measurements, and ingredient sizes. Please use this information for comparison purposes and consult a health professional for nutrition guidance as needed.

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