Craving a quick, delicious dinner the whole family will love? This Easy Green Chili Chicken Taco Braid blends zesty Hatch green chilies, tender chicken, and gooey cheese wrapped in a crispy pizza crust. Perfect for busy weeknights! Plus, you can add and subtract whatever you like to make it fit your family’s taste buds.
I shared this post originally in 2016 on Jenns Blah Blah Blog as part of a partnership with our friends at PERDUE®. Of course, we had to bring this tasty recipe over during our rebrand to Half Baked Media.
Not totally on board with the whole green chili chicken taco braid idea? Good news, we have a great recipe for a Pepperoni Pizza Braid that will send your taste buds doing the happy dance.
Easy Green Chili Chicken Taco Braid
For a detailed list of ingredients and directions, you can visit the printable recipe card at the end of this post.
Ingredients:
- 🐔 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts
- 🫒 Olive oil
- 🧅 Onion
- 🧄 Garlic
- 🌮 Taco seasoning
- 🥫 Whole or chopped tomatoes
- 🫘 Chili beans
- 🌽 Corn
- 🌶️ Green chili
- 🧀 Cheese
- 🍕 Pizza crust refrigerated
- Cilantro
- 🥑 Avocados, tomatoes, lettuce
Directions:
First, preheat the oven to 350 degrees and prepare a large cooking sheet with nonstick spray or parchment paper.
The next cube up is chicken breast. This will help them cook faster and make shredding a breeze later.
Place cubed chicken breasts into a pot filled with water. Add salt to your liking. Boil on medium-high heat until completely cooked.
While the chicken is cooking, you can dice the onion and set it aside for later.
When the chicken is finished cooking, remove it from heat. Next, drain the water and place cubed chicken into a large bowl. I’m using my stand mixer for this; it makes shredding a breeze and does an amazing job.
Add taco seasoning and any other seasoning you wish. Mix together and put aside.
Heat olive oil in a large pan over medium heat and add garlic. Cook over medium heat until garlic is softened. Now, add onion and allow it to cook for a few minutes until onion begins to soften up a bit.
Add shredded chicken and beans to the mixture and cook over medium heat, mixing completely.
Add the remaining ingredients: corn, canned tomatoes, green chili, additional seasonings, and a little water so everything can simmer for about 15 minutes or until all the water is gone.
Now you will lay your pizza dough out on the prepared cookie sheet. Try to pull the dough over so it covers most of the cookie sheet.
Now cut the pizza dough on both sides about an inch apart. I have found a pizza cutter works best for this.
Place the chicken taco mixture into the center of the dough. Add 2 cups of cheese on top. You can always add extra cheese if you like 😋.
Begin folding the dough strips toward the middle until the entire braid is covered (see above image). You want to try and make sure the ends are nice and sealed up. This will help keep all the good stuff inside the braid.
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until a nice golden brown color.
Remove from oven and allow to cool for about 10 minutes before cutting.
Cut up some veggies so everyone can top with lettuce, tomatoes, onions, avocado, salsa, and anything else they fancy when they get a slice if they wish. This is entirely optional but so delicious.
Enjoy!
Easy Green Chili Chicken Taco Braid
Ingredients
- 1.5 pounds Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts I used PERDUE® Perfect Portions Fresh Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 small onion diced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 package taco seasoning
- 1 can whole or chopped tomatoes (drained)
- 1 can chili beans (drained)
- 1 can corn drained
- 1 cup green chili I used fresh Hatch Green Chili
- ¼ to ½ cup water
- 2 cups fiesta blend cheese
- 1 can pizza crust refrigerated
- ½ cup fresh cilantro chopped optional
- avocado (optional topping) I used Avocados From Mexico
- tomato (optional topping)
- lettuce (optional topping)
- salsa (optional topping)
Instructions
- First, preheat the oven to 350 degrees and prepare a large cooking sheet with nonstick spray or parchment paper.
- Next cube up chicken breast. This will help them cook faster and make shredding a breeze later.
- Place cubed chicken breasts into a post filled with water. Add salt to your liking. Boil on medium high heat until completely cooked.
- While the chicken is cooking, you can dice the onion and set aside for later.
- When chicken is finished cooking, remove from heat. Next. train the water and place cubed chicken into a large bowl. I’m using my stand mixer for this; it makes shredding a breeze and does an amazing job.
- Add taco seasoning and any other seasoning you wish. Mix together and put aside.
- Heat olive oil in a large pan over medium heat and add garlic. Cook over medium heat until garlic is softened. Now, add onion and allow to cook for a few minutes until onion begins to soften up a bit.
- Add shredded chicken and beans to the mixture and cook over medium heat, mixing completely.
- Add the remaining ingredients: corn, canned tomatoes, green chili, additional seasons, and a little water so everything can simmer for about 15 minutes or until all the water is gone.
- Now you will lay your pizza dough out on the prepared cookie sheet. Try to pull the dough over so it overs most of the cookie sheet.
- Now cut the pizza dough on both sides about an inch apart. I have found a pizza cutter works best for this.
- Place the chicken taco mixture into the center of the dough. Add 2 cups of cheese or more if you like more cheese.
- Begin folding the dough strips toward the middle until the entire braid is covered. (see above image) Do your best to make sure the braid is all sealed up, focusing on the top and bottom. This will help keep all the good stuff inside the braid.
- Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until a nice golden brown color.
- Remove from oven and allow to cool for about 10 minutes before cutting.
- Cut up some veggies so everyone can top with lettuce, tomatoes, onions, avocado, salsa, and anything else you fancy when they get a slice if they wish. This is entirely optional; but so delicious.
Looking for more quick and easy dinner ideas? Be sure to check out our recipes below:
Sausage Meatball & Spinach Alfredo: This recipe pairs savory, custom-sized Italian sausage meatballs with tender penne pasta and fresh spinach, all smothered in a rich, from-scratch homemade Alfredo sauce. It’s a quick, budget-friendly weeknight win that yields generous portions and delicious leftovers!
Chicken Nugget Mashed Potatoes Bowl: Layer warm mashed potatoes, sweet corn, melted shredded cheese, and crispy dino chicken nuggets for a fun, kid-approved dinner perfect for family movie night.
