Homemade Naked Chicken Chalupas With Avocado Lime Sauce

Chalupas are the ultimate in Mexican street food. Similar to tacos, chalupas are small boat-shaped snacks made from deep-fried dough that get filled with a whole range of fillings, sauces, and toppings. One of the most common fillings for chalupas has always been chicken – and then a popular fast food chain did something crazy. They took the chicken out from inside the chalupa and used it as the fried boat-shaped container for the dish instead! And so the naked chicken chalupa was born. We thought that idea was so crazy that it just might work! So we gave it a try ourselves, and we sure think it did. Give our homemade naked chicken chalupas a try and decide for yourself!

Yield: 3 
Prep Time: 35 minutes
Cooking Time: 25 minutes 
Inactive Time: 20 minutes
Difficulty Level: Moderate

You'll Need:

For the chicken chalupas:

  • 3 x 6 oz chicken breasts

For the breading station:

  • 3 eggs + milk or water for the egg wash
  • ½ cup flour
  • 2 tsp paprika
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 tsp pepper
  • 1 tbsp chili powder
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp onion powder
  • cooking oil for frying

For the avocado lime sauce:

  • 1 avocado 
  • 2 tsp salt
  • juice of 1 lime
  • 2 tsp vegetable oil 
  • ⅓ cup plain Greek yogurt
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • 1 tsp chopped cilantro
  • 1 tsp chopped mint
  • 1 tbsp milk

For the filling:

  • chopped lettuce
  • diced tomatoes
  • shredded cheddar cheese
  • diced avocado
  • plain yogurt or sour cream

Here's How:

1. Preheat the oven to 250°F. Butterfly the chicken breasts and spread each cut piece of chicken out on a clean work surface. Cover the chicken with plastic wrap and pound each piece evenly with a meat tenderizer.

2. Remove the plastic wrap and place a small bowl upside down on top of each piece of tenderized chicken breast. Trace the bowl with a knife so that you're left with circular pieces and set the excess pieces of chicken breast aside for later.

3. Hang the circular pieces of chicken on the oven rack and bake them at 250°F for 20 minutes. Once they've baked, remove the pieces of chicken from the oven and let them cool for about 15 minutes.

4. Heat a pot filled with cooking oil. For the breading station, mix together the flour and spices in 1 bowl and whisk the eggs together with water or milk in another. Dredge the chicken chalupas in egg wash and coat them in the breading. Cut the leftover pieces of chicken into small pieces, dredge them in egg wash, and coat them in the breading as well.

5. Fry the chicken chalupas in hot cooking oil until golden brown and crispy, then place them on some paper towels to absorb the excess oil. For the chicken tenders, fry the small pieces of chicken until golden brown. Once they've cooled slightly, place the chalupas in a muffin pan that's positioned upside down on your work surface.

6. Stir together all of the ingredients for the avocado lime sauce, then spoon the sauce into the chicken chalupas. Top the chicken chalupas off with shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, chicken tenders, diced avocado, and shredded cheddar cheese. Drizzle plain yogurt or sour cream on top to serve.

These homemade naked chicken chalupas are guaranteed to be a big hit. The combination of fried chicken, avocado, and cheese is unbeatable, and that homemade avocado lime sauce adds just the right amount of freshness to bring this dish home! 

Get the recipe for the Fried Chicken Donut featured in the bonus video.

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