Description
Grill Smoked Chicken Thigh Tacos recipe. Bone-in chicken thighs with a spice rub and some smoke - my favorite way to make chicken tacos.
Ingredients
Scale
- 2 fist sized chunks of smoking wood or 2 cups soaked wood chips (I used pecan wood chips, but any smoking wood will do)
- 8 bone-in chicken thighs, skin removed (about 3 pounds)
- 1 tablespoon Diamond Crystal Kosher salt (or 2 teaspoons fine sea salt)
- 1 tablespoon ancho chile powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano (preferably Mexican oregano)
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/8 teaspoon (a pinch) ground cloves
Accompaniments
- Tortillas
- Salsa
- Diced onion
- Shredded cabbage
- Shredded cheese
- Thin-sliced jalapeños
- Cilantro leaves
Instructions
- Rub the chicken thighs: Sprinkle a heavy coat of the rub over the chicken thighs. Gently pat the rub to help it stick, and work it into any natural seams in the meat.
- Set the grill up for indirect medium heat: Set your grill up for indirect medium heat, 350°F, with a drip pan in the middle of the grill and the fire on the sides. In my kettle grill, I light a chimney starter 3/4 full of coals; when the coals are lit and covered with gray ash, I pour them in two piles on the sides of the grill, with the drip pan in the middle. (If your grill comes with charcoal baskets, use them - they help keep the charcoal piles together.) Then I put on my grill grate and brush it clean.
- Grill the chicken thighs: Add the smoking wood to the coals, put the chicken thighs on the grill over indirect heat (that is, on the grate over the drip pan). Cook the chicken with the lid closed as much as possible until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of at least 185°F, about 50 minutes. Remove the chicken to a platter.
- Rest, chop, and serve: Let the chicken rest until it is cool enough to handle, about 5 minutes. Chop the chicken by carefully cutting the bone out of the middle of each thigh, making sure to get the gristle at both knobs of the bone, then slicing the meat lengthwise into strips, then chopping across the strips to rough dice the chicken. (This doesn’t have to be precise - just aim for small, bite sized pieces.) Pour any juices left in the platter over the chopped chicken, then pass the chicken at the table with the accompaniments and let everyone make their own tacos.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Category: Grilling
- Cuisine: Mexican