Tacos are not just about chopped meat, lettuce, tomato and cheese. There are so many other combinations to be tried. One of our favorites are these shredded chicken tacos that were smoked with cherry wood. The flavor is big and the method is super easy. It’s the perfect recipe for a hot summer night because it keeps that heat out of the kitchen.
The cherry chips lightly smoked the chicken and really complemented the taste of the chicken.
Set the temperature on the Char-Broil to the USDA-recommended temperature of 165F for cooked chicken.
Next, we rubbed the chicken with a combination of oil, cumin, coriander, poultry seasoning and salt and pepper…
…place it in the cooking basket and dropped it into the Char-Broil.
Now, we’re cookin’! This cherry wood-smoked chicken is browning up very nicely. And, you can see the thermometer inserted into it which digitally displays the current temperature, so you know when it’s done (165F).
The end result was crispy, juicy, smoky…and well…just delicious.
While the chicken was resting, we prepped our taco stuffing ingredients. All you will need is: a taco kit, avocado, cucumber, red bell pepper, red cabbage, Queso Fresco cheese and salsa.
Next, we cut the chicken up and removed the skin and shredded the meat using two forks.
We then stuffed the tacos with all of these tasty ingredients and served on a large platter with salsa. You can also add some sour cream and your favorite hot sauce too. Olé !
Recipe Details
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour, 50 minutes
- Yield: 4
- Serving Size: 2 tacos
Ingredients
- 1 whole chicken (2-3 pounds)
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 1 tablespoon poultry seasoning
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- Salt and pepper
- Cherry wood chips for smoking
- 1 Taco Kit (taco shells)
- Shredded chicken
- 2 avocados, chopped
- 1 cucumber, de-seeded and chopped
- 1 red bell pepper, de-seeded and chopped
- 1 small head of red cabbage, thinly sliced
- 1-2 cups of Queso Fresco, crumbled
- Salsa
- Sour cream (optional)
- Hot sauce (optional)
Step-By-Step Instructions
- Prep chicken for cooking. Remove neck, giblets and anything else inside bird. Wash and rinse inside and out and pat dry.
- Rub bird with oil, then season inside and out with poultry seasoning, cumin, coriander and salt and pepper.
- Place the chicken in the cooking basket, breast side up.
- Prepare the Char-Broil Big Easy 2-1 Smoker Roaster for cooking by pre-heating to power level 15. This will allow the wood chips to start faster and burn longer.
- Allow chips to burn for 3-5 minutes before lowering the temperature control to smoking levels (9-11).
- Cook until the internal temperature has reached 165F – about 1 hour and 30 minutes.
- The outside of the bird should be a dark golden brown.
- Allow the bird to cool for 10 minutes while in the basket for easy removal.
- Let chicken rest for an additional 15 minutes while you prepare your taco ingredients.
- Remove skin and cut chicken up.
- Shred meat using two forks.
- Assemble tacos with chicken and other ingredients mentioned above.