Mayonnaise-Basted Chicken Soft Tacos

I discovered this super simple coating for chicken while I was messing around one night. Earlier that day, I read a bunch of "chef tips" and one was to coat chicken with mayonnaise before baking to keep it moist and give it a little flavor. I thought that sounded weird, but I tried it anyway.

I rarely leave simple tips alone, so I jazzed up my mayonnaise with Mexican-inspired spices before coating the chicken. After the chicken baked up to moist perfection, I served it with warm tortillas, lettuce and tomato. The dinner was such a winner, I'm sharing it here! Check it out...

Mayonnaise-Basted Chicken Soft Tacos

Cooking spray
4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
8 flour tortillas
Fresh basil leaves
Fresh tomato slices
Crushed red pepper flakes, optional

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Coat a shallow baking pan with cooking spray.
Arrange the chicken in the prepared pan and season with salt and black pepper.
In a small bowl, combine the mayonnaise, chili powder, cumin, onion powder, and garlic powder. Mix until well blended. Spoon the mixture all over the top of the chicken.
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through.
When cool enough to handle, cut the chicken into bite-size pieces and serve in warm tortillas with basil leaves and tomato slices. I also like to sprinkle crushed red pepper flakes over top before serving.

Serves 4



Photo: Serge Bertasius Photography