These homemade tostadas de tinga are a Mexican night favorite! Crispy toasted corn tortillas get topped with refried beans, guacamole, and smoky, spicy chicken tinga. Every bite is packed with chipotle flavor and crunch!
I love recreating my favorite Mexican street food recipes at home, from traditional pambazos to cheesy chicken flautas, and these flavor-packed homemade tostadas.
Friends and fans of Mexican food, today’s recipe is for you! In my house, Mexican night is the best excuse to recreate my favorite authentic street food dishes. Recently, I made these tostadas de tinga that (humbly) knocked our socks off. The flavors in the saucy chicken tinga turned out perfect in the Instant Pot. Smoky, zesty, savory, and just spicy enough.
After piling the chicken onto a corn tortilla with refried beans and a few classic toppings, everyone at the table went back for seconds. I even wrapped up the leftover chicken tinga in a fluffy flatbread for lunch the next day. Cook once, eat twice, especially when it’s this delicious!
Why I Love These Tostadas de Tinga
- Quick. Even if you’re wary about cooking chicken, the Instant Pot makes it SO easy and foolproof. Just add everything to the Instant Pot, seal the lid, and let it cook. The chicken tinga comes out rich, juicy, and full of flavor in a fraction of the time it takes using other methods.
- Bold chipotle flavors. If you love the flavor of spicy, smoky chilies, as you find in my recipes for chipotle chicken or garlic guajillo steak, these chicken tinga tostadas are right up your alley. Every bite is bursting with Mexican-inspired ingredients, with the option to adapt the spice level to taste.
- Customizable. Your classic tostada comes loaded with a thick layer of refried beans and juicy shredded chicken tinga, and from there, it’s up to you! I love adding creamy guacamole, crunchy cabbage, and fresh pico de gallo to tame the chili heat.
What Is Tinga?
In Mexico, “tinga” is a stew made from tomatoes, onion, garlic, chipotles with adobo sauce, and spices. Chicken tinga, or tinga de pollo, is made with shredded chicken, and you’ll most often see it piled onto tostadas: a flat and crispy corn tortilla that’s toasted, then layered with refried beans, tinga, and toppings like shredded lettuce, salsa, and guacamole.
Ingredients You’ll Need
These tostadas consist of my Instant Pot chicken tinga layered over a crispy corn tortilla with more tasty Mexican-inspired toppings. I go over the ingredients you’ll need and include some notes below. Scroll down to the printable recipe card for the full list and complete recipe details.
For the Chicken Tinga
- Chicken – I use boneless, skinless chicken thighs. You can use chicken breasts if you prefer.
- Oil – Olive oil or another cooking oil, like avocado or canola oil.
- Spices – Cumin, paprika (sweet or smoked), garlic powder, and salt. If you’d like to use fresh garlic, substitute 2-4 minced cloves per 1 teaspoon of garlic powder.
- Onion – Slice up a yellow onion or similar.
- Chipotles in Adobo – Chop the peppers and reserve a couple of spoonfuls of the adobo sauce.
- Chicken Stock – Or low-sodium chicken broth. You can use vegetable stock or broth if needed.
- Enchilada Sauce – Since the chipotle peppers bring a good amount of heat, I like to adapt my homemade enchilada sauce to make it a bit milder. Any mild enchilada sauce will work, store-bought or homemade.
- Herbs – Fresh or dried oregano and bay leaves.
For the Tostada
- Tortillas – Corn tortillas are the traditional choice for tostadas as they’re sturdier and crispier than flour tortillas. You’ll toast the tortillas in the oven before you add the toppings (“tostada” is Spanish for toasted, after all).
- Refried Beans – Choose your preferred store-bought refried beans or borrow the homemade recipe from my huevos rancheros tacos.
- Guacamole – Nothing beats the freshness of homemade guacamole! Feel free to use your favorite recipe. Store-bought guac will also work in a pinch.
- Shredded Cabbage – This can be red or green cabbage, or shredded lettuce if you’d like.
- Pico de Gallo – Use your favorite pico de gallo recipe or store-bought. You can also use regular salsa, either spicy or mild.
How to Make Tostadas de Tinga
Like my Instant Pot chicken mole (which I also highly recommend if Mexican cooking is your jam!), the chicken tinga for this recipe is quick and easy to make in the pressure cooker. After that, it’s a matter of toasting your tortillas and piling them up with all the fixings. Here’s how to do it:
First, Prepare the Chicken Tinga
I usually get my tinga de pollo pressure cooking while I chop and prep the tostada ingredients. This way, everything is ready to go.
- Season the chicken. Combine the chicken with olive oil, salt, cumin, paprika, and garlic powder, and toss to coat.
- Brown the chicken. Next, with your Instant Pot set to Sauté, sear the seasoned chicken in a bit of oil until it’s browned on all sides.
- Load the Instant Pot. Add the remaining tinga ingredients to the pot, and seal the lid.
- Cook. Set the chicken to cook on Manual/High Pressure for 15 minutes, followed by a natural release.
- Shred. Finally, use a pair of forks to shred the chicken inside the pot, and leave it to rest in the sauce while you prep the corn tortillas for the tostadas.
Then, Make the Tostadas
With your chicken saucy and waiting, it’s time to assemble these chicken tinga tostadas:
- Toast the tortillas. Brush your corn tortillas lightly with olive oil and bake them at 410ºF for 10 minutes on parchment-lined baking sheets. Make sure they’re in a single layer, and don’t forget to flip halfway through.
- Assemble. I usually assemble my tostadas starting with a layer of refried beans, then guacamole, followed by a scoop of chicken tinga topped with shredded cabbage and pico de gallo. Pile ‘em up, and enjoy!
Tips and Variations
- Brown the chicken first. While it’s not 100% necessary, searing is a quick extra step that adds flavor. If you need to, you can sear the chicken in batches.
- Let the Instant Pot naturally release. This means simply allowing the Instant Pot to gradually depressurize rather than manually venting the pressure once the cooking time is up. Don’t skip this step! The chicken continues to cook while the pot naturally releases.
- Check that the chicken is cooked. Use an instant-read thermometer to check the internal temperature at the thickest part of the chicken thighs (or breasts). Chicken is done when it reaches 165ºF.
- Make it cheesy. Crumble over Mexican cotija cheese (feta is a good substitute), or shredded Monterey Jack, cheddar, or Asiago cheese.
- Add sour cream. Add sour cream or Mexican crema to the tostadas for a refreshing layer.
- Vegetarian. A great way to make vegetarian tostadas is to swap the meat for tofu sofritas.
Tostadas are a bit different than tacos. While a taco is folded around the ingredients to create a little pocket, a tostada is flat. There’s no folding, tilting, or turning needed. Just lift it up, keep it straight, and tuck in!
Storing and Reheating
- Refrigerate. You’ll want to store the tortillas, chicken, and toppings separately so that the ingredients don’t become soggy. I recommend keeping everything airtight in containers and reheating/assembling your tostadas de tinga within 3 days.
- Reheat. Pop the corn tortillas back into the oven to crisp them up again. You can reheat the chicken tinga in the oven covered with foil or uncovered in the microwave.
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For the Chicken Tinga
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Season the chicken. In a large mixing bowl, toss the chicken with olive oil, kosher salt, cumin, smoked paprika, and garlic powder until the chicken is thoroughly coated.
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Brown the chicken. Set your Instant Pot to the saute function and let it heat up for a minute or so. Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and let it heat up for 30 seconds. Add the seasoned chicken and brown on all sides.
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Load the Instant Pot. Add the onion, chipotles, adobo sauce, chicken stock, enchilada sauce, oregano, and bay leaves.
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Cook. Seal the Instant Pot and cook on high pressure for 15 minutes. Allow the pressure to naturally release.
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Shred. Once the pressure has been released, shred the chicken with two forks inside the Instant Pot.
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Rest. Allow the chicken to sit in the sauce for a few minutes to soak in the sauce.
For the Tostadas
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Prep. Preheat the oven to 410°F and line baking sheets with parchment paper.
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Bake. Brush each tortilla with olive oil and arrange them in a single layer on the prepared baking sheets. Bake for 10 minutes, flipping halfway through.
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Assemble. Spread ¼ cup refried beans over each tostada followed by 2-3 tablespoons guacamole, a handful of the chicken mixture, a hearty pinch of shredded cabbage, and 2-3 tablespoons pico de galo. Serve.
Serving: 2tostadas | Calories: 930kcal | Carbohydrates: 72g | Protein: 57g | Fat: 48g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 7g | Monounsaturated Fat: 29g | Trans Fat: 0.04g | Cholesterol: 216mg | Sodium: 4217mg | Potassium: 1285mg | Fiber: 19g | Sugar: 20g | Vitamin A: 1409IU | Vitamin C: 28mg | Calcium: 162mg | Iron: 6mg
Nutritional info is an estimate and provided as courtesy. Values may vary according to the ingredients and tools used. Please use your preferred nutritional calculator for more detailed info.
