Do you dislike wasting food scraps and like tacos? If so, this recipe is definitely one for you as it ticks off both of those boxes!
Opening a box of taco shells only to find a bunch of them broken is a major letdown. Because not only are tacos now out of the picture, but what can you do with the broken shells so they don’t go to waste?
Aside from loaded nachos, a fresh batch of Taco Crusted Chicken Bites is one way to use the crumbled shells!
Covered in a thick, crispy crust that has just the right amount of crunch coming from the shells, each juicy bite of chicken is bursting with the traditional, tasty flavor of tacos. Served with your favorite salsa, queso, and guacamole, these mini bites make for the perfect finger food appetizer, even for the youngest and pickiest of eaters!
These protein-packed, bite-sized tacos can be made in both an air-fryer and oven. Either way, please make your life 50x easier by practicing “mise en place” which is a French culinary term meaning “putting in place” when making this recipe. Simply take a few minutes to get everything in order:
- Trim the fat and cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces
- Finely crush the taco shells
- Put the flour in one bowl, egg whites in another, and taco shells + seasonings in a third bowl
- Place a sprayed wire cooling rack on top of a baking sheet (if you don’t have a rack, just spray the pan REALLY well)
- Line everything up in this order – chicken, paper towels, flour, egg whites, taco shells + seasonings, pan
Taco Crusted Chicken Bites
Ingredients
- 1 lb. chicken breast boneless, skinless
- ¼ C almond flour*
- ¼ C liquid egg whites*
- 160 g taco shells, finely crushed*
- 3 TBSP taco seasoning
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425°F – skip this step if you’re using an air-fryer
- Trim and dice the chicken into bite or nugget sized pieces
- Dry a chicken bite off by folding and pressing a paper towel over it
- Lightly roll the bite in flour until it’s evenly coated
- Dunk the bite in the egg whites
- Roll it in the taco + seasoning mix until every nook and cranny is covered, then place on the cooling rack
- Repeat until all of the chicken is breaded
- Put the baking sheet in the fridge for 20-30 minutes to allow the coating to set*
- Bake at 425F for 25-30 minutes, flipping halfway OR air-fry at 375F for 2.5-4 minutes on each side – the chicken is done when it reaches an internal temperature of 165F
Notes
- *Almond flour: I use almond flour when breading chicken, but any flour (coconut, regular, GF) should also work fine
- *Egg whites: you can use ¼ C applesauce or 1 whole egg in place of egg whites, but liquid egg whites are cleaner and a lot less messy than the alternatives
- *Taco shells: we used Siete taco shells – they’re DF, GF, paleo, vegan, and all around an amazing brand!
- *7. Letting the bites set in the fridge is optional but well worth it; doing so helps the crust to set and adhere to the chicken so it doesn’t fall off in chunks
- Store any leftovers in the fridge and I highly recommend reheating them in an air-fryer for the freshest, crispiest taste
- This recipe can easily be halved or doubled!
If this recipe piqued your taste buds, then you’ll love the sister recipe of these taco bites, BBQ Pecan Crusted Chicken Bites! And for another repurposing recipe, check out this Single Serve French Toast Casserole made from the butts of bread loaves!
If interested, the macronutrients are below. They are kept separate at the very end of each recipe blog so that this can remain a safe, positive space for all as not everyone wishes to see the nutritional information.
Macros:
The following macros are for the entire batch of chicken bites. If you’d like to know the macros per bite or per ounce:
- Divide the whole recipe macros (below) by the # of bites made to determine the macros per bite
- Or weigh the entire batch of bites out and divide the whole recipe macros by the weight to get the macros per ounce.
These macros are for the entire recipe using almond flour:
Whole recipe: 111.8 C | 65.2 F | 129.3 P
These are the macros using whole wheat flour:
Whole recipe: 126.8 C | 53.7 F | 125.3 P
The macros for recipes are also available on MyFitnessPal. Simply search the name of the recipe followed by “ – SUNutrition” (so for this recipe, search “Taco Crusted Chicken Bites – SUNutrition”).
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