Description
If your taste buds enjoy spicy chicken and Caribbean flavors you will love this simple take on Jamaican jerk chicken tacos with juicy fresh pineapple mango salsa. Using a few easy shortcuts, I will show you how to make the best jerk chicken tacos with a quick and easy sauce full of sweet heat and a traditional earthy spice blend.
Ingredients
Units
Scale
For the Sauce
- 2/3 cup Ketchup
- 1 tbsp Low Sodium Soy Sauce
- 5 tbsp Dark Brown Sugar
- 2 Lime Wedges or 1/2 tbsp Lime Juice
- 1 tbsp Thyme Leaves
- 1 tsp Ground Ginger
- 1/2 tsp Cayenne Pepper
- 1/4 tsp Cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp Garlic Powder
- 1/4 tsp Black Pepper
- 1/8 tsp Ground Cloves
- 1/8 tsp All Spice
- 1/8 tsp Salt
For the Salsa
- 1 Whole Pineapple cubed
- 3 Yellow Mangoes cubed
- 1/2 Red Onion diced
- 2–3 Jalapenos diced with seeds removed
- 1 1/2 tbsp Cilantro chopped
- 1/8 tsp Salt
For the Tacos
- 16–24 pieces of Frozen Breaded Chicken Chunks
- 4–6 Small Flour or Corn Tortillas
- Small Bag of Shredded Cabbage (optional)
Instructions
For the Sauce
- In a medium size bowl, whisk together all the ingredients until fully combined. Set aside.
For the Salsa
- Cut pineapple into 1-2 inch cubes and add to a medium bowl. See details here on cutting a whole pineapple.
- Cut mangoes into cubes and add to the bowl with the pineapple.
- Dice the red onion, jalapenos, and cilantro and add to bowl. To speed up chopping I use this slicer.
- Add the salt to the bowl and stir all the ingredients until combined. Set aside.
For the Chicken
- Set the temperature of your air fryer to 375 degrees F. Pre-heating is not required, but I think it helps for the fryer to heat up for a couple of minutes prior to adding the chicken.
- Spray the inside of the air fryer with cooking spray or olive oil. You can also use a small pan that fits in the air fryer.
- Add the frozen chicken to the air fryer basket and cook for 12-18 minutes or until crispy. For best results flip halfway through.
- When the chicken is done, remove immediately and do not allow to cool in the fryer. I find that this makes things less crispy. As soon as the time ends, open the fryer and turn it off. Cool for a few minutes with the drawer or lid off.
- Transfer to a small bowl and toss in the sauce until fully coated. You may have leftover sauce depending on how saucy you like your chicken.
For the Tacos
- Lightly toast your small tortillas. If you have a gas range, you can do this directly over the grates with the burner set to low heat. Char for no more than 20 seconds on each side and DO NOT leave unsupervised as they can catch fire. If you do not have a gas range you can toast in a pan on the stovetop. Be careful not to over cook these. You want them to still be soft enough to fold in half.
- Add a small amount of shredded cabbage to the bottom of each tortilla.
- Add 4-6 chunks of chicken per taco and top with pineapple mango salsa.
Notes
- If you do not like spicy food, this recipe may not be for you. The sauce is very spicy.
- Air fryer ovens may differ in size and temperature so your cook time and quantity may vary.
- You may have leftover sauce and salsa.
- You can prep the salsa and the sauce while the chicken cooks.
- Prep Time: 20
- Cook Time: 15
- Category: Entree
- Method: Air Fryer
- Cuisine: Jamaican, Caribbean