Wine Marinated Chicken Taco Bites

Experimenting with wine and food is one of our favourite pastimes. And to create easy, simple, yet incredible recipes (that anyone can make at home), we partner with some of the best bloggers in India. Our latest love is for tacos (well, they’re trending the world over, and we can’t get enough of them either). We decided to give them our own special twist, and got in touch with Deeba Rajpal (Passionate about Baking). Light, and easy-to-make, Deeba’s recipe calls for basic kitchen staples. These wine marinated chicken taco bites will take you by surprise. And will surely go down as your family favourites.

Over to Deeba.

Wine marinated chicken taco bites turned out to be such fun little bites, and a great snack to serve, with wine perhaps? Though not traditionally used in a marinade, wine adds nice flavour to meats. It acts as a tenderizer too of course, the acidic component in wine replacing or adding to vinegar or lime juice. Experimenting is always good, and this was real fun. I decided to do mini tacos as finger food. There’s something about small portions that is very charming!

I used a Sauvignon Blanc from Big Banyan Wines, a crisp dry white wine with herby undertones. It’s a nice summery wine, perfect for warm summer days like these. The addition of wine to the marinade worked quite well here, and blended in brilliantly with fresh coriander and lime juice. I also threw in a ripe, red tomato into the marinade while blending to draw in some salsa flavours. It’s tough to load mini snack bites with too much I thought, so better add as much to the marinade.

The tomato worked well too, with the wine adding perfect acidity. Other flavours that complimented it were lime zest, a dash of lime juice,  a small fresh chili, some roasted cumin powder {bhuna zeera powder} and a nice smoked paprika. Ooooh and finally a load of fresh finely chopped coriander. All staple pantry ingredients inspired by Mexican cuisine. You can always experiment with other ingredients or cuisines. Makes life interesting!

I’ve made the marinade for the filling several times already because it is so simple and convenient. With just a 10-30 minute marinade {if you don’t have more time}, the chicken is cooked in about 15 minutes and you’re good to go.

I did mini wholegrain tacos with the wine marinated chicken, also normal tacos, quesadillas, a salad, a grilled sandwich, even topped a quick pizza with it. Just what I mean by versatile!

Make a batch, cook it and keep for a couple of days. Use as you go. In this fast paced life, where if you are like me, laundry, grocery, dogs, kids, everything demands attention. I haven’t even begun talking about working on recipes, food styling projects, photography etc. Did I really forget social media? Yes, a chunk of my times disappears on Instagram which I find so inspiring. Are you there yet? You can find me on Instagram @passionateaboutbaking

So, to cut a long story sort, this wine marinated chicken is the perfect make ahead or quick prep thing to make if you’re looking for new ideas to work with chicken, or new snack ideas. I like to finish it off the taco bites with a generous glug of garlic infused olive oil, a dusting of smoked paprika, and a drizzle of sour cream. I also brushed the mini tacos with the garlic oil and grilled them until crisp. You could always serve the wine marinated chicken in lettuce wraps too.

You’ll need

For tomato wine marinade

• 1/2 cup Big Banyans Sauvignon Blanc wine
• 1 tomato
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 3 cloves garlic
•  Salt & pepper to taste
•  Zest and juice of 1 lime
• 1 tbsp roasted cumin powder
• 1/2 cup fresh coriander, finely chopped
• 500 g boneless chicken breast cut into strips
• 2 tbsp Garlic infused extra virgin olive oil
• 6 Wholegrain tacos

For topping

• 2-3 tbsp jalapeno cheese spread
•  salad greens, bell pepper, garlic greens
• 2 tbsp sour cream
•  Garlic infused extra virgin olive oil and smoked paprika

How to make it

Tomato wine marinade

1. Blend all ingredients for marinade until smooth. Taste and adjust seasoning. Mix the chicken with finely chopped fresh coriander and lime zest strips well into the marinade. Leave for at least 10-15 minutes/ one hour.

Wine marinated chicken

1. Heat garlic infused olive oil in a heavy bottom pan. Once hot, add the chicken in one flat lot. { Don’t overcrowd the pan. Do it in 2 batches if required}. Sprinkle over with fresh chopped coriander, cumin powder, lime juice, smoked sea salt. Cook until done. Taste and adjust seasoning adding more lime juice etc if you like. Keep warm.

Assemble

1. Cut out 2-3″ circles out of the tacos using a cookie cutter. Brush with garlic infused extra virgin olive oil, and place for a minute or two on a very hot grill pan.
2. To each mini taco circle, add a spread of cheese spread, top with lettuce, juliennes of bell pepper. Top with cooked chicken.
3. Sprinkle over smoked paprika, a drizzle of garlic infused olive oil, a scatter of garlic greens. Finish off with a drizzle of sour cream. Serve immediately.