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Skip the restaurant and make your own copycat Chipotle Chicken recipe at home. The marinade is quick, easy, healthy, and tastes even better than the real thing! Make white meat or dark meat and follow my instructions for either baking or grilling.
The perfection of Chipotle Mexican Grill, made even more perfect because you get to eat it in the comfort of your own home, whenever you want it.
Chipotle Chicken is tender and juicy, packed with flavor, and perfect on everything. And whether you want to grill it, sauté it, or bake it in the oven, I’ve got all your options covered!
Chipotle Chicken Ingredients:
Chipotle does not use red onion in their marinade. However, the recipe tastes better with it, so it comes down to this philosophical question: Do I post the recipe that tastes closest to Chipotle’s recipe, or do I post the recipe that tastes the best? I kept the onion.
- Combine all the marinade ingredients in a food processor or blender.
- Blend until smooth, then transfer to a plastic bag or covered container.
- Add the chicken, mash around to distribute, and let marinade for 30 minutes.
How to Make Chipotle Chicken Marinade
That smoky, spicy flavor in Chipotle’s chicken comes from two primary ingredients: Dried ancho chiles and adobo sauce.
To create this flavor, you can:
- Buy Ancho Chile powder – Depending on how much you want to buy, we recommend McCormick Gourmet Ancho Chile Pepper and Amazing Ancho Chile Powder.
- Make your own Ancho Chile powder
- Soak Dried ancho chiles (I recommend Olé Rico Dried Ancho Chiles)
Marinade Method 1: Using Ancho Chile Powder
Ancho Chile Pepper powder is available to purchase, or you can make your own.
- ¼ cup of the powder is equivalent to 2 oz. of the peppers (stems and seeds removed, ground up).
Marinade Method 2: Soaking Dried Ancho Chiles
- Slow-Soaking the dried ancho chiles takes at least 12 hours. Once the chiles are soft, I like to open them up, remove the stems, and rinse out the seeds (I recommend using kitchen or latex gloves). For additional heat, add in seeds from the chipotle peppers.
- Quick-Soaking shaves 12 hours off this recipe. You toast the dried chiles in a skillet and microwave them in water. It works perfectly!
What is a substitute for adobo sauce?
Whisk together:
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon chipotle powder (or ½ teaspoon each smoked paprika and cayenne powder)
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- Pinch EACH of oregano, garlic powder, and salt
How to make Chipotle Chicken
If you’ve ever been to the restaurant, you know Chipotle grills their boneless, skinless chicken thighs on a flat-top grill.
Here are your cooking options at home:
- Stove-top skillet (indoor, similar to Chipotle’s method)
- Gas grill (outdoor, minimal cleanup)
- Baked in the oven (cover with parchment paper for juicy chicken every time)
Slice or dice and use for burritos, tacos, bowls, salads, everything!
Chipotle Chicken Recipe FAQs
What can I do with my leftover Chipotle peppers and/or adobo sauce?
Transfer to a bag and freeze for future use, or use in:
- Chicken Tinga
- Vegetarian Stuffed Peppers
- Chipotle Barbacoa (copycat)
- Chipotle Steak (copycat)
- Chipotle Sofritas (tofu)
- Chipotle honey vinaigrette (copycat)
- Chipotle black beans (copycat)
- Chipotle pinto beans (copycat)
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Chipotle Copycat Chicken
Skip the restaurant and make your own copycat Chipotle Chicken recipe at home. The marinade is quick, easy, healthy, and tastes even better than the real thing! Make white meat or dark meat and follow my instructions for either baking or grilling.
Ingredients
- 1/2 medium red onion coarsely chopped
- 3 cloves garlic
- 2 tablespoons adobo sauce (see notes)
- 2 tablespoons ancho chile powder or 1 ounce dried ancho chiles, soaked (see notes)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil or rice bran oil, plus more for the cooking surface (see notes)
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano (see notes)
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 4 pounds boneless, skinless chicken
Instructions
To make the marinade (see recipe notes for dried chiles method):
- To the bowl of a food processor or blender, add red onion, garlic, adobo sauce, ancho chile powder, olive oil, cumin, dried oregano, 1 teaspoon salt, and ½ teaspoon pepper. Blend until smooth. Pour into a measuring cup and add water to reach 1 cup.
- Place the chicken in a large freezer-safe plastic bag. Pour in marinade, close the bag, and mash until chicken is evenly coated. Place the plastic bag in a dish and refrigerate at least 30 minutes or overnight.
To make the chicken on the stove:
- Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a large skillet until shimmering. Add chicken to the pan and cook, turning occasionally, until the temperature reaches 165 degrees on an internal thermometer. Depending on the size of your skillet, you can cook the chicken in batches.
- Remove to a cutting board and tent with foil for 10 minutes. Chop into small pieces. Season to taste with salt. Serve on tortillas or in bowls with additional toppings as desired.
To make the chicken on the grill:
- Preheat over medium-high heat. Coat with 2 tablespoons oil. Grill the chicken in batches, turning occasionally until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees on a thermometer and bits of caramelized fond have begun to cling to the outside of the chicken, 10 to 15 minutes. Add 1 – 2 tablespoons oil to your grilling surface between batches.
- Remove to a cutting board and tent with foil for 10 minutes. Chop into small pieces. Season to taste with salt. Serve on tortillas or in bowls with additional toppings as desired.
To bake the chicken in the oven (preferred method for white meat):
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Coat a baking dish with oil or nonstick spray and arrange chicken in a single layer. Cover with parchment paper, tucking the paper around the chicken so it is completely covered. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until the chicken reaches 165 degrees when tested with an internal thermometer.
- Remove to a cutting board and tent with foil for 10 minutes. Chop into small pieces. Season to taste with salt. Serve on tortillas or in bowls with additional toppings as desired.
Recipe Video
Notes
To make the marinade with dried ancho chiles:
- Quick-Soaking method for ancho chiles: Remove stems and seeds from dried chiles (wearing gloves is recommended). In a dry skillet over medium-low heat, toast the chiles until fragrant but not smoking, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a medium bowl and add 4 c. (1 quart) water and 2 Tbsp. adobo sauce. Microwave on HIGH for 6 minutes. Drain well.
- Slow-Soaking method for ancho chiles: Place in a bowl and add enough water to cover completely. Top with a small plate or bowl to weigh down the chiles so they are completely submerged. Soak at least 12 hours or overnight. Drain well.
Nutrition
Serving: 1 servingCalories: 326kcalCarbohydrates: 3gProtein: 44gFat: 14gSaturated Fat: 3gPolyunsaturated Fat: 3gMonounsaturated Fat: 7gTrans Fat: 0.04gCholesterol: 215mgSodium: 1008mgPotassium: 633mgFiber: 1gSugar: 1gVitamin A: 672IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 49mgIron: 3mg
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how did I end up with only 1 cup?
1 cup of the marinade? That is incredibly strange if you started with 2 ounces of dried ancho chile peppers, a 7-ounce can of chipotle peppers in adobo, and 1/2 cup oil. The only other variable would be the red onion. I will weigh the red onion the next time I make this so I can advise the size. Each of the main components should account for roughly 25% (1/2 cup) of the total marinade: the soaked ancho chiles, the adobo sauce, the oil, and the red onion.
Wow you’re quick on replies! I followed it to a T. I did use 1/4 cup Ancho pepper powder instead of the 2 oz. It made about 1-1/4 cup total.
Okay. Clearly I need to go back to the drawing board on my Ancho Pepper powder conversion, I am so sorry. It clearly needs to be tested again. I do sincerely apologize. Thank you for telling me about this.
LOL Don’t feel bad at all. This is great conversation and it turned out excellent considering I thought it would be almost double potent! You don’t have to apologize at all. Hey, this is free stuff here! I wonder how many fluid ounces you have from the soaking the Ancho peppers?
Wow you are so nice! And yes, I too think the water from soaking the peppers has to be the other variable. In terms of spiciness it should be the same because I ground down the chiles to determine how much powder you would need. But I failed to account for the water that the peppers would absorb. But you were short by about 12 ounces. That seems like a lot. I should also provide the weight of the onion. Thanks again for being so understanding.
It took me 2 months, but I finally perfected the Ancho Chile Powder method! I’ve actually added a lot more information to this post including instructions for baking (great for boneless, skinless chicken breasts) and more ideas on adobo sauce. But I digress. Basically, if you’re using the powder, pour your marinade into a measuring cup and just add water until you get to 2 cups of marinade. That’s what we were missing, the water from soaking the chiles. The consistency of the marinade is quite different (it seems runny when you add water), but it works just as well and tastes just as great. That is what I was thinking in my head, but I wanted to test it out and make sure. There are some brands of chipotles in adobo that have more sauce in the can (I discuss this in the post above) so if you chose one of those, you wouldn’t have to add quite as much water. But anyway. Thanks again for pointing out this deficiency so I could correct it!
AWESOME!!! THANK YOU!!
How many ancho chile peppers are in a 2 oz package typically?
It varies depending on the size of the peppers, but typically it’s either 2 large or 1 large and 2 small. That’s what I’ve seen in my experience. And “large” would be about 3″ to 4″ long, small would be about 2″ long. I hope this helps!
When cutting the ancho chile peppers open – do I discard the seeds or the pepper?
Hi Tom, sorry for the confusion. For the Ancho chile peppers, you rinse out and discard the seeds and also remove the stem after they have been soaked. For the chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, you only use the sauce, so you can discard the chipotle peppers. I hope this helps. Thanks!
Should we be using the Mexican oregano or the regular kind? Can we substitute cumin powder for the seeds?
I am using regular oregano because that is what I have. Mexican oregano is probably delicious too, possibly more authentic even, but I haven’t made it that way so I don’t know how different it would taste. I also used cumin powder, not seeds, so I’m sorry that wasn’t clear. I will update the recipe to reflect “ground cumin” so there is no further confusion. Sorry about that! Thanks for your comment!
Can you explain how to soak the chiles? I don’t see any information in the notes.
Hi Artie, I’m so sorry about that! I’ve added information to the notes of the recipe about soaking the chiles. Here is the info: To soak the chiles, place in a bowl and add enough water to cover completely. Top with a small plate or bowl to weigh down the chiles so they are completely submerged.
Thanks! Can’t wait to make this. 🙂
Recipe was spot on for chicken and white rice..even better than restaurant!! Wow. I did make a quick version of beans and corn salsa for my first time so it would save me time and I could focus on the chicken and rice. I grilled the chicken which really helps to keep authentic flavor. (BBQ on med heat, about 350 deg, flip after 10 min, cook 10 more min, should be done or close. Test with thermometer. 165 degrees in fattest part is safe. Pull it off grill and cover with foil for 7 min or so and dice it up. If it wasn’t 165 degrees, move away from direct flame but maintain bbq heat level for 5 more min, but you shouldn’t need to.) Family LOVES Chipotle and agreed it was awesome. Thank you!!
This is by far, the best copycat recipe for the Chipotle Chicken dish! All of the spices presented matched perfectly! The only challenge that I had was cooking the chicken in a pan on an electric stove. Cooking it that way (I believe) gave it a gummy consistency. I had to almost burn the chicken for it to become more firmer. The chicken thighs that were used may not have been the best selection choosen. Perhaps grilling it or cooking on a gas stove would have produced better results for me. It’s winter here so I thought I’d try it indoors instead! Really miss my gas stove though. Gas stoves cook so much better. Thank you so much for sharing such an awesome recipe! Splendid!
Loved this chicken. Huge Chipotle fan, and my whole kitchen smells just like the restaurant after cooking this! I would have loved to have grilled the chicken, but my trusty cast-iron pan did just fine. I’m not a big marinade fan, choosing instead to season and perfectly cook meat to make it taste delicious, but this marinade was spot on and worth every minute of the overnight wait. Excellent!
Wow, this is high praise! Thank you for taking the time to make the recipe and report back. A happy review doesn’t hurt. 🙂 I am really glad you liked it. I spent a lot of time making this recipe over and over again myself. I too wish I could grill the chicken, but I always use a cast iron pan. Thanks again for your comment.
Are you using Mediterranean oregano or Mexican oregano?
I used Mediterranean oregano. It’s an excellent point to make though, maybe Mexican oregano would be a better ingredient here.
I made all of this for my bunco gathering and all the gals went crazy! They said it was BETTER than Chipolte. I went on youtube and found a recipe for their medium salsa and used Chipolte Fan’s corn recipe……….it was AWESOME all together. Thanks!
Love Bunco! 🙂 I am so glad the recipe was a success for you. I am definitely going to look up/work on the salsa recipes too because they are so.good. Thank you for leaving a comment!