Taco Tuesdays: Hot & Spicy Oven Baked Chicken Tacos

I found this recipe on the Old El Paso website and tweaked it a little. This is a super easy take on chicken tacos. If you don't care for hot and spicy, feel free to use regular or even mild taco seasoning and use plain petite diced tomatoes instead of Rotels. I think these may be my favorite of the Taco Tuesday tacos we've made thus far.

1 T. olive oil

1 lb. boneless / skinless chicken tenders

1 package Hot & Spicy Taco Seasoning mix

1 small yellow onion, diced

1 4.5 oz. chopped green chiles

1 14.5 oz. Rotel tomatoes (your choice of flavor)

10 Old El Paso Stand and Stuff Taco Shells

8 oz. refried beans

1 cup shredded Pepper Jack cheese

2 cups shredded Mexican blend cheese

Toppings:

shredded lettuce

diced avocados

sour cream

salsa

chopped cilantro

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a 9 x 13 baking dish with non-stick spray. I used two 7 x 12 baking dishes.

Heat olive oil in a medium skillet over medium high heat. Add chicken tenders and let cook, turning occasionally, until cooked through.

Remove from skillet, let cool slightly, and chop into bite sized pieces.

Add onions and let them cook about 2 - 3 minutes until they begin to brown. Return chicken to skillet and add seasoning mix, green chiles, and Rotel tomatoes. Stir to combine, reduce the heat to simmer, and let cook about 5 minutes.

While chicken mixture is simmering, place taco shells in the baking dish(es). Spoon in a few spoonfuls of beans into each taco shell.

Next, spoon in the chicken mixture, filling up almost to the top of the taco shells.

Now the fun part. Pile on the cheese beginning with the pepper jack and finishing with the Mexican blend cheese.

Bake for 10 - 12 minutes until cheese is melted and bubbly and the shells have started to brown. Remove from the oven and top with your favorite taco toppings.