Chef Richard's Tex-Mex Chicken with Red Sauce Recipe

From our kitchen to yours – here is Chef Richard’s recipe for Tex-Mex Chicken, a favorite meal of James and many other clients.

Chef Richard shares his secret mis of spices for his Tex-Mex dry rub, which he blends with vinegar and oil to marinate the chicken breasts (chicken loves vinegar). Our chefs and volunteers make 2,000+ servings of Tex-Mex Chicken at once, but here is a scaled-down recipe for six breasts:

Ingredients:

For the Tex-Mex dry rub:

• 2 Tbsp. onion powder
• 2 Tbsp. dark chili powder
• 2 Tbsp. light brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp. granulated sugar
• 1 Tbsp. ground cumin
• 1 tsp. kosher salt
• ½ tsp. cayenne

Mix with:

• 1 cup apple cider vinegar
• ½ cup vegetable oil (preferably olive or canola)

Directions:

1. Thoroughly coat six 6-oz. boneless, skinless chicken breasts and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or as long as 24 hours. Place on an oil-coated baking pan, rounded side up. Let sit for half an hour as you preheat your over to 450° F. Discard excess marinade.
2. Roast for 10-12 minutes, then check for doneness: internal temperature should be 165° F. (Alternatively, turn breast over and lift the tender – a flap on the back of the breast – and see that there is no pink; all meat should be white).
3. Let breasts sit for 5-10 minutes before serving. They may exude juice which you can add to the red sauce for richer flavor.

Red Sauce

Ingredients:

• ½ cup vegetable oil
• 1 medium onion, ¼” dice
• 6 medium cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 12-oz. can low sodium diced tomatoes (or 3 medium plum tomatoes, ¼” diced)
• 3 oz. fire roasted diced green chilies (1 use Ortega® Brand) – or to taste
• 1 tsp. kosher salt
• ½ tsp. ground black pepper
• 2 tsp. dry leaf thyme (or 1 Tbsp. chopped fresh thyme)
• 2 tsp. ground cumin
• ½ tsp. ground allspice
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 2 tsp. light brown sugar

Directions:

1. Heat heavy-bottomed saucepan on medium-high and coat pan with oil. Sauté onion until soft and translucent. Add garlic, salt pepper and cumin and sauté for 3 minutes more (be careful not to brown the onion or garlic).
2. Add tomatoes, green chilies and thyme, and stir to combine as sauce heats through. When sauce begins to bubble, reduce heat to simmer and stir in allspice, cinnamon and brown sugar. Simmer for 20 minutes, then check for seasoning (you may wish to add more green chilies to mildly increase “heat”). Add pan juices from cooked chicken breast, if desired.
3. At this point I blend the sauce thoroughly with an immersion blender, but you may decide to leave it as it is – especially if using fresh tomatoes. When sauce is finished, you might also wish to add fresh minced cilantro for color and flavor.