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Smitten Kitchen founder Deb Perelman marked the cooking site’s 20th anniversary by publishing a simple skillet chicken taco recipe requiring no marinating or slow cooker. The recipe uses one pound of chicken thighs, a quick spice blend, and fast-pickled onions, with a microwave shortcut for pickling. It is part of a series of anniversary content on the site.
Smitten Kitchen, the long-running cooking website founded by Deb Perelman, published a new simple chicken tacos recipe in September 2026 as part of its 20th-anniversary celebration. The recipe is designed for weeknight cooking: one skillet, no marinating, no slow cooker, and roughly one pound of chicken thighs finished in a garlic-broth pan sauce.
The recipe, attributed to Perelman on smittenkitchen.com, seasons boneless, skinless chicken thighs with a blend of kosher salt, cumin, chili or chipotle powder, paprika, and black pepper. The chicken is browned in olive oil over medium-high heat for about 4 to 5 minutes per side, then set aside while garlic is cooked in the same pan. Chicken broth is added to deglaze, the chicken is returned, and everything simmers for 3 to 4 minutes until the broth reduces. The chicken is then shredded with two forks or cut with a spatula directly in the pan.
The taco assembly calls for 8 small flour tortillas warmed in a 350-degree oven, thinly shaved red cabbage, roughly chopped cilantro, avocado, and hot sauce. A quick-pickled onion is made by combining sliced red onion with red wine vinegar, water, salt, and sugar. Perelman’s stated shortcut: microwaving the onion mixture for 10 to 15 seconds until the liquid heats, which she says makes the onions pink and pickled much faster than resting at room temperature.
The recipe was framed by Perelman as the product of two decades of cooking experience. “Most days, I feel like I’m just getting started,” she wrote, adding that the site now includes more than 1,400 recipes. She said the goal was a chicken taco method that would “not be dry or overcooked, the two reasons I spent years thinking I didn’t like chicken.”
Why a Weeknight Skillet Recipe Matters
Smitten Kitchen remains one of the most-read independent cooking sites in the United States, and recipes published around its anniversary typically draw heavy reader traffic. A single-skillet, no-marinate method addresses the most common barriers to weeknight taco-making: time, multiple dirty pans, and the stand-mixer shredding technique Perelman says she deliberately avoided.
The choice of chicken thighs over breasts is a deliberate one, according to Perelman’s own framing — thighs are more forgiving of brief cooking and less prone to drying out, which she identifies as the reason many home cooks dislike chicken. The broth-finish technique also keeps the meat moist while building a light pan sauce from the browned bits.
Food-safety note: the recipe instructs cooks not to worry if the chicken is not cooked through after browning, because it finishes in the broth. Per USDA guidance, chicken should reach an internal temperature of 165°F (74°C) before eating; the broth simmer step is what completes the cooking here.
Twenty Years and 1,400 Recipes
Perelman wrote that she started the website twenty years ago as a place to share recipes she was excited about, at a point when she knew how to cook but had not yet mastered staples like pasta sauce from canned tomatoes, meatballs, hummus, or crumb cake. The chicken taco recipe is published under a “20 Years of SK” banner that also includes interviews with Ravenous and the Columbia Journalism Review, a reader newsletter, and a list of what Perelman considers the site’s 20 most iconic recipes.
She described the recipe’s origin as improvised: realizing at 6 p.m. that no one had made dinner, she developed the skillet method and wrote that she now makes the tacos regularly. The suggested pairing — an aging avocado, leftover cabbage, and pickled onion — reflects her stated aim of distilling cooking “into its simplest and most practical parts.”
“Most days, I feel like I’m just getting started.”
— Deb Perelman, Smitten Kitchen
Timing, Portions, and Unanswered Questions
The recipe does not state a total preparation time or a final internal temperature check for the chicken; Perelman’s instructions say the chicken finishes in the broth after browning, but home cooks following USDA guidance should verify 165°F (74°C) with a thermometer. The stated yield of 8 small tortillas implies roughly four servings of two tacos each, but serving size is not explicitly specified.
The recipe calls for Diamond Crystal-brand kosher salt with a note to use less of other brands, but does not give a gram measurement, so results may vary by salt brand. Ingredient amounts for toppings (avocado, cabbage, cilantro, hot sauce) are given loosely — “an avocado on its last legs,” “a handful” — rather than precisely measured.
Common allergens in the dish include wheat (flour tortillas) and, depending on the broth used, potential trace allergens; none are flagged in the original post.
Anniversary Content Still Rolling Out
Perelman indicated additional “20 Years of SK” content is being published as part of the anniversary, including reader-engagement newsletters and a curated list of the site’s 20 most iconic recipes. Readers interested in the full recipe and the accompanying interviews can find them at smittenkitchen.com. No further anniversary-specific projects beyond those listed have been announced.
Key Questions
How long does the Smitten Kitchen chicken taco recipe take?
The post does not give an exact total time. The chicken browns for 4 to 5 minutes per side and then simmers in broth for 3 to 4 minutes, so active cooking is under 20 minutes once the quick-pickled onions and toppings are prepped.
Why does the recipe use chicken thighs instead of breasts?
Perelman writes that she spent years thinking she disliked chicken because it was dry and overcooked. Boneless thighs are more forgiving of quick skillet cooking and stay moist through the broth finish.
What is the microwave shortcut in the recipe?
For the quick-pickled onions, Perelman microwaves the bowl of sliced onion, vinegar, water, salt, and sugar for 10 to 15 seconds — just until the liquid is hot — then lets it cool while the rest of dinner is made. She says this pickles the onions much faster.
What temperature should the chicken reach to be safe?
Per USDA guidance, chicken should reach an internal temperature of 165°F (74°C). The recipe finishes the partially browned chicken in simmering broth, and a thermometer can be used to confirm doneness.
What toppings go on these tacos?
Warm flour tortillas, shredded chicken with pan juices, quick-pickled red onion, shaved red cabbage, chopped cilantro, avocado, and hot sauce. Note that flour tortillas contain wheat, a common allergen.
Source: rss
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