Tex-Mex Chicken Tequila
I made this recipe a few weeks ago and froze half of the sauce. It tastes very similar to the Cajun Chicken Pasta we love to eat since it has the same basic ingredients, but I think with fresh jalepenos from our own garden this could be a really great dish. It’s just different enough to make it something new but we eat the cajun version so often that it was just a bit strange to try this now.
The dish has good flavor but the jalepenos we used lacked oompf so I’m fairly sure I used almost double what I have in the recipe. But you can tune it up or down to your preferences. I don’t understand why but jarred jalepenos in Germany just don’t seem to be as hot as in the US. Maybe they’ve been sitting on the shelf longer here since not so many people buy them…
This dish tasted even better after freezing because the flavors really had time to soak into the cream. I like to make the “paste” (step 3) after I throw the chicken breasts in the fridge to marinade. Once the paste was done, I just put that in the fridge too. Then when you’re ready to serve dinner you just need to cook the pasta and warm up the sauce. The flavors blend beautifully in the time it’s sitting there plus the sauce has extra time to thicken.
Tequila Chicken
Prep Time: 10 Minutes
Cook Time: 50 Minutes
Ready In: 60 Minutes
Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
- 2 tablespoons chopped garlic
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped jalapeno pepper
- 1/2 cup chicken stock
- 1/2 cup tequila, halved
- 6 tablespoons lime juice (2 limes), halved
- 6 tablespoons soy sauce, halved
- 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves -cut into cubes
- 1 tablespoon cooking oil
- 1/4 medium onion, thinly sliced
- 1 medium red bell pepper, thinly sliced
- 1 medium green bell pepper, thinly sliced
- 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon cilantro
- 1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Directions
- Put chicken breasts in a casserole dish and pour 1/4 cup tequila and 3 tablespoons each of lime juice and soy sauce over them. Throw in a couple jalepenos if you like it spicy to let the flavor set in. Cover with plastic foil and marinate in the fridge for at least an hour.
- Broil chicken breasts in your oven for 30-45 minutes, until no longer pink inside. You can also cut up the chicken breasts into bite-size pieces and cook them in a skill after step 4.
- Heat 2 tablespoons of butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic and jalapeno, and saute until soft. Pour in chicken stock, 1/4 cup tequila, and 3 tablespoons lime juice. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer until the mixture is reduced to a paste, about 30 minutes. Stir occasionally to make sure it is not sticking.
- Melt remaining butter in a skillet, and saute the onion, red bell pepper and green bell pepper until soft.
- Pour the paste, heavy cream and cilantro into the skillet with the peppers and add the cooked chicken. Simmer until everything is heated through. Remove from heat, and stir in Parmesan cheese. Taste and adjust seasonings if desired. Serve immediately.
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Tiffany is an American who has been living in Germany with her husband since 2001. The two are self-proclaimed "Self-Reliant Yuppies" who are in their early-30's and bought an 1830's farmhouse several years ago, which they have been turning into a more sustainable and green dream house. Two cats, a Newfie and their 2 year old daughter enjoy the adventure with them. Tiffany enjoys cooking, rock climbing, lux-camping trying to turn her black thumbs green and taking road trips. Visit the 
Hi from idaho! I am going to try this the coming week. Sounds good and I am always on the lookout for something new. Thanks!
-Heather
Instead of doubling the Jalapenos, I’d double the Tequila!
That sounds gorgeous. I love Tex-Mex cooking
. Is the Parmesan cheese a substitute for something more American?
Hmm, well I though it was Italian
. And yes, I know exactly how hard it is to find any non- European cheese here. Its even hard to get British cheddar in Munich- I have to go to special stores, none in my Edeka or Tengelmann.
I have heard friends mention Metro cards- I am sure I could organise to go there one day, so thanks for the tip!
I would love to have half a cow in the freezer… I am really craving red meat at the moment.
Oh yum!! Enjoy!
@Heather – Thanks for stopping by! I’m also a big fan of meal planning so whenever I see something I think would be great I either bookmark it in my Google reader (cause it’s usually in someone’s blog I’ve been reading) or better yet I print the recipe right then so I find it at some point in the near future. Otherwise it just drifts off into cyberspace lol
@Laura – I’m sure more tequila in there wouldn’t hurt. I was having quite the hankering for margaritas while making this though. Would be perfect with it!
lol Parmesan is not American?
Not Tex-Mexi enough? It’s a substitute for Romano although that’s not too American either. I think you could use something less hard though like Monterrey or Colby Jack…even a pepper-jack. Would taste fantastic. Unfortunately those are not so easy to come by here in Germany 
Hey Renia,
Or if you’re in Frankfurt we can go together 
Since I just recently found your blog I keep forgetting you are over here too!
I don’t know if you have access to shopping at Metro, but they have a FABULOUS cheese selection. Only companies can sign up there so you may need to find a friend with a card unless you guys have your own small biz here
I buy my cheddar there for 8 euros a kilo and pre-shredded bags of it for a little bit more…they have hard cheeses galore and lots of pizza cheeses. Still nothing like in the US with different versions of Jack or Colby – but it’s a start. I try to stay out of that store though since it’s got all these great gourmet things that I never need but sure are awesome to try. And now they have T-bones also which you can never have enough of in the freezer
We have a butcher near Frankfurt that we have been buying from since we moved here 7 years ago. Up until recently you couldn’t get t-bone steaks in Germany (because the meat is so close to the bone they were scared about Mad Cow) but now you can get them from just about any butcher who does the cuts themselves. We’re getting at least 10 T-bones, around an inch thick from 1 bull that they just slaughtered. I cannot wait for that meat to get here. Rain or shine, there will be grilling going on that weekend! Nothing like a good steak – and this guy has some of the best!
Metro has good quality meat though, in general. I’m still suffering from withdrawal after being pregnant last year. Having a well done steak just is just not right