Chicken Taco Cups recipe (mini taco cups with tortillas perfect for tailgates)

This post is sponsored by El Yucateco. All opinions are my own. #AD

It’s tailgate season, so you know I’m here for all the fabulous game day bites. I’m sharing a delicious new one with you today: Chicken Taco Cups with a fun hack for making mini taco cups with tortillas! They’re the perfect individual serving size, easy to grab and eat, and like all my recipes, this one is quick, easy, and full of shortcuts. My secret to the great flavor is using El Yucateco Green Habanero Hot Sauce mixed in with the chicken taco filling. I’m sharing everything you need to know to make this taco cups recipe below so you can have these tailgate tacos on the menu for this coming weekend. So keep reading to see how to make muffin pan taco cups. But first, you’ll need to grab some yummy flavors of El Yucateco hot sauces (I get mine at a great value conveniently at my local HEB, and you can find them near you at shopelyucateco.com). They have 13 different hot sauce flavors, and what I love about them is they focus on flavor, not heat (though my spice lovers can definitely choose some hotter options). This makes them perfect not just for use as a condiment, but also mixed into recipes and as a way to add more flavor to other sauces (green habanero ranch? Yes, please!).

Ready to see how to make these mini taco cups with tortillas?

What you need to make these mini tailgate tacos cups

Here are the ingredients and tools you’ll need to make this taco cups recipe. As I said above, the El Yucateco Green Habanero Hot Sauce brings a little something special to this one, and eliminates the need for a lot of extra seasonings. One of El Yucateco’s classic recipes, this sauce uses the freshest green habanero peppers, garlic, and a fine spices blend for a sauce that tastes fresh and is full of flavor.

• Mixing bowl, mixing spoons
• Measuring cups and spoons
• Cutting board, knives
• 4-inch biscuit cutter (or a cup with a 4-inch diameter)
• 2 12-cup muffin pans (or you can use one 12-cup pan and work in batches to make the muffin tin taco cups)
• Nonstick cooking spray
• 8 (burrito-sized) flour tortillas (we’ll use these to make 24 taco cups with flour tortillas)
• 1 pound shredded cooked rotisserie chicken
• 1 (8-ounce) block cream cheese, softened
• 1-2 tablespoons El Yucateco Green Habanero Hot Sauce (I recommend 2 tablespoons, but you can use less if you prefer a little less heat)
• Dollop sour cream, plus more for topping (if desired)
• Juice of one lime
• Pinch of cumin
• 1/2 cup pinto beans
• 1 cup shredded Monterrey Jack cheese
• Chopped red onion
• Chopped cilantro

How to make taco cups with tortillas

The first step in this recipe is to make the taco cups with tortillas. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and spray the cups of two 12-cup muffin pans with nonstick cooking spray.

Using a 4-inch biscuit cutter (or a cup with a 4-inch diameter), cut 3 (4-inch) circles out of each tortilla (so you have 24 smaller tortilla circles). These will be your mini taco cups with tortillas!

Press the tortilla circles into the cups of the prepared muffin pans.

Bake the muffin pan taco cups in the pre-heated oven for 4 minutes. This will pre-bake them, as we will be baking them more after adding the filling. If you just wanted to make muffin tin taco cups to fill with prepared filling later, bake them for an additional 3-4 minutes, or until lightly golden and firm.

How to make this chicken taco cups recipe

While the muffin tin taco cups are baking, add the shredded chicken, softened cream cheese, 1-2 tablespoons of El Yucateco Green Habanero Hot Sauce (to taste, depending on how much heat you prefer), sour cream, lime juice, and cumin to a mixing bowl.

Mix until the ingredients are well blended. Remove the mini taco cups from the oven and distribute the chicken mixture between the 24 taco cups.

Top the muffin pan taco cups with pinto beans…

…then shredded Monterrey Jack cheese.

Place the chicken taco cups back in the oven and bake for 3-4 more minutes (or until the cheese has melted). Remove the taco cups recipe from the oven.

Top the chicken taco cups with chopped red onion and cilantro. If desired, serve with additional sour cream and your favorite flavors of El Yucateco hot sauce.

These mini taco cups are the perfect size to grab and eat for a party or tailgate!

Add more flavor and customize your taco bites with your favorite varieties of El Yucateco hot sauce!

Tailgate tacos for the win!

Here’s the Chicken Taco Cups recipe! Enjoy them, and be sure to stock up on El Yucateco hot sauce from a store near you!