Quick Tequila Chicken [Recipe (Oven & AirFryer Methods]
Tequila Chicken is a recipe that I would read about in the early years of food blogging and was always curious about. I never got a chance to try it though until I started building up my own “personal bar”. Tequila just wasn’t a liquor that my parents (OK my father) indulged in. However, now that I am (as Patrice Roberts put it) “a big girl now” I can make and re-make this quick and flavorful dish as many times as I like!
I have included traditional oven preparation steps below, for my Tequila Chicken recipe but I need to let you in on a little secret. “What is that” you ask? I have rarely used my oven since getting the Instant Pot Air-Fryer Lid at the start of this year. With its broil and roast functions it uses -considerably- less electricity than a conventional oven because of the smaller volume of air that needs to come to temperature. It also preheats in under 5 minutes and often finishes the cooking process faster.
If you have an Instant Pot Duo and have wondered if the Air-Fryer Lid is worth the cost I can definitely say that for me it has! At the moment the Instant Pot branded lid doesn’t seem to be available so I won’t directly link to any of the lids that say they’re compatible as I can’t speak directly to how they work. I will however provide a link here to what is currently available, for you to research and judge for yourself!
Quick Tequila Chicken
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup Coconut or Vegetable Oil
- 1/2 cup Culantro (Chadon Beni)
- 1 1/2 fluid ounce Tequila
- 1 1/2 tablespoons Cumin
- 3 teaspoons Garlic
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 1/2 teaspoon Black Pepper
- 2 teaspoons Scotch Bonnet Pepper Sauce (substitute with red pepper flakes if you can't source Scotch Bonnet Pepper Sauce)
- 1/2 ounce Chicken
- 1/4 cup Margarine/Butter
Instructions
- Heat oven 400°F.
- You can either leave the chicken intact as a half, or break it down into 2 quarters, or 4 single pieces.
- In a large bowl, combine oil, culantro, tequila, cumin, garlic, salt, pepper and pepper sauce/red pepper flakes. Add chicken and toss to coat. Leave in marinade for 1 hour.
- Transfer chicken to a baking sheet, reserving marinade
- Bake 12 to 14 minutes, or until largest piece is cooked through.
- Remove from oven and top each breast with a small pat of butter or margarine and let melt.
- Simmer marinade for 5-8 minutes covered to make an accompanying sauce
Notes
- After chicken marinates, set Air Fryer/Lid to “Roast”
- Set temperature to 380ºF and pre-heat
- Add chicken pieces and roast for 18 minutes (ignoring the Turn Food message)
- Use leftover marinade to make drizzling sauce as outlined in standard instructions
