With all of the grilled corn we’ve been eating lately, it’s not surprising to find an ear or two leftover in the refrigerator. It was a couple of those ears and some of last year’s roasted chile that inspired this Green Chile Corn Relish. I was originally just going to use it as a side dish, but then I got a craving for tacos. That craving resulted in these quick & easy Chicken Tacos. Adding the relish to the chicken yielded a delightfully delicious taco with a smoky and spicy flavor.
For the tacos, the chicken is a thinly sliced chicken breast, pan fried quickly. The chile for the relish is a mix of medium roasted green and hot roasted red. The hot red chile give these tacos a bit of a bite, leaving a mild and pleasant burn in the mouth. If you aren’t a spicy food eater, just replace the chile with roasted sweet peppers. Regardless of the type of pepper, the flavor of roasted peppers with corn is hard to beat.
Below you will find a recipe for the Green Chile Corn Relish, followed by the recipe for the Chicken Tacos. The recipes are separated because the relish also makes a simple side dish or a nice lunch, thus deserving its own space.
Green Chile Corn Relish
“*” See Kitchen Notes for more information or links to special ingredients.
- ¼ cup sweet onion, diced
- ½ cup roasted green/red chile, chopped*
- 1 cup corn, cooked or grilled (corn from 1 large ear)*
- ¼ cup green olives, minced
- 2 Tbsp. olive brine from jar of olives
- 1 Tbsp. fresh cilantro or parsley, chopped*
- Place all of the ingredients into a large bowl.
- Stir to combine.
- Refrigerate until ready to serve. Can be made a day in advance.
Roasted Chile – About any roasted chile or pepper would work in this recipe. It can be hot, medium, mild or just sweet – whatever you prefer and have available. I prefer to roast them because roasting brings out the flavor, but you could also just chop them raw, adding a bit of a crunch to the relish. A mix of roasted and raw works quite well.
Cooked Corn – For this particular batch of relish I used one large ear of leftover grilled corn. Leftover corn from any source would work. If you don’t have leftover corn, use canned or frozen. Just cook the frozen corn before adding it to the relish and then refrigerate. This relish is best served cold.
Cilantro or Parsley – I know there are a lot of people that taste soap when they eat cilantro, so don’t hesitate to substitute it with parsley. I have made this relish with both parsley and cilantro and both batches were great!
Chicken Tacos with Green Chile Corn Relish
Scrumptious chicken tacos topped with a green chile corn relish, a little sour cream or yogurt, cheese and lettuce. Make Taco Tuesday a special day with these tacos.
“*” See Kitchen Notes for more information or links to special ingredients.
- 1 large chicken breast, sliced into ¼” strips*
- 1 Tbsp. Bacon drippings or olive oil*
- Salt and pepper
- Green Chile Corn Relish (recipe above)
- Grated cheddar cheese
- Greek yogurt or sour cream
- Shredded lettuce
- Salt and pepper the chicken and toss to coat.
Heat the bacon drippings or oil in a skillet over medium high heat. Add half of the chicken, laying each piece flat. Cook 1 minute a side. (These small pieces cook very quickly). Transfer to a paper towel to drain. Repeat with the other half of the chicken pieces.
Heat a griddle or cast iron skillet.
- Place some of the cheese down the middle of a tortilla. Top with 2 to 3 pieces of chicken. Tear the chicken into smaller pieces if pieces are too big.
- Place tortilla with cheese and chicken on the hot griddle until the cheese starts to melt and the tortilla softens.
Remove from griddle, top with yogurt, green chile corn relish and lettuce.
Serve with a side of beans, if desired. Enjoy!
Chicken Breast – As I mentioned earlier, any leftover chicken (light or dark meat) works. If you don’t have leftover chicken then slice a large chicken breast into thin slices (about 1/4 inch thick). Fry in bacon drips for extra flavor or oil. These thin pieces do fry up quickly.
Bacon Drippings – I know this isn’t the healthiest fat to use, but it adds such a great flavor to the chicken. The frying of the chicken pieces is hot and quick so they really don’t absorb much of the fat, but do pick up a bit of bacon flavor. (Nice rationalization for the bacon drippings don’t you think? :)) If you have an aversion to using bacon dripping, then any fat will do. Avocado or olive oil would be a healthier choice.
Other topping for tacos – Chopped tomatoes or avocados would work nicely with these tacos, but don’t add them to the relish just in case you have some relish leftover for another meal or another batch of tacos.
Be prepared to make yummy noises while eating these Chicken Tacos with a Green Chile Corn Relish. They are spicy, flavorful, and make a delightful meal.
Since one can never get enough tacos, here are some more for you to try.
Tacos Al Pastor from Cooking on the Ranch
Mexican Shredded Chicken Tacos from Kitchen Riffs
Cabbage and Carrot Tinga Tacos from Mexican Made Meatless (one of my favorite vegetarian tacos)
This looks scrumptious, i love spicy chicken. Thanks for sharing this.
Simon
Thanks so much Simon!
Beautiful! And I love the idea of the olive juice!
Thanks Mimi!
My kiddos are already on board as when you list bacon drippings as one of the ingredients, teenagers listen. Bacon is like one of the major food groups, right. Loving this simple but delicious recipe. Sharing and pinning my friend!
Of course bacon is a food group! ? thanks for pinning!
Sweet and spice is one of my favorite combos and corn brings just the right amount of sweet that chiles sometime need. So good!
Totally agree Judy! Thanks!
I’ve been meaning to comment on this for a week and just never got to it, so here goes: This look great! Corn on the cob has been really cheap. Jim and I love pico and similar relishes with almost everything in the summer. We don’t eat much corn but we do eat a lot of tacos made from whatever is left over and this looks like a great add-on or accompaniment. How long does it keep? I wonder if it’s something I could make a lot of and keep in the fridge? Heading for the market in a bit so I will be adding corn to the list.
Thanks Darlin! Bobby and I eat a lot of corn, especially fresh corn. He loves grilling it and I love eating it. This relish last about a week in the fridge, so it can be used with tacos and as aside dish.
I suspect we have some corn hidden in the back of the fridge also, which are begging to be made into this relish!
It’s amazing what one can find in the back of the fridge. 🙂 Thanks!
Corn is in season here too since I am a big fan of tacos, I would love to try this recipe! Looks so mouthwatering!
Thanks Katerina!
Pingback: Chicken Tacos with Green Chile Corn Relish - Yum Goggle
Delicious love this wholesome tacos, especially with those relish.
Thanks so much Swathi!
Fantastic two dishes in one! I eat fresh corn so rarely (we rarely do in Europe, apart from canned one in salads, compared to North America, I have noticed), but it’s in full season, so I should just buy a big bag of fresh corn and come to your blog for cooking lessons.
You have reminded me I must roast chile now that it’s so cheap and good! Can you believe I’ve never done it? Well just once, but it was to be used in a sweet pepper paste… Thank you for this lovely inspiring summer dish!
PS I love the brown bowl!
We need the days to be twice as long in the summer so we can take care of all of the summer produce. 🙂 Yes, corn is big in the U.S. Last week I bought 12 ears for 50 cents a piece (cheap!), cut the corn off the cob and froze it. This week I’ve been working 10 pounds of unshelled pecans. In a couple of weeks they open up the chile market and will start selling fresh green chile. I’ll be buying a bag each weekend, roasting, peeling and freezing. Hope you have fun roasting your chiles. Busy, but so much fun! I love the summer! Thanks for your kind comments my friend!
These tacos look like a perfect summer meal! I love the relish – I’m going crazy for sweet corn lately!
You and me both! Thanks Amy!
My children would love these, I cannot make tacos or tortillas often enough for them. But in the not spicy version of course, otherwise I will have to eat them alone. 🙂
Thanks Adina! The relish with roasted sweet peppers would be the kid-friendly version. 🙂
This just looks amazing! I wish I could cook more these days.
Thanks Peachy! I’m sure with a new little girl in the house, cooking is not a priority. 🙂
The green olives make this summer salsa sparkle! We just might have to scoop some with chips this weekend!
Thanks Deb! The olive definitely add a needed bite to both the relish and the tacos. I usually put something pickled on my tacos, so having the olives in the relish met that ingredient. Great idea to eat it with chips!
You had me at chile! What a fantastic relish you have here….I could just it the whole bowl of relish with a fork. Have a great weekend MJ! 🙂
I always get you at “chile”. 🙂 Yep, the relish really doesn’t need the tacos. It’s good just like it is. Thanks Ramona!
I was just alerted that a local farm would have corn for sale (by the dozen or bushel) tomorrow “until it runs out.” I was wondering if I was going to go get some. Now I am!
Thank Debra! Pick me up a bushel would ya? 🙂
LOVE the look of that relish, MJ!
Thanks Viviane!
MJ these sound fantastic. I bet this relish brings your tacos to a whole new level. Nice recipe that I’ll be sure to try.
Thanks so much Vicki!
MJ, I feel like we have our cookbooks open to the same page these days :D. I made grilled soft tacos the other night with thin sliced steak smothered in homemade salsa… so yum! I’m trying to find the energy to photograph it all lol. Yes, this year’s corn… perfect addition — we’ve been eating it (almost) every night. Here’s a nagging question I have about green chile… when I think of green chile, I get a picture of certain varieties of green color like pasilla, poblano and jalapeno — are these also considered ‘green chile’ or no ie: when someone uses the term “green chile” are we always talking about NM green chile and the others are more commonly known by their specific varieties? thought I’d ask the expert :).
Your tacos sound awesome! Hope you do find the energy to photograph them. I’d love to see them and learn more. (Still have the pictures of your zucchini salad in my head.)
Have you started making your own corn tortillas yet? I’ve been trying to make tortillas for years and I finally found a process in a cookbook Bobby gave me a couple of years ago (Gran Cocina Latina). It’s perfect! I’ll never be able to use storebought tortillas again.
Now for the nagging question which is a very interesting question and probably has several answers depending on who you ask. After do a little research and pondering of the question here’s what I came up with. It appears that in the U.S. “green chile” has mostly been adopted to refer to New Mexico green chile. However, technically, jalapenos, anaheims, poblanos and any “green” form of a chile, are green chiles. Sissi uses “green chillies” in her recipes all of the time, but I know she’s not using NM chiles. 🙂 So really, it is all encompassing to include all form of green chile peppers. Here’s an interesting tidbit…Prior to Christopher Columbus, chile peppers were just “chile”. When Columbus returned to Spain, he added “pepper” to it because, since he was out to find “spices” and the Spaniards could understand “pepper”, but not “chile”. Just something I picked up at a talk on the history of chile. 🙂
thank you MJ! That’s actually quite helpful. I have asked Sissi the same question in relation to her recipes as I don’t know what “green chilies” means — since they often come up in relation to her Thai recipes I’m inclined to think bird’s eye green but I don’t think that’s what is meant.. ah, the drawbacks of having an inquiring (strange?) bean :D. (I was partly wondering too to see if you would accept green chile varieties in recipes that are not NM green chile (jalapeno for example, etc.) on your pinterest board (although I know there’s nothing like NM green chile… 😉
I have a vague memory of making tortillas based on one of Charles’ (FiveEuro Food) recipes but it’s just that… vague. I think I need to revisit!
Kelly, YES, I would definitely accept any type of green chile on the pinterest board!
I love corn – and that corn relish sounds fantastic! Pairing it with chicken cooked in bacon drippings must mean there’d be no leftovers of these tacos right? 🙂
You’re absolutely right! ? no leftovers! Thanks Shashi!
My hubby would really love this relish as he is a huge olive fan. Love the medley of flavors here MJ, sounds so delicious!
There are 2 huge olive fans in this house, so I never gets complaints of using too many olives. ? have a great one Bobbie!
l love using corn like this and why is it that I always have one extra ear? Great relish, MJ~ And even better tacos!
Totally understand about the extra ear. I always throw 3 on the grill for the 2 of us, and invariably, we only eat 2. ? of course, I never complain about leftovers. Thanks for the comments Abbé!
Lean protein, fiber and healthy carb….a well balanced and fantastic meal, MJ.
Thanks Angie!
MJ, this looks so fantastic! We are relocating to McAllen, Texas, but I’ve been assured I can get Hatch green chile roasted locally… I love taco recipes, and we’ll try this for sure!
Thanks Tamara! I think you can get Hatch chile any where now. I saw yesterday that they are already shipping it in bulk to California. It’s early this year? YAY!
O.M.G. I am absolutely craving tacos now, and its breakfast time. Yours look crazy amaze. The Green Chile Corn Relish is something I would never think to make, corn is always something we serve on the cob with butter, never get creative with it. So I do look forward to whipping up a batch of that.
Thank you so much Anna! I hope you do Greta chance to make the relish. It’s pretty darn good! ?
Your tacos looks amazing. I do love the sound of the relish! I’d love to make it – plenty of beautiful flavours there xx
Thanks so much Charlie! Corn and green chile is pretty much a staple here in New Mexico. ?
Tortillas, green chile, corn, bacon drippings — a lot of the major food groups right there! This green chile corn relish looks superb. And fold it into a tortilla along with some chicken for tacos? Fantastic! Really, really good — thanks.
Gotta love those food groups! ? thanks John!
In the recipe for the relish, should it be 1/4 CUP of green olives?
YES! Thank you so much for catching that and bringing it to my attention!