Spicy Chicken Topped Corncakes

Spicy Chicken Topped Corncakes are the perfect dish for families that love Tex-Mex flavors. Fresh corn is blended with masa harina to form small cakes, that are topped with spicy chipotle chicken, salsa verde, guacamole, and sour cream. We’ve been on a real Mexican food kick over here, and even my pickiest eater gobbled this up.

The Equipment You’ll Need

• A Food Processor- You will need this to grind up the corn, make the chicken’s chipotle sauce, and make the salsa verde. If you don’t have a food processor, I think you could get away with just chopping everything up finely.
• A Cast Iron Skillet- This is the best pan for frying the corncakes. If you don’t have one, any large skillet can be used.
• A Dutch Oven- This is to braise your chicken. If you don’t have a Dutch oven, use a heavy 4 or 5 quart pot instead.

The Ingredients for Spicy Chicken Topped Corncakes

• The Corn- I used fresh corn, because it is the height of corn season here. You could easily substitute frozen corn.
• The Masa Harina- I like the Bob’s Red Mill brand.
• The Chipotles- These come in cans and can be found in the Hispanic food section of the supermarket.
• The Tomatillos- These look like small green tomatoes, in husks, which you need to peel off.

How I Made Them

• First, I made the chicken.
• Next, I made the corncakes, and then reheated them in the oven at 350 degrees for 10 minutes, right before I served them.
• Then, I made the salsa verde, and guacamole, and chopped the onions to garnish the dish.
• I served this dish with roasted cauliflower.

I was inspired to make this dish after my daughter ordered a similar dish at a restaurant in Lambertville, NJ. Those corncakes came topped with corn, black beans, and avocado. We decided to make our corncakes with spicy shredded chicken, and really loved them. If your family loves Mexican food, this would be a great recipe to add to your repertoire.

Spicy Chicken Topped Corncakes

Corncakes topped with spicy chicken, salsa verde, sour cream, and guacamole.

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Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 50 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 20 minutes mins

Course Main Course

Cuisine Tex-Mex

Servings 4

Equipment

• Food processor
• cast iron skillet or other large skillet

Ingredients

  

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For the Spicy Chicken:

• 1½ cups cilantro
• 4 chopped plum tomatoes
• 2 tbsp. chipotles in adobo sauce
• 3 tbsp. tomato paste
• 6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
• 2 tbsp. olive oil
• ½ tsp. kosher salt
• ½ tsp. black pepper
• ½ tsp. garlic powder
• 1 cup chicken broth

For the Corncakes:

• 3 ears corn
• 3 eggs
• ¼ cup sugar
• ¾ cup masa harina
• ¾ cup all purpose flour
• 1 tsp. kosher salt
• 3 tbsp. butter
• 3 tbsp. vegetable oil

For the Salsa Verde:

• 4 chopped tomatillos
• 1 chopped jalapeno
• 2 tbsp. chopped red onion
• ¼ cup cilantro
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 tsp. honey
• ¼ tsp. kosher salt
• ¼ tsp. black pepper
• juice of 1 lime

For the Guacamole:

• 1 avocado
• 1 clove minced garlic
• 1 tbsp. lime juice
• 2 tbsp. minced cilantro
• 2 tbsp. minced red onion

Additional Toppings:

• 1 cup sour cream
• ½ cup minced red onion

Instructions

 

For the Spicy Chicken:

• In a food processor, pulse the cilantro, tomatoes, chipotles, and tomato paste, until the tomatoes are chopped well.
• Season the chicken thighs with the spices, and lightly brown them in a Dutch oven in the olive oil. Brown three chicken thighs at a time. When the chicken is all browned, add the chopped vegetables and the chicken broth. Cover and simmer for 50 minutes.
• Remove the chicken to a plate, shred it , and add it back to the sauce.

For the Corncakes:

• In the microwave, steam the corn for 5 minutes. Take off the kernels and put 2 cups of them in a food processor and process until they're finely chopped.
• Put the corn in a large bowl, and add eggs, sugar, salt, masa harina, and flour.
• Heat a cast iron skillet over medium heat, and melt the butter and oil. When the oil is hot, scoop the batter up in quarter cups, and fry until golden brown on both sides.
• These can be served right away or reheated at 350 degrees for 10 minutes, in the oven.

For the Salsa Verde:

• Process all the ingredients in the food processor.

For the Guacamole:

• Mash the avocado and stir in the rest of the ingredients.

To Serve:

• Top the corncakes with the spicy chicken, salsa verde, guacamole, sour cream, and chopped onions.

Keyword Chicken, corn, corncakes, salsa verde

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