Chicken and black beans go so well together, especially when stacked on top of these easy tostadas. Garnish with your favorite taco fixes and drizzle with cilantro crema. This makes a fun and easy weeknight family dinner.
When I need a surefire hit for dinner, I need look no further than chicken black bean tostadas.
Everyone in my family is a big fan of Mexican and Tex Mex, and tostadas are always warmly welcomed by guests — it’s lively food that turns dinner into an instant party.
What is a tostada?
A tostada can refer to a fried tortilla itself, although often (as in this case) it refers to the Mexican dish made with a fried tostada at the base and toppings stacked on top.
Corn tortillas offer great flavor and crunch, and are usually gluten-free (but check the label to make sure). There are also some tortillas on the market that are made with a combination of corn and flour, which I really like. All-flour tortillas would also work if you prefer (you may need to reduce the frying time), but corn is more traditional.
Tostadas usually involve layering ingredients on top of the fried tostada: meat or protein like chicken or beans, salad components like shredded lettuce and diced tomatoes, and maybe some of the toppings you’d expect to find on a taco, like cheese or sour cream.
I chose a chicken and bean combo along with a selection of classic Tex-Mex toppings like tomato, avocado, and cheese. But the main draws really are the vinaigrette, a snazzy dressing with some optional heat of chipotle in adobo, and then the crema topping — a creamy concoction of sour cream, lime, and cilantro.
How to make easy poached chicken
For this recipe, try whole peppercorns, sprigs of fresh thyme or oregano, bay leaves, whole cloves of garlic or halved shallots and lemon wedges. (As you poach chicken for different recipes, you can change the spices to match the flavors in that recipe.)
The liquid left over from cooking the chicken breasts won’t be heavily flavored enough to serve as chicken broth on its own, but you can use it to cook rice or grains to add some broth flavor. Or freeze it and use it for poaching another day!
How to serve the tostadas
This recipe is a combination of hot and cold, with warm pan-fried beans and the remaining ingredients served at room temperature or chilled. If you prefer, you can serve at room temperature and let the beans cool before assembling. This also comes in handy when preparing the tostadas for a party. (Want to make these beans from scratch? Here’s how to make them on the stovetop or in a pressure cooker.)
Tostadas are usually stacked pretty high, so they call for a knife and fork, especially since you want to try and get a bit of everything in every bite, including the crunchy tortilla at the bottom.
But if you’re dining with family or close friends, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with using the last few tortilla pieces to scoop up the rest of the toppings that will surely be sprinkled across your plate.
More easy Mexican weekday recipes!
- Easy Mexican Chicken and Rice Soup
- Salsa Verde Chicken Enchiladas
- Chicken Fajitas
- Spicy Chicken and Black Bean Enchiladas, from my site The Mom 100
- Taco Night, from my side The Mom 100
Chicken and black bean tostadas
Little shortcut: If you don’t have time to fry the tortillas, you can cheat and crack open a hard corn taco shell and place the two halves on the plate as a base, then build the tostada out of it.
ingredients
- For the chicken:
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2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (3/4 to 1 pound total)
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1 teaspoon kosher salt
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1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
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Optional to season the poaching liquid: whole peppercorns, sprigs of fresh thyme or oregano, bay leaves, whole cloves of garlic or halved shallots, and lemon wedges
- For the chipotle dressing:
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3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
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1 tbsp lime juice (from about 1 lime)
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1 teaspoon pureed chipotle in adobo sauce (optional)
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1 tablespoon chopped shallots
- For the coriander crema:
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1 teaspoon lime juice
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1/2 cup sour cream
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2 tablespoons chopped coriander leaves
- For the tostadas:
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Vegetable or canola oil for frying in a pan
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4 6-inch corn tortillas (or tortillas made with a flour and corn mix like La Tortilla Factory 50/50)
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1 teaspoon minced garlic
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1 (15 ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
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1/2 teaspoon cumin
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1 romaine heart, thinly sliced crosswise (about 4 cups)
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1/2 cup diced plum tomatoes
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1 ripe avocado, peeled and diced
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1/2 cup shredded cheddar or mixed Mexican cheese or crumbled cotija cheese
method
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Cook chicken:
In a small saucepan, place the chicken breasts, salt, pepper, and any optional flavoring extras. Add water to cover 1 inch and set over medium heat.
Cover the pot and simmer the chicken, until tender and reading at least 165°F on a digital thermometer, 8 to 12 minutes. The exact cooking time depends on the thickness of the chicken breast.
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Shred Chicken:
Remove the chicken from the heat and remove the chicken from the liquid. Scoop out 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid and set aside (the rest can be strained and saved for another recipe).
When cool enough to touch, shred the chicken into bite-sized pieces.
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Make the Chipotle Dressing:
In a small bowl or container with a lid, combine the olive oil, 1 tablespoon lime juice, the pureed chipotle in adobo (if using), and the shallot. Taste and season with salt and pepper.
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Make the lime crema:
In another small bowl or container, mix together the sour cream, 1 teaspoon lime juice, and cilantro.
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Fry the tortillas:
Heat a thin layer of canola oil in a skillet over medium-high heat until a tiny jet of water sizzles in the pan on contact. Fry the tortillas individually for about 2 minutes on each side, until lightly browned and fairly crispy.
Add a little more oil during the frying process if needed. Transfer the tortillas to paper towels when they are done cooking.
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Cooking garlic and beans:
Pour off excess oil from the pan, leaving a thin film on the bottom of the pan. Back to medium heat. Stir in the garlic and cumin and sauté 30 seconds, until you can smell the spices and the garlic is beginning to turn golden.
Add the beans and stir well, then add 1/4 cup of the reserved cooking liquid and bring to a simmer. Simmer until the beans are hot and the liquid on the beans has reduced to a glaze — if it looks dry, you can add a little more of the reserved liquid, about 5 minutes.
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Serve tostadas:
Place each of the tortillas on a plate and stack 1 cup of lettuce on top of each.
Spread the warm beans evenly over the salad, then repeat the same process with the chicken, tomatoes, and avocados. Finally sprinkle the tostadas with cheese and coriander. Drizzle the dressing evenly over the tostadas and finish with a dollop of crema. Serve immediately.
