Chicken in Tortilla with Black Beans | Tex-Mex Inspired
Published: 04.10.2026
This dish started as an idea for BBQ chicken but ended up as a Tex-Mex inspired dinner. Chicken thigh fillets, black beans, and a tomato-based sauce with bell pepper, chili, and cumin are distributed in four tortillas, served with salad and lime – a dinner for two.
- Servings
- 2 servings
- Prep
- 12 min
- Cook
- 18 min
Ingredients
Chicken
- 400 g chicken thigh fillets, skinless and boneless (in the video I use 300 g)
- 1 tbsp neutral oil for frying
Sauce / Marinade
- 2 dl passata or crushed tomatoes
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 1 tsp smoked paprika or regular paprika (in the video I use regular paprika)
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp chili powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- A bit of freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tsp brown sugar
Filling and Serving
- 150 g black beans, drained and rinsed
- 4 tortillas
- Salad for serving, to taste
- Lime wedges for serving
- Jalapeño for the filling, optional and to taste
Instructions
- Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces.
- Rinse the black beans and let them drain well.
- Measure out all the ingredients for the sauce.
- Get a small saucepan for the sauce, a bowl for marinating, and a large frying pan.
- Prepare the four tortillas for filling.
- Prepare the salad, cut the lime into wedges, and set out the jalapeño if you want to use it.
- In a small saucepan, combine passata or crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, apple cider vinegar, Dijon mustard, smoked or regular paprika, cumin, garlic powder, onion powder, chili powder, salt, pepper, and brown sugar.
- Let the sauce simmer for a few minutes until the spices are well blended and the sauce is not grainy.
- Remove the saucepan from the heat and let the sauce cool.
- Place the chicken in a bowl and mix in 2 tbsp of the cooled sauce.
- Let the chicken marinate for 10–20 minutes. If you have more time, it can marinate longer.
- Spread a bit of the cooled sauce on the four tortillas and spread it out in a thin layer.
- Add the black beans to the remaining sauce in the saucepan. Gently heat until the beans are warm and retain their shape.
- Heat the oil in a large frying pan.
- Fry the marinated chicken over medium to high heat until the pieces are nicely colored.
- Lower the heat and pour the sauce with the beans over the chicken in the pan.
- Gently stir together and let the chicken finish cooking in the sauce. The chicken should be fully cooked before serving.
- Distribute the chicken and black beans among the four tortillas. Add jalapeño to the filling if desired, and roll the tortillas up.
- Drizzle any remaining sauce from the pan over the tortillas.
- Serve with salad and lime wedges immediately.
Serving Tips
Serve two filled tortillas per person, with salad and lime wedges. Squeeze a bit of lime over when serving – in the video, it adds the acidity I missed during the first taste test. Jalapeño in the filling is optional for those who want more heat. Drizzle any sauce from the pan over the tortillas and serve immediately. The flavor is rich and tomato-based, with bell pepper, chili, and cumin. Smoked paprika adds a smoky note if you use it.
The original idea was actually BBQ chicken. A tomato-based sauce with Worcestershire sauce, apple cider vinegar, bell pepper, and a bit of sweetness was meant to give the dinner a BBQ touch. But with black beans, chili, cumin, and filled tortillas, the dish took a different direction. Hence the name Tex-Mex inspired chicken in tortilla with black beans.
This is the third time I’m making the dish, with adjustments along the way. The first time I used too much sauce with the raw chicken, resulting in a more boiled than fried outcome. The amount of chili has also been adjusted after the first version was a bit too spicy for Hege. The recipe is still simple, but these small changes make the preparation and flavor better suited to us.
Tomato, Bell Pepper, and a Bit of Sweetness
Passata gives the sauce a smooth tomato base. Crushed tomatoes can also be used if that’s what you have. Tomato paste provides a more concentrated tomato flavor, while Worcestershire sauce and Dijon mustard add depth. The apple cider vinegar provides acidity, and one teaspoon of brown sugar rounds it off.
Smoked paprika is an alternative for those who want a smoky flavor. In the video, the smoked paprika was empty, so I used regular paprika. Chili and cumin still give the dish that Tex-Mex inspired direction. Let the sauce simmer for a few minutes until the spices are well blended and not grainy, before cooling it for marinating.
Two Tablespoons for the Marinade
I only use two tablespoons of sauce on the chicken. The rest is set aside. This is a difference from the first attempt, where all the sauce went with the chicken before frying. With less sauce in the marinade, the pieces get a better frying color.
The recipe has 400 grams of chicken thigh fillets for two people. In the video, I use 300 grams from a 600-gram package, so that the same amount is left for another dinner. The quantity can thus be adjusted to appetite. The chicken marinates for about ten minutes this time; 10–20 minutes is a simple guideline for the recipe.
The Beans are Heated in the Sauce
A bit of the cooled sauce is spread on the tortillas. The black beans go into the remaining sauce in the pot and are gently heated. They are pre-cooked, so they just need to be warmed and coated in sauce.
The chicken is fried in the pan until it gets a nice color. Then the heat is lowered, and the sauce with the beans is poured over. The chicken should finish cooking in the sauce and must be fully cooked before serving. At the same time, I want to avoid the small pieces sitting unnecessarily long and becoming dry.
Lime Makes the Difference When Serving
The filling is distributed among four tortillas, which are rolled up, two for each person. I have jalapeño in mine, while Hege gets hers without. It’s an easy way to adjust the heat without making the whole dinner spicier. Any remaining sauce in the pan is drizzled over the tortillas.
I serve with salad and lime wedges. During the first taste test, I missed a bit of acidity, and a squeeze of lime gave me exactly what I wanted. Therefore, lime is included in the serving. The dish doesn’t need many extra components: chicken, beans, sauce, and tortillas make up the dinner, while the salad and lime provide something fresh on the side.
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