Traeger Smoked Chicken Tacos

These smoked chicken tacos combine crispy, juicy smoked chicken thighs with grilled peppers and onions on cheesy charred tortillas. Everything cooks together on a Traeger or pellet smoker and can be on the table by the time you have all your sides and fixin’s prepared (about 90 minutes).

Making Smoked Chicken for Tacos

My recipe calls for skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs rubbed with a fajita seasoning. I used Meat Church, but you’re welcome to use your favorite. The H-E-B beef fajita seasoning from my pulled chuck roast tacos recipe also works great with chicken in my experience.

Don’t want to use bone-in chicken thighs? I have you covered in the notes section of the recipe card below with tips for using boneless skinless chicken thighs.

As for the cook, I used the 0-400 method, which is my new favorite way to cook bone-in chicken thighs after a recent cook off. This method starts chicken thighs on a cold smoker and cooks over the course of an hour as the grill comes up to temperature and rolls at 400ºF.

It makes super juicy chicken with great smoke flavor and crispy skin. There’s no dirty smoke flavor, at least on the Traeger, in my experience. I’ve included notes on an alternative cook method if you’re worried about it, though.

This recipe also takes the 0-400 smoke method up a notch with the addition of grilled peppers and onions. My smoked chicken thighs and veggies came out perfect around the same one-hour mark, but you’ll want to check on the veggies periodically just in case.

The recipe doesn’t call for glazing the chicken thighs, and that’s because I find glazing or dunking in sauce softens the skin more than I’d like for something like chicken tacos. You’re welcome to glaze once the chicken is up to temperature, however.

I’ve used Traeger’s Texas spicy BBQ sauce to glaze 0-400 chicken thighs for tacos. And while it’s not as good as the dry rub chicken, it’s still pretty darn good.

I used the same charred tortilla method from my Traeger steak tacos recipe. Instead of the corn tortillas, however, I used our go-to corn and flour blended tortillas.

What to Serve with Smoked Chicken Tacos

The smoked chicken and veggies are the stars, so you don’t need much. I recommend some freshly chopped cilantro and possibly diced white onion alongside a bit of cotija cheese or queso fresco. A pop of brightness from salsa would also be great.

In case you want to go the DIY salsa route:

• Smoked Avocado Salsa Verde
• Roasted Zucchini Salsa
• Creamy Jalapeño Ranch
• Mexican Chili Crisp
• Pico de Gallo

As for side dishes, here’s a handful of ideas:

• Creamy Grilled Poblano and Corn Salad
• Mexican Slaw
• Smoked Charro or Drunken Beans
• 15-Minute Refried Black Beans
• Arroz Verde

And if you’re in Texas, don’t sleep on H-E-B’s canned charro and borracho beans for a simple side dish.

And that’s about everything I have to say regarding smoked chicken tacos. You can find a printable recipe card below. I always appreciate recipe reviews!