Oven Baked BBQ Chicken Pizza Tacos

I learned something about myself this week: I cannot watch a cooking competition show without becoming personally offended. Kevin turned on one of those shows where people make elaborate dishes in thirty minutes with mystery ingredients, and by the second episode I was yelling at the television about how that woman's roux was too thin and that man's pork chop was raw in the middle. Kevin said, "It's entertainment." I said, "It's an insult to pork chops." He changed the channel. He was right to do so.

The thing is, cooking isn't a competition. It's not about who can deconstruct a taco the fanciest or who can foam a soup into something that looks like a science experiment. Cooking is about feeding people. Period. You put food in front of someone you love and you watch them eat it and you feel the specific satisfaction that comes from keeping someone alive with your hands. My mom taught me that. Her mom taught her. Nobody ever foamed anything.

I made pulled pork this weekend. Four-pound pork shoulder, rubbed with brown sugar, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper, then slow-cooked for ten hours in the crockpot with a cup of apple cider vinegar and half a cup of chicken broth. Ten hours. You start it before bed on Friday night and by Saturday afternoon the house smells like a church picnic and the meat falls apart if you look at it too hard. Serve it on hamburger buns with coleslaw on top. That's it. That's the whole recipe. It feeds twelve people for nine dollars.

We had the neighbors over for pulled pork sandwiches Saturday evening. The Petersons from next door — Dave and Karen, two kids close in age to ours. Karen brought a fruit salad. Dave brought beer. Kevin manned the grill for hot dogs to supplement. The kids ran through the sprinkler until dark. It was the most normal suburban thing we've done since moving here, and I hate that I keep scoring everything on a scale of "normal" versus "what we lost," but I do, because the farm is the baseline against which all of my life is measured now, and everything is either more or less than that.

The pulled pork was good. The evening was good. I'm learning that good is not less than great. It's just different. And different can become home if you let it. I'm working on the letting.

That Saturday evening with the Petersons reminded me that the food isn’t the point — the people are — but the food sure does make it easier to get the people together. When Sunday rolled around and I had leftover momentum but not enough pork shoulder to repeat the whole production, I turned to something a little louder and a little less patient: these Oven Baked BBQ Chicken Pizza Tacos. They’ve got the same smoky, sticky, feed-a-crowd energy as the pulled pork, but they come together fast enough that even on a weeknight you can still feel like you’re running a backyard cookout. My kids think they’re outrageously fun to eat. Kevin did not change the channel.

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 15 minutes | Total Time: 25 minutes | Servings: 4 (2 tacos each)

Ingredients

8 small flour tortillas (6-inch)
2 cups cooked chicken breast, shredded
3/4 cup BBQ sauce, divided
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced
1/2 cup corn kernels (fresh, canned, or thawed frozen)
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
Salt and black pepper to taste
Fresh cilantro and sliced jalapeños for topping (optional)
Olive oil or cooking spray

Instructions

Preheat the oven. Heat oven to 400°F. Line a large baking sheet with foil and lightly coat with cooking spray or a drizzle of olive oil.
Season the chicken. In a medium bowl, toss the shredded chicken with 1/2 cup of the BBQ sauce, garlic powder, smoked paprika, and a pinch of salt and pepper until evenly coated.
Shape the taco shells. Drape the flour tortillas over the rungs of an oven rack, or fold each in half and prop them open over a folded strip of foil on the baking sheet to form a taco shell shape. Lightly brush or spray the outside with olive oil.
Pre-bake the shells. Bake empty tortilla shells for 4–5 minutes until they just begin to hold their shape and lightly crisp at the edges. Remove from oven and set on the prepared baking sheet, open-side up.
Build the tacos. Spread a small drizzle of the remaining BBQ sauce inside each shell. Layer in the BBQ chicken, then top with mozzarella, cheddar, red onion slices, and corn.
Bake until melted. Return the filled taco shells to the oven and bake for 8–10 minutes, until the cheese is fully melted and bubbling and the edges of the tortillas are golden and crispy.
Finish and serve. Remove from oven and drizzle lightly with any remaining BBQ sauce. Top with fresh cilantro and sliced jalapeños if desired. Serve immediately while the cheese is still hot.

Nutrition (per serving, 2 tacos)

Oven Baked BBQ Chicken Pizza Tacos — When the Backyard Party Doesn’t Stop at Saturday