Make Your Own Naked Chicken Shack Because Taco Bell Takes Them
If you follow the world of stunt food, you’ve most likely seen Taco Bell’s Naked Chicken Chalupa , a taco-like creature where the shell is made from crispy chicken rather than “regular” chalupa packaging. Unfortunately, Taco Bell will remove protein-packed delicacies from its menu sometime in March , but don’t be discouraged; you can make your own.
While some more puritanical eaters may grab pearls at the sight of them when you break them, the Naked Chicken Chalupa is simply a fried chicken cutlet with a salad inside. (To be honest, this is more of a “mid-range restaurant salad” than an “organic quinoa salad,” but there is a salad in there, so I call it a “salad.”) But really, if you unwrapped the chicken and placed its contents next to you on a plate, you can’t even look at the resulting meal.
My point is that the ingredients in this dish are not very complex and that recreating this chalupa is what you need. The hardest part is getting the chicken breast to hold the taco shell shape, but this task is by no means insurmountable.
First, you need to flatten the skinless, boneless chicken breast. To do this, you just need to put the meat between two pieces of cling film and beat all the shit out of it.
After your meat is completely wrapped, grab a heavy tool like a meat hammer – or wine bottles, small pans, and even soup scoops – and crush the meat from the inside, starting at the thickest part of the breast. You have to make it thicker than a quarter of an inch or the meat will fall apart. My piece of chicken did fall apart a little, but it split into two pieces of roughly the same size, which ended up being perfect for two chalups.
Then you need to trim off all the small pieces of the greasy and silvery rind and season the chicken. At first I just sprinkled a little salt on each side of the crushed breast, but the result was a chalup that just didn’t have enough processed flavor for me. Given the fact that the goal is to make something similar to the Taco Bell offering, I wanted it to have more salty, umami-filled goodness in it.
Enter my favorite secret weapon ingredient: Better Than Bouillon ( fried chicken flavor ). I spread about half a teaspoon on each side of the meat, boosting the chicken flavor profile to new heights. (Aside from my precious Better than Broth, I think the chicken-flavored ramen seasoning would work great here.) Then it was time to sip.
I originally planned to cover the panko chicken but forgot to grab on my last shopping trip. Instead of walking three-quarters of a mile back to the overpriced hippy grocery store to buy some crunchy crumbs, I grabbed a page from the Taco Bell menu and popped into the corner store to grab a Doritos bag. I crushed them in a large freezer bag, then added 1/4 teaspoon each of garlic powder, onion powder, and cayenne pepper. I understand that this is a departure from the “true” naked chicken chalupa, but this is an option that I am very happy with because Doritos are scientifically designed to make your mouth happy.
Then I dipped the meat in flour, a beaten egg, chopped the Doritos (in that order), and heated some Crisco in a large skillet.
I used a real taco to turn the chicken into a taco. First, I sauté one side of the chicken in a skillet for about a minute to cook the “inside” of the shell.
I then turned the patty over and wrapped it around a hard, store-bought taco shell so that it went from a simple chicken chop to a dorito-encrusted chicken chalupa shell.
Then, using tongs and a spatula (and out of a sense of caution), I gently turned the chicken taco to fry it on the outside (about 30 seconds on each side), trying to keep it coiled around the shell so that it retains its shape.
While it was (obviously) not as tough as its processed corn counterpart, it held its shape fairly well and performed excellently as a filling vessel. You can of course fill the chicken wrapper situation as you see fit, but I have to say that the queso spoon does take it to a special place.
I fully expected the whole thing to disintegrate the moment I took the first bite, but please let me know that I was able to put it back on the plate between bites without flattening or losing the filling.
In short, it was a delightful success. The chicken shells were moist and well seasoned with the salty umami flavors that went well with the fillings. So dry your tears, my friends, and don’t mourn the loss of Taco Bell’s naked Chalupa chicken. Now you have a way to make your own meal, and I’m sure your taste will be even better than fast food.