Chicken Tarator Tacos

There's a very specific kind of heatwave logic that takes over my kitchen in the middle of summer: I want something that feels like an actual meal, but I refuse to turn on a stove for more than the time it takes to warm a tortilla.

Chicken tacos felt obvious. What felt less obvious was reaching for a jar of tarator instead of salsa verde.

It shouldn't work on paper — a Levantine garlic-tahini sauce has no business anywhere near a Mexican tortilla — but it does, spectacularly. Shredded rotisserie chicken, a sharp lime pico de gallo, and that thick, garlicky tarator holding it all together. One weird craving later, this became the taco I actually want on a 35-degree afternoon.

Chicken Tarator Tacos – About the dish

Tarator turns up in more than one kitchen, and it means something slightly different in each. In the Levant, it's a thick sauce built on tahini, garlic, and lemon, traditionally spooned over grilled fish or falafel. Tacos, meanwhile, need no introduction: a Mexican street-food format built to hold whatever filling makes sense that day, wrapped in a warm corn tortilla.

Putting the two together isn't traditional anywhere, but the logic holds up: tarator's garlicky richness does the same job a creamy salsa or crema would, while a bright lime pico de gallo cuts through it the way it always does. I use a store-bought tarator from Jana Mezze because it's simply very good, but a homemade version, or even garlic-lemon Greek yogurt in a pinch, gets you most of the way there.

Chicken Tarator Tacos – Recipe

Ingredients – Advice & key points

• Tortillas: small corn tortillas are traditional here — warm them briefly so they stay pliable and don't crack when folded.
• Chicken: a store-bought rotisserie chicken keeps this fast — shred it into bite-sized pieces once it's cool enough to handle.
• Tarator sauce: a thick, garlicky tahini-based sauce. Store-bought works well (I like the Jana Mezze version), or swap in garlic-lemon Greek yogurt if you can't find any.
• Tomatoes: ripe and diced small, so the pico de gallo stays scoopable instead of watery.
• Red onion: finely sliced so it seasons rather than overwhelms.
• Cilantro: roughly chopped, added generously — it does a lot of the fresh, herbal lifting here.
• Lime: freshly squeezed — it ties the pico de gallo together and keeps everything bright.

Recipe – Advice & key points

• Make the pico de gallo first: combine the tomatoes, red onion, cilantro, lime juice, and salt, then let it sit for 10–15 minutes so the flavours meld while you prep everything else.
• Shred while warm: chicken shreds much more easily straight out of the oven or rotisserie bag, while it's still a little warm.
• Warm the tortillas properly: a dry skillet for about 30 seconds per side, or straight over a gas flame for a light char, keeps them soft and pliable instead of stiff.
• Keep tortillas wrapped: stack warmed tortillas in a clean kitchen towel as you go — it steams them just enough to stay soft until serving.
• Layer in order: tarator first, straight onto the warm tortilla, then chicken, then a generous spoonful of pico de gallo on top.
• Taste before serving: the pico de gallo can always use an extra squeeze of lime or pinch of salt — adjust right before you assemble.

Ten minutes of prep, no real cooking to speak of, and a fusion that really shouldn't work as well as it does. Enjoy !