Jerk Chicken Tacos w/ Peach Salsa – Slow Cooker Recipe

This delicious summer dish is actually a combination of three recipes – a simple peach salsa, homemade masa harina tortillas, and slow cooked jerk chicken thighs. It’s an incredible meld of sweet and spicy flavors.

You certainly don’t have to make your own masa harina tortillas to make these jerk chicken tacos, but they do have a nutritional advantage.

To make masa harina tortillas, corn (maize) is dried, soaked in limewater, dried again, then ground into a fine powder. This process is called nixtamalization and is native to Mexico, where the process is used in hundreds of dishes from soups, casseroles, cornbread, polenta and tamales.

The nixtamalization process makes masa harina tortillas nutritionally superior to other tortillas. This is because the nixtamalization process “neutralizes antinutrients such as phytic acid, raises the calcium content by up to 400%, increases the protein quality by improving the amino acid balance and digestibility, and releases niacin from its bound form, which is unavailable to our bodies” as Dr. Bill Schindler eloquently puts it in his book Eat Like a Human. Without this traditional Mesoamerican process, the nutrition in corn is not bioavailable and passes right through our digestive tract.

For the jerk chicken thighs:

• A food processor. I have the Ninja food processor. You can also use a blender.
• A slow cooker

For the peach salsa:

• A paring knife and a cutting board
• A mixing bowl

For the masa harina tortillas:

• A large mixing bowl
• Spatula or large spoon
• Parchment paper
• Rolling pin (optional)
• A large skillet

For the jerk chicken thighs:

• Chicken thighs: I have also made this same recipe using chicken breast. Though delicious, the chicken thighs provide a moister end product. Note that if you want to use any type of boneless chicken, you’ll want to use around 25% less chicken (in weight) to account for the bones.
• Bone broth: can be substituted with equal parts water or any type of stock.
• Extra virgin olive oil: can be substituted with equal parts avocado oil.
• Coconut aminos: can be substituted with equal parts low sodium soy sauce. I prefer coconut aminos to soy sauce because soy is one of the most heavily sprayed and monocropped foods in America.
• Brown sugar: can be substituted with equal parts cane sugar.
• Ginger root: 1 inch of fresh ginger root can be substituted with 1 tsp ground ginger.

For the peach salsa:

• Vanilla bean powder: you can substitute 1/2 tsp of vanilla bean powder with 1 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste.
• Fresh basil: you can substitute each tablespoon of fresh basil for one teaspoon of dried basil.
• Cane sugar: I don’t recommend using liquid sweeteners (ie. honey or maple syrup) or the salsa will be too wet.

For the masa harina tortillas:

• Avocado oil: the avocado oil in the tortillas can be substituted with any oil of choice. The avocado oil used for frying the tortillas can be substituted for another high heat cooking fat like tallow, lard or ghee.

• Sourdough Breaded Chicken (Baked)