Southwest flavors are infused in every part of these Southwest Chicken Sandwich Wraps.
Taco seasoned chicken, crisp romaine lettuce, black beans, sweet corn, red onions, tomatoes, avocado, shredded cheese, crunchy tortilla strips and a taco-ranch dressing make these Southwest Chicken Sandwich Wraps truly crave-able!
The recipe makes 4 large wraps (if you use the same tortillas I do). You can use smaller flour tortillas, making smaller wraps if desired and you will end up with more wraps.
What Taco Seasoning is used for this recipe?
The Taco Chicken in this Southwest sandwich wrap is simple but delicious! If you have made my Taco Chicken or Tex-Mex BBQ Chicken Salad, then you are familiar with this yummy chicken.
I make the taco seasoning from spices I have on hand.
You will need salt, chili powder, cumin, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder and black pepper. The spices are just mixed together to make the perfect taco seasoning for this chicken.
(Note: I use the same taco seasoning for my taco-ranch dressing for these wraps, so I make more of the seasoning recipe to make sure I have enough).
If you don’t want to make your own taco seasoning, store bought taco seasoning will work in place of the homemade taco seasoning. You can use any brand you prefer.
I use fresh squeezed lime juice and some canola oil (or olive oil) to help the seasoning stick to the chicken. The lime juice gives it a bit of tangy acidic flavor along with the spices. The lime juice and spices make this chicken perfectly seasoned for these easy Southwest Chicken Wraps!
The Chicken
Boneless skinless chicken breasts are what is needed for these sandwich wraps. If you chicken breasts are thicker on one end, slice them or pound them out so they are an even thickness. This will help them cook more evenly so the chicken doesn’t dry out while cooking.
Take your chicken and place it in a zip top bag or a shallow dish.
Add your lime juice and canola oil (or olive oil) to the zip top bag or the dish and make sure your chicken is evenly covered in it.
Then, take your taco seasoning and sprinkle it all over the chicken.
If using a zip top bag, seal the bag and squish the chicken around making sure you are getting the chicken evenly covered in the taco seasoning. If you are using a shallow dish just rub the seasoning evenly on the chicken.
Cooking the Taco Chicken
To cook your chicken you have a few options. Smoking, grilling, stove top or in the oven are all easy ways to cook your chicken. No matter how you choose to cook your chicken, make sure the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees in the thickest part.
Smoking the Taco Chicken
Heat your smoker to 400 degrees. Cook the chicken for 20-30 minutes (mine varies every time I smoke it), turning it part way through. The chicken is done with the thickest part of chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees.
Grilling the Taco Chicken
Heat your grill on medium heat and grill the chicken for about 5-8 minutes on one side and then another 5-8 minutes on the other side. The chicken is done with the thickest part of chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees.
Stove Top Taco Chicken
Heat a skillet over medium-low heat with 1 tablespoon of canola oil or olive oil. Place the chicken breasts in the hot skillet, cooking on one side for about 8-10 minutes. Flip the chicken over and cook it again for 8-10 minutes, or until the chicken reaches 165 degrees internal temperature in the thickest part of chicken.
Oven Baked Taco Chicken
Heat your oven to 400 degrees.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, or grease the baking sheet. Place your chicken on the parchment paper lined baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes. I do not flip my chicken at all when I bake it in the oven, but you can if you choose to.
Check the internal temperature of the chicken at 20 minutes. The chicken is done with the thickest part of chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees.
After you have cooked your chicken, cut it into bite-sized pieces.
Taco-Ranch Dressing for Southwest Chicken Wraps
Southwest Chicken Wraps have a simple but yummy dressing. It is a Taco-Ranch dressing that is ranch dressing with a Southwest taco kick.
I use my same taco seasoning to add to your ranch dressing – so you will want to follow the recipe below for the the taco seasoning so you can have enough for the dressing!
You can use any ranch dressing you prefer. We love “homemade” ranch dressing (aka ranch dressing from a packet that is made with mayo and milk). But you can use bottled as well.
Just add your taco seasoning to the ranch dressing and mix it up. You can adjust the amount of taco seasoning you add to your liking. I make my taco-ranch dressing while the chicken is cooking.
Southwest Sandwich Wraps other stuff
The “other stuff” is what makes these Southwest Sandwich Wraps craveable.
I love to add crisp romaine lettuce, black beans, sweet corn, red onions, tomatoes, avocado, shredded cheese, and crunchy tortilla strips along with the taco chicken. You can pick and choose what you add in, leaving anything out that you just can’t stand. I love it all and add it all!
While my chicken is cooking, I prep all of the ingredients, to add in my wrap.
Assembling Southwest Chicken Wraps
To make a good sized wrap that will fill you up or is big enough to share, I use large 12 inch flour tortillas.
Take a large wrap and spread 1 tablespoon of your taco-ranch dressing in the tortilla.
Then take about 1 cup of chopped romaine lettuce (or the lettuce you prefer) and place that in the center of the tortilla.
Next, take about 1/4 of your cooked chicken and spread it on top of the lettuce. On top of the chicken add your black beans, corn, avocado, red onions, tomatoes, shredded cheese, and tortilla strips. (Only add the things you want).
Last, add about 3 tablespoons of your taco-ranch dressing to the top of the ingredients.
Optional: To mix up the dressing in all of your ingredients so it’s evenly covered in dressing you can “stir” them together with a spoon. Or, you can fold the tortilla over on top of the ingredients and using the tortilla roll the ingredients around trying to mix them up using the tortilla.
Roll up your tortilla like a burrito, tucking in the sides as you roll it up.
Heating the Wrap
I like to lightly brown my southwest sandwich wrap and heat it a bit.
To do this, I heat a skillet over medium heat. Place your wrap seam side down on the skillet and let it heat until the tortilla gets golden brown.
Then, roll the wrap to the opposite side for it up get golden brown. You can also brown the sides of your wrap if desired.
Remove the wrap from the heat and get ready to eat it!
Serving Southwest Chicken Wraps
To serve Southwest Chicken Wraps, I prefer to cut my wrap in half so it is easier to eat (the pretty big so you may want to share the other half). This is totally optional – you can just eat the wrap whole. I also love to have some additional taco-ranch dressing for dipping.
We don’t serve Southwest Chicken Wraps with anything else. These wraps are all you need for a filling dinner.
Try my Tex-Mex BBQ Chicken Salad if you love Southwest flavors. It’s a salad with the same Southwest flair but has a BBQ-Ranch dressing that gives it a BBQ kick.
My Taco Chicken just by itself makes a delicious Southwest dinner with some beans and rice on the side.
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Southwest Chicken Wraps
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 lbs boneless chicken breasts
- 1 tbsp lime juice, fresh squeezed (about 1 lime)
- 1 tbsp canola oil
- 2 tbsp taco seasoning (see recipe below or use packet seasoning)
Taco Seasoning (I use this for the chicken and the Taco-Ranch Dressing as well) **you can use store bought packet seasoning also, you will need about 3 to 4 tablespoons of packet seasoning
- 2 tsp salt
- 2 tsp chili powder
- 2 tsp paprika
- 2 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp black pepper
- pinch of cayenne pepper *optional
Wrap Ingredients (these are just suggestions, you can change them up to your liking)
- 4 large flour tortillas *I use 12" inch wraps **see blog post above for the tortillas I use
- 5 cups romaine lettuce, chopped
- 1 large red onion, diced
- 2 roma tomatoes, diced
- 1 can (15.25 oz.) sweet corn, drained and rinsed
- 1 can ( 15 oz.) black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 large avocado, chopped/diced
- 2 cups cheddar cheese, grated *more or less as desired
- tortilla strips, as much as you want *see blog post above for the brand I use and love
Taco-Ranch Dressing (double this recipe if you want extra sauce in your wrap or for dipping) *each wrap will use 1/4 dressing
- 1 cup ranch dressing of your choice * I make packet Ranch Dressing
- 1/2 to 1 tbsp Taco Seasoning (from above) *or more to taste – I use 1 tablespoon
Instructions
The Taco Chicken
- Make sure your chicken is pounded out to an even thickness, if needed.
- Mix the salt, chili powder, paprika, cumin, onion powder, garlic powder, black pepper and cayenne pepper together. Adjust the seasonings as needed to your liking.
- Take your chicken breasts and put them in a zip top bag. Pour your lime juice and oil in the zip top bag. Seal the zip top bag and squish the chicken breasts around in the bag to help the juice and seasonings cover the chicken evenly.** You can let this chicken marinate for 30 minutes, but I usually just put it straight on the smoker or grill.
- Heat your grill on medium heat or your smoker on 400°. Place the chicken on the grill or smoker.FOR THE GRILL: Let the chicken cook on one side for 5-8 minutes, and then flip it and let it cook on the other side for 5-8 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 165°FOR THE SMOKER: Place your chicken on the smoker at 400° and let it smoke for 20-30 minutes. Flip it half way through the smoking time. It will be done when the internal temperature reaches 165°***See my blog post above for the digital meat thermometer I use!****See notes or blog post above for cooking the chicken on the stove top or in your oven.
- When your chicken is done cooking, take it off the heat and slice/chop it up, set aside.
Taco-Ranch Dressing
- While your chicken is cooking, take your ranch dressing and your additional Taco Seasoning and mix it up. Add more Taco seasoning to taste as desired.
Making Southwest Chicken Sandwich Wraps
- Take one large flour tortilla. Spread 1 tablespoon of the taco-ranch dressing on the center of the tortilla.
- Take 1 heaping cup of chopped romaine lettuce and place it in the center of the tortilla.
- Take 1/4 of your cooked, sliced/chopped chicken and place on top of the lettuce.
- Add all of the other ingredients you want: red onions, tomatoes, avocado, black beans, corn, 1/4 cup of shredded cheese and some tortilla strips on top of the lettuce and chicken.
- Add 3 tablespoons of the taco-ranch dressing on top of the fillings.
- OPTIONAL: You can mix up all of the wrap fillings with the dressing by taking a spoon and mixing the dressing up with the other stuff so the taco-ranch dressing is evenly spread on the ingredients. Or you can simply fold over the tortilla on top of the ingredients and roll the ingredients around in the tortilla.
- Take your tortilla and wrap it up like a stuffed burrito, tucking in the sides as you roll it up.
- Heat a skillet over medium heat. Place the sandwich wrap seam side down on the hot skillet. Let the bottom of the wrap heat until it is golden brown. Turn it over so the top can get golden brown and do the same for the sides, so the wrap is heated and crispy golden brown on all sides.
- Cut the wrap in half (if desired) and enjoy! You can serve the wrap with extra taco-ranch dressing if desired.
Notes
Nutrition information is automatically calculated and should only be used as an approximation.
