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An easy sheet pan street taco bowl recipe featuring crispy chicken thighs & roasted cauliflower. Spiced to perfection & drizzled with cilantro lime sauce, these street taco bowls make the ultimate weeknight meal!
What Makes This Recipe Great
Sheet pan meals mean easy prep, minimal cleanup, and an oven that does all the heavy lifting! This street taco bowl recipe is no exception! Featuring all of the bright and spice-packed flavors of Mexican street tacos, this sheet pan meal will not disappoint.
Featuring crispy chicken thighs, roasted cauliflower, and a mouthwatering cilantro lime chili sauce, your new favorite way to eat street tacos is just a recipe away! Get ready for the ultimate family dinner!
How to Make Street Taco Bowls
A street taco typically consists of protein, flavored with delicious Mexican spices, and served in a small corn tortilla with onions and cilantro. In the case of these street chicken taco bowls, juicy chicken thighs and raw cauliflower are seasoned and baked on a sheet pan until roasted and crisped.
For this recipe, the flavors and textures are all reminiscent of Mexican street tacos, but the construction can be anything you want! Served over lettuce, or in a gluten-free tortilla, you just can go wrong!
Ingredient Notes
Chicken Thighs: I used bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs for this recipe! Feel free to use skinless, boneless chicken thighs if that’s what you prefer or have on hand.
Cauliflower: I prefer to cut up one head of cauliflower, but you can also use already cut florets.
Oil & Spices: Olive Oil, Salt, Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, Chili Powder, Paprika, Black Pepper
Garnish: Cotija Cheese & Cilantro (optional)
Step By Step
- Combine the salt, garlic powder, onion powder, chili powder, paprika, and pepper and mix together in a small bowl.
- Place the chicken thighs skin-side up on a lined baking sheet. Drizzle with 2 tbsp of the olive oil and sprinkle some of the spice mixture onto each thigh. Rub it in so each one is coated. You should have 1-2 tsp of the spice rub leftover. Bake the thighs for 20 minutes.
- Place the cauliflower florets in a bowl and toss with the remaining 1 tbsp olive oil and the remaining spice rub mixture.
- When the timer goes off, add the cauliflower to the sheet pan so it is surrounding the chicken thighs. Bake for an additional 25-30 minutes until the cauliflower is browned and crispy and the chicken thighs are at least 165 degrees, internal temp.
- Drizzle the cauliflower & chicken thighs with the cilantro lime sauce and sprinkle with extra cilantro and cotija cheese.
- Serve in your favorite gluten-free taco shell or without a tortilla at all. Enjoy!
Cilantro Lime Sauce
This irresistible cilantro lime sauce combines mayo, cilantro, garlic, lime juice, chili powder, paprika, and sea salt into a deliciously creamy street taco garnish.
Subtly spicy, extra creamy, with a perfect chili lime finish. You’re going to want to eat it straight out of the bowl!
The Best Gluten-Free Taco Shells
If you’re opting to make serve your street taco bowls with a tortilla, there are some amazing gluten-free taco shells out there! Here’s a list of easy street taco tortillas, as well as other wraps and taco shells that make gluten-free tacos super easy!
Small Corn Tortillas: Pick your favorite brand of corn tortillas, just make sure they’re gluten-free!
Siete Tortillas or Taco Shells: Grain-Free and Gluten-Free!
Trader Joe’s Jicama Tortilla Wraps: Ditch the tortilla altogether and go for the veggie tortilla! These wraps are taco-sized, super crunchy, and make excellent tortilla replacements!
No Tortilla: If you’re not keen on the tortilla, the street taco flavors will still wow you without one! Serve the sheet pan contents on a plate or in a bowl and garnish for extra delicious flavors!
More Ways to Use Sheet Pan Chicken Thighs
These yummy, crispy chicken thighs can be used for so many other dishes. If you find yourself with leftovers and are looking for a few new ways to use your chicken, check these out!
- Serve over a bed of lettuce for a street taco salad
- Wrap in a gluten-free flour tortilla with beans, guac, and other fillings to make an easy chicken burrito
- Serve atop your favorite gluten-free tortilla and add fun toppings for a street taco tostada
- Roll the chicken in gluten-free tortillas and top with enchilada sauce and cheese for easy cheesy chicken enchiladas!
- Eat them on their own with the cauliflower & sauce!
Mary’s Tips & FAQs
For this recipe, I topped my chicken street taco bowls with cilantro lime sauce, cotija cheese, and cilantro. While not all of these are exactly “street taco” here are some other great topping suggestions: Squeezed lime juice, Raw diced onions, Guacamole, Salsa, Shredded cabbage.
Store leftovers in an airtight container. Reheat in the microwave and serve in a bowl or a taco shell! Drizzle with cilantro lime sauce and garnish with your favorite toppings.
This is an excellent meal to prep ahead for weekday lunches. Make your sheet pan on Sunday, and store it in individual microwave-safe bowls for easy reheating throughout the week. Store your toppings in snack baggies and your cilantro lime sauce in a dressing container!
Boneless skinless thighs in the oven will take less time to cook! Simply add them at the same time as the cauliflower, and cook them together for 28-30 minutes total. No need to add the thighs first if they are boneless!
Sheet Pan Cauliflower & Chicken Street Taco Bowls
Ingredients
- 6 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs, see instructions below for boneless, skinless thighs
- 1 large head cauliflower, cut into florets
- 3 tbsp avocado oil, or olive oil
- ½ tsp salt
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 2 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 1 tsp paprika
- ½ tsp black pepper
- ¼ cup cotija cheese , optional – or use feta if you want!
- chopped cilantro, for garnish, optional
Cilantro Lime Chili Aioli
- ¾ cup mayo, I love Chosen Foods Avocado Oil Mayo
- ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro
- 1 clove minced garlic
- zest from 1 lime
- 2 tbsp lime juice
- ½ tsp chili powder
- ½ tsp paprika
- ½ tsp sea salt
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 400. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Mix all of the Cilantro Lime Chili mayo ingredients together in a bowl and set aside in the fridge.
- Combine the salt, garlic powder, onion powder, chili powder, paprika, and pepper and mix together in a small bowl.
Bone-In Skin On Thighs
- Place the chicken thighs skin-side up on the baking sheet. Drizzle with 2 tbsp of the olive oil and sprinkle some of the spice mixture onto each thigh. Rub it in so each one is coated. You should have 1-2 tsp of the spice rub leftover. Bake the thighs for 20 minutes.
- Place the cauliflower florets in a bowl and toss with the remaining 1 tbsp olive oil and the remaining spice rub mixture.
- When the timer goes off, add the cauliflower to the sheet pan so it is surrounding the chicken thighs. Bake for an additional 25-30 minutes until the cauliflower is browned and crispy and the chicken thighs are at least 165 degrees internal temp.
- Drizzle the cauliflower & chicken thighs with the mayo and sprinkle with extra cilantro and cotija cheese. Enjoy!
Boneless, Skinless Thighs
- For boneless thighs, start by tossing the cauliflower with 1 tbsp oil and 2 tsp of the spice mixture in a bowl. Add the boneless thighs to a sheet pan and drizzle with avocado oil. Sprinkle the remaining spice mixture over each thigh and use your hands to press it down so it sticks. Add the cauliflower to the sheet pan around the chicken thighs, and bake everything at 400 degrees for 30 minutes, or until the chicken reaches an internal temp of 165 degrees.
- Serve topped with cilantro, cheese and the aioli.
Notes
Nutrition
All nutrition facts are an estimate and automatically calculated. While I fact check them using My Fitness Pal, please note that they may not always be 100% accurate and depend on ingredients used. Weigh your total and divide by the number of servings for the most accurate grams per serving size.
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We loved this chicken and cauliflower dinner. The flavors were just right and the sauce really took this dish over the top. This recipe will definitely be a repeat at our house.
This is amazing! Made it as stated. I used bone in thighs. The sauce is very flavorful. It is definitely going into a monthly dinner rotation. Thank you for this wonderful recipe.
10/10. So easy to make, the chicken was juicy and flavorful (I used boneless, skinless) and the sauce was amazing. I typically don’t love cauliflower but the flavor was so good. Another home run recipe, Mary!
Thanks Lizzy!
Adding this recipe to our very long list of Mary’s Whole Life recipes we have on repeat at our house. It was fantastic and so very easy! I can’t eat cilantro (tastes like soap to me) so I just left it out of the sauce and it was still amazing! We also just ate the chicken and cauliflower as a whole meal and it was perfect- I’ll probably make more cauliflower next time.
Thanks Katie!!
We love this recipe. We also baked a sheet of frozen corn with the same seasonings and served that with the chicken and cauliflower. So yummy!
Thank you Julie!
I usually don’t make cauliflower because it’s not everybody’s favorite, but this recipe sure changed our minds!
Thank you!!
I would give it more stars if I could!
So good, so quick.
I used boneless skinless thighs and served it over rice.
Literally amazing!
Thank you Abby!!
We love this meal! Made last night and the flavor is so good and simple! Easy to adapt for whole family as each person likes different toppings on their bowl.
So glad you all enjoyed it!
Our favorite cauliflower taco recipe! (I skip the chicken) It’s really fast, easy and delicious.
Thank you for sharing!
So glad you love it! Thanks Kelsey!