Chicken & White Bean Tostada Stacks

These tostada stacks combine some traditional Mexican flavors, getting an added pop from the seasoned tortillas, honey lime chicken and cilantro lime sauce!

I've always been a big fan of Mexican food.  Something about crisp tortillas, seasoned beans and avocados just makes me very happy!! So that means I'm always looking for new ways to put Mexican flavors together to make something delicious!  These Chicken & White Bean Tostada Stacks definitely fit the definition of delicious!

Recipe Ingredients

This recipe uses ingredients traditionally found in Mexican recipes. While the ingredients list is a bit on the long side, don't let that intimidate you. Here’s what you’ll need:

• Boneless, skinless chicken breast: You only need six ounces for this recipe, so that will likely be one large chicken breast. If you're off by a little bit in terms of weight it will not have a huge impact on the recipe.
• Fresh lime juice and lime zest: You'll need one lime. Be sure to zest the lime before you juice it.
• Greek yogurt: You can use low-fat or nonfat Greek yogurt for the sauce.
• Fresh cilantro: You definitely want fresh cilantro for this sauce.
• Green onion: One green onion will be more than enough.
• Jalapeno: You only need a small amount of jalapeno so if you don't use it for other things you can leave it out. It will change the taste of the sauce slightly.
• Corn tortillas: Smaller tortillas work best in this recipe, so 8-inch or taco size tortillas
• Onion: A standard yellow onion is recommended for this recipe.
• White beans: You can use either Great Northern white beans (my first choice) or cannellini beans.
• Chicken broth: Standard chicken broth, preferably low sodium is best for this recipe.
• Pico de gallo or salsa: You can make your own or use a pre-made version. I typically use Whole Foods pico de gallo as I almost always have it in my refrigerator.
• Avocado: One medium avocado
• Spices: ground cumin
• Pantry staples: garlic clove, honey, sugar, brown sugar, salt, pepper

Making Chicken Tostada Stacks

This recipe really has four separate parts, none of which are terribly complicated. And several can be made ahead of time.

Make the beans. I absolutely love refried black beans, but unfortunately, they are not so good for you so I started creating different versions of seasoned beans as a replacement for refried beans. You sauté some onions and garlic then add the beans, cook and mash lightly with a potato ricer.

Meal prep tip: You can make the chicken, cilantro-lime sauce and beans ahead of time. Store the chicken and beans separately in the refrigerator. Then reheat before assembling the tostada stacks.

Grill the chicken. This is a simple preparation that involved marinating the chicken and then grilling it.

Make the cilantro-lime sauce. This sauce is fantastic on just about any Mexican dish. It's yogurt-based so fairly healthy. Just mix the yogurt, cilantro, lime zest and jalapeno with a pinch of sugar and a dash of salt.

Cook the tortillas. The tortillas get seasoned with brown sugar and cumin before you bake them for an extra kick. I like using two tortillas in the stack, as it gives this dish a bit of extra crunch. If you prefer you can cut it down to one (so you'll need a total of four) and just pile all of the ingredients up on top of each other. I use an olive oil sprayer to be sure the tortillas get evenly coated.  If you don't have one, you can use a commercial olive oil spray or you can brush the tortillas with oil.

This recipe works for everything from a quick weeknight dinner to a fun party dish to a packable lunch!  Now that's versatility!

Serving Suggestions

Like many Mexican dishes, these tostadas are really a meal all on their own. You could add this Mexican Street Corn Dip or this Grill Corn and Black Bean Salsa to start. You can also add a grapefruit margarita if you want to pair it with a cocktail.

More Mexican inspired dishes

If you crave Mexican food, try this Mexican Street Corn Pasta Salad, this Chicken Burrito Bowl or these Baked Chicken Flautas.

tools you may want for this recipe

Parchment Paper – This is a must-have for anyone who roasts or bakes.  You'll save yourself a lot of clean up time as well the feeling of needing to replace your baking sheets all the time because they are not quite clean.

OXO Good Grips Potato Masher – I like this masher with the open wire curves as it works for mashing everything from potatoes to beans to cauliflower.

Chicken & White Bean Tostada Stacks

Author: Kathryn | Urban Foodie Kitchen

These tostada stacks combine some traditional Mexican flavors, getting an added pop from the seasoned tortillas, honey lime chicken and cilantro lime sauce!

No ratings yet

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 10 mins

Cook Time 25 mins

Total Time 35 mins

Course Main Course

Cuisine Mexican

Servings 4 stacks

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

For the chicken: 

• 6 oz boneless, skinless chicken breast
• 2 tablespoon honey
• 3 tablespoon fresh lime juice
• ¼ teaspoon pepper
• pinch of salt

For the cilantro lime sauce:

• ¼ cup greek yogurt
• 2 tablespoon cilantro leaves, chopped
• 1 tablespoon chopped green onion
• ¼ teaspoon minced jalapeno
• ¼ teaspoon lime zest
• pinch of sugar
• pinch of salt

For the tortillas: 

• 8 small corn tortillas
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1 ½ teaspoon ground cumin
• olive oil spray

For the beans: 

• 2 tablespoon olive oil
• ¼ cup chopped onion
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 15 oz can Great Northern White Beans, drained and rinsed
• 2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 2 tablespoon chicken broth
• salt and pepper to taste

For topping: 

• ¼ cup pico de gallo or salsa
• 1 avocado, sliced or diced

Instructions

 

•  Heat the grill. Preheat oven to 450° and preheat a grill, or grill pan, to medium.
• Marinate the chicken. Mix the honey, lime juice, salt and pepper together in a small bowl.  Place the chicken in a plastic bag and pour the honey-lime mixture over the chicken.  Refrigerate until ready to grill.
• Make the sauce. Mix all of the listed ingredients in a small bowl.  Refrigerate until ready to serve.
• Bake the tortillas. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Lay tortillas out on the baking sheets in a single layer, without any edges overlapping.  Spray lightly with olive oil.  Mix the brown sugar and cumin in a small bowl and sprinkle over tortillas. Place in oven and bake for 10 minutes or until edges are turning dark brown.
• Cook the beans. While the tortillas are baking, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a skillet over medium heat.  Add the onion and saute for 3 minutes.  Add the garlic and saute for 30 seconds. Add the beans and cook for 3 minutes.  Using a potato masher, lightly mash the beans.  Add the cumin, chicken broth, salt and pepper.  Stir to combine.  Cook for an additional 3 minutes.  Keep warm.
• Grill the chicken. After the tortillas and bean are done cooking remove the chicken from the refrigerator and remove from the marinade.  Grill for 6 minutes per side or until cooked through.  Let cool for a few minutes and then cut into thin slices.
• Assemble the stacks. Place one tortilla on a tray or serving dish.  Top with beans.  Add another tortilla and top with chicken, avocado, pico and cilantro lime sauce. Repeat with remaining ingredients.   Serve immediately.

Did you make this recipe?Tag @urbanfoodiekitchen on Instagram or hashtag it #urbanfoodiekitchen

This post was originally published in April 2017. It was updated in May 2021 with some new information and photos. No changes were made to the original recipe.