Easiest chipotle chicken taquitos! Over the years, I’ve learned that some of our favorite dinners are the ones I’ve thrown together quickly. That happens to be the story behind today’s chipotle chicken taquitos. The story starts with a batch of cooked chicken in the refrigerator, a bag of shredded cheddar, a bottle of salsa, and of course, tortillas that I bought intending to make something completely different. Probably these migas tacos if I’m being honest; they’re always on repeat for breakfast. What I love most about recipes like my chipotle chicken taquitos is that they’re perfect when you want to make it for a child-approved family dinner, but also as an appetizer for a Cinco de Mayo party, super bowl, or for a casual new years eve get-together. Also, I’d like to point out that homemade taquitos basically give you the right to eat all your favorite dips for dinner. I mean, at this point, I’m just using the taquitos as a vessel to fill up on guacamole, salsa, and pico. Side note, my cheese lovers, this would be so good with melted queso! Honestly, the other night we sat down with these taquitos for dinner, and I ate an entire ½ cup of guacamole salsa with a single taquito. I double-dipped a whole lot and I’m not even ashamed.
What’s the difference between taquitos and flautas?
Taquitos or flautas are tortillas rolled up with cheese, chicken, or beef filling. Taquitos are what we called them here in Texas, but really, taquitos are flautas. However, flautas are made with larger tortillas, whereas taquitos are made with smaller tortillas.
What ingredients do you need to make chipotle chicken taquitos?
Cooked Chicken: This can be chicken that you seared and baked in the oven, cooked in your crock pot, shredded rotisserie chicken with two forks, or boil chicken that you just shredded up in your mixer.Chipotle Peppers in Adobo: You’ll need 1-2 peppers and a couple of tablespoons of adobo sauce for the chicken mixture.Spices: I use adobo seasoning, not to be mistaken with adobo sauce that chipotle peppers are packed in. You’ll also need ground cumin and garlic powder. Feel free to use chili powder if you prefer your taquitos spicier, but for us, the chipotle peppers and adobo sauce made it plenty spicy.Cheese: You’ll need both cream cheese and shredded cheese for this recipe. The cream cheese makes the filling melty and gooey when the flautas crisp up. It’s something I started adding more recently. However, it is optional, so feel free to omit it if you aren’t a fan. For the shredded cheese, you can use anything you like that will melt well. Oaxaca cheese is an excellent choice. I love using it for steak quesadillas. You can also use a Mexican cheddar cheese blend, Monterey jack, or pepper jack cheese.Flour tortillas or corn tortillas: You can use either for this recipe. Traditionally, flautas are made with corn tortillas. But either will work for this, so use one or the other, or you can even use a tortilla that’s a blend of flour and corn if you’d like.Oil: If you’re frying these, you’ll need an ample amount of oil to fit your frying vessel. I usually use a frying pan because it’s easier to fish the taquitos out, and they use less oil than a deep fryer. If you’re baking or air frying them, you’ll need cooking spray.
Making cream cheese chicken taquitos
What to serve with this recipe:
Toppings: pico de gallo, crumbled cotija cheese, shredded lettuceSauces: guacamole salsa, salsa verde, blender salsa, sour cream, avocado dip
If you like this recipe, you might also like:
Slow Cooker Honey Chipotle Chicken MeatballsSpicy Spinach Artichoke DipSuper Crispy Garlic Parmesan WingsThe Best Air Fryer Fried PicklesCrunchy Chicken Caesar Wraps
Recipe published April 2019, updated with new post January 2022.
if you do not have cooked and shredded chicken already, it will take you an additional 20 minutes to make this recipe
