Chicken Taquitos with Poblano Guacamole

I think if Jim had his way, we would eat Mexican inspired meals every week.  I don’t blame him, somehow every Mexican dish we’ve enjoyed through the years just has all the festive fiesta vibes!

This fun dish of an easy chicken filling wrapped tightly in tortillas and then baked, is no exception.

Taquito vs Flauta

From all the different recipes, and from restaurant experience, the main differences between the two dishes, which are both fillings wrapped in tortillas and then baked or fried, are two things. Filling for taquitos is usually more simple and usually use smaller tortillas often corn, while the flauta filling usually has protein, cheeses, beans etc and rolled in larger flour tortillas, making flautas more of a meal.  From afar they are interchangeable, served with refried beans, guac, pico de gallo etc.  For more detailed differences, check out this article by The Spruce Eats.

A Easy Appetizer or Meal

Having said all of the above, we have these as a snack with friends, or just go ahead and eat them as dinner.  Adding cilantro lime rice, salsa, pico de gallo, and a chunky guacamole is all we need to be totally satisfied with these yummy taquitos.

What You Will Need For These Baked Taquitos

The filling is easy.  Shredded chicken, grated medium cheddar cheese, chopped jalapeño pepper, and seasonings: some sort of tex-mex, chilli seasoning, etc, cumin, a touch of cayenne, and salt and pepper.  These all get combined with lime juice, and spooned on the lower section of the tortilla. Roll up tightly, and place on a baking sheet, either lined with parchment, or with a wire cooling rack placed on top. The rungs of the cooling rack will help keep the taquitos in place as they bake. I love using cooling racks for baking or grilling, it helps for even baking, (see my Satay Chicken) A little veggie spray will add just enough fat to help them crisp up in the oven.  After a quick turn, feel free to cover them with more grated cheese and chopped jalapeño pepper and return to the oven to finish baking.  I find that the shredded cheese and chopped jalapeño on top really adds a little something something!

A Note on Chicken

This is a great time to use leftover grilled or roasted chicken breast or thighs, just shred it up.  Or if you have rotisserie chicken, go for it!  But if you are starting from scratch, here is the method I use for poaching chicken breasts.  I always poach up four breasts.  I may only need one or two for a recipe, but preparing and then shredding it all means that I can freeze the rest and have chicken ready for all sorts of dishes, whether enchiladas, soup, etc.  Check out Poached Chicken Breasts  I follow this method, adding some sliced lemon and chilli flakes to the mix.

How to Prepare The Tortillas

Yes, you can totally use flour tortillas, or a flour/corn combo, or as I usually do, a pure corn tortilla.  I have a challenge finding smaller gluten free tortillas, so the corn is my go-to.  And for all of them, I am sharing how to prep these so that they will roll up easily without splitting.  I learned this one from the owner of a Mexican restaurant here in Toronto.  Sure, if you have a tortilla warmer, that is the obvious solution, or you can wrap the warmed tortillas in a towel.  Many use the microwave to warm them.  Well we don’t have a microwave.

So step in the freezer bag! Yep, after warming the tortillas on both sides in a cast iron skillet, place them immediately into a freezer bag, and close.  You will immediately see the tortilla creating steam in the bag, and this will keep it pliable till ready to use.  Keep adding the tortillas as they come out of the skillet.  You only need to heat them for about 25-30 seconds in the skillet set over medium high heat.  It should be totally pliable before you add it to the bag.  I usually do 5 or 6 at a time and fill and roll.  Then I go back and heat up more tortillas.

This works for all sorts of tortillas.  Whether it is for enchiladas, or tacos, the freezer bag is your friend! 

*The corn tortillas I am using here are white corn, which means that they won’t get the lovely golden colour that other tortillas will achieve when baked up or fried. But they still taste great.  I will say, a flour/corn tortilla blend makes for a slightly less thick and hard tortilla, which is easier to eat.  If you don’t have to eat gluten free, and can source a flour-corn blended tortilla, go for it.  And of course small flour tortillas make for the most tender and crisp result.

What to Serve With Taquitos

The first thing I always make for these (or any time I want a good guacamole) is a good Poblano Guacamole.  This is a flavourful chunky guacamole with simple ingredients, plus the bonus of a cumin roasted chopped poblano pepper.  This adds a smokey nuance to the guacamole, giving it real depth.  It’s so good I just want to eat it with a spoon! 

For this guacamole (recipe included below), you will need avocados, onion, cilantro, jalapeño pepper, lime, salt, cumin and a poblano pepper.

I like to chop everything and mix it with a fork.  The avocado flesh is scooped into a bowl and mashed with lime juice till smooth but still somewhat chunky.  Add the chopped onion, jalapeño pepper and season with salt.  You can stop here and it would be good.  You could add chopped tomato as well, but I’m one of those that doesn’t like tomato in guacamole (that’s why we have pico de gallo or salsa on the table as well).  But if you fold in the roasted cumin and olive oil tossed chopped poblano pepper till smokey and tender, it adds such a fantastic flavour.  Try it!

Cilantro Rice Makes This Dinner!

As mentioned, Cilantro Lime Rice is a favourite way to turn these into a meal. 

Here’s a quick way as to how to make my Cilantro Rice.  Take your favourite rice method, and just add a couple of ingredients.  You will chop a small onion and sauté it in oil (in your rice cooker or on the stove in a pot.  After a minute, the rice and coat it in the oil, stirring it to start cooking. After 3 minutes, you will add chopped garlic, and water or stock, and salt.  Follow the method you usually use, until the rice is cooked through and is tender.  When it is ready to be fluffed with a fork, add chopped fresh cilantro leaves and tender stems as well as lime zest and lime juice.  How much of both is up to you, but 1/2 cup chopped cilantro, and one lime zest and juice should be good for four servings.  You can follow my method for Jeera Rice, substituting with these ingredients for the perfectly fluffed rice every time.

Final Thoughts

If you have some salsa leftover in the fridge, why not add a couple of tablespoons to the filling? Extra zing.  You can also use sautéed ground chicken, pork or beef.  Or shredded beef instead of the shredded chicken. 

This recipe makes 16 small flour or corn tortilla taquitos.  Yes, you can use medium sized flour tortillas, but you may need to double the filling.  Four per person as part of dinner is great.

You can make these Chicken Taquitos in the oven as I do here, or you can also shallow fry them in a skillet.  Or why not spray them lightly and use your air fryer set at 375F. They will take about 15 minutes, turning them half way through.

You can also re-warm these easily in your air fryer, or in a toaster oven till warmed through. 

These also freeze great, just roll and place on a wax paper lined baking sheet.  Once frozen, place them into a freezer bag.  These will keep in the freezer for up to two months. Bake as directed, right from the freezer, just allowing a bit more time for them to crisp up.