These easy chicken flautas are so fun and simple to make. Using rotisserie chicken (or any leftover chicken-I love to use smoke two whole chickens when I make this recipe and save the extra) onions, peppers, cheese make this a quick dish to enjoy.
Whether you call them taquitos or flautas, (traditionally taquitos are made with corn tortillas and flautas are made with flour tortillas) the terms are often used interchangeably.
These fried tubes resemble a flute (the musical instrument), thus the name of flautas (pronounced flaw tuhz). They can be filled with a variety of meats, but as wonderful as they taste, the best part is the toppings—salsa, pico de gallo, guacamole, sour cream—customize to your heart’s content.
Tips for Making Easy Chicken Flautas
To make successful chicken flautas, start with the filling; shred the chicken into bite-size pieces, so the filling is easy to wrap. Since the onions and peppers are not pre-cooked, make sure you cut the ingredients into small even pieces.
The combination of cream cheese and shredded cheese is what makes the filling moist. But don’t overdo the cheese or you will have a mess in the oil.
My favorite tip is to use uncooked flour tortillas for the flautas. Follow the package directions but slightly undercook since they will also be cooked in the oil. An added bonus is these tortillas are thin so they roll easily without breaking.
Arrange the filling ingredients (about 3 tablespoons) in a strip at the bottom third of the tortilla so the filling extends to within 1/2” of each end. Pull the bottom tortilla flap up and over to enclose the filling. Press down firmly and tightly roll up tortilla to form a cylinder. Use a toothpick to securely close the tube.
Carefully lower each flauta into heated oil, no more than 3-4 at a time. Turn the tortillas so they become golden brown on all sides. The longer you cook, the crispier they become. When cook to your desired doneness, remove with tones and place on a paper towel-lined tray.
Remove the toothpick as soon as the flautas are cool enough to handle. Repeat until all the tortillas have been rolled and fried.
Make it a Fiesta
Serve the flautas with your favorite mexican condiments. Check out the post below for recipes.
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Easy Chicken Flautas
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 12 servings 1x
- Category: Entree, appetizer
- Method: stovetop
- Cuisine: Tex Mex
Description
It is so fun to make your own easy chicken flautas using rotisserie chicken, rolled in a flour tortilla, and quickly fried. So tasty and impressive.
Ingredients
- 1–1/2 cups rotisserie chicken meat, cooked and shredded
- 1/2 cup Vidalia onion or sweet onion, finely diced (about 1/2 cup)
- 1/2 red bell pepper, finely diced (about 1/2 cup)
- 2 green onions, finely sliced (about 1/4 cup)
- 2 ounces cream cheese, softened to room temperature
- 1/2 cup shredded pepper jack cheese
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 12 ready-to-cook flour tortillas
- Vegetable Oil for Frying
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, shred the chicken meat into bite-size pieces. Add the onion, bell pepper, green onion and stir to mix.
- Make sure the cream cheese is warm, (heat in microwave for 45 seconds if necessary). Add the warm cream cheese and shredded cheese to the bowl . Stir to coat the chicken and vegetables. Add the cumin, salt and pepper and mix until the ingredients form a paste-like texture.
- In a shallow frying pan, par cook the flour tortillas. Set aside.
- In a deeper frying pan, add oil to reach a depth of 2 inches. Heat over medium heat to 375°F. Use a thermometer to verify the proper temperature.
- Arrange a tortilla and add about 3 tablespoons of chicken filling to bottom third of the tortilla. Spread the chicken mixture in a line so the filling extends to within 1/2” of each end.
- Pull the bottom of the tortilla up and over to enclose the filling. Press down firmly and tightly roll up tortilla to form a cylinder.
- Use a toothpick to securely close the tube to prevent it from unrolling.
- Repeat with the remaining tortillas.
- Fry each flauta in the vegetable oil, turning so all sides cook to a golden brown (about 5 minutes). Fry longer to get a crisper tortilla.
- Transfer the cooked flauta to a paper-lined tray to cool. Repeat until all the tortillas have been cooked.
- Remove the toothpicks from each flauta.
- Serve with chopped lettuce, cheese, sour cream and offer pico de gallo, guacamole and chile con queso. Garnish with chopped cilantro.
Notes
You can refrigerate or freeze any extra filling to make more flautas at a later date.
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