This Chicken Taquito recipe is one of the all-time most popular recipes on Our Best Bites. The story behind it is interesting, too. I was actually making something entirely different that I planned on entering into a recipe contest. That recipe was somewhat of a flop, but the filling I came up with was amazing and I thought it would make an incredible filling for a crispy taquito. So I said forget-it to the recipe contest, and re-worked the filling in these crispy oven-baked taquitos, and turns out it was one of the best decisions ever, as this recipe has become a beloved family favorite all over the country.
These come together fairly quickly, and an awesome bonus is that these freeze (unbaked) beautifully so you can make extra and have a meal for later.
You’ll need some cooked, shredded or diced chicken for this recipe. You can use a mix of dark and/or white meat, or whatever is easiest. For me, easiest is often a rotisserie chicken from Costco.
The “creamy” component in this recipe comes from a couple of things. For starters, I use a little bit of cream cheese. It melts together with the shredded jack cheese to make an awesome creamy texture that coats the chicken.
You can use either plain Jack cheese, or pepper jack if you’d like a little more heat.
Some other things go in there for tons of flavor, like some green salsa,
green onions, fresh lime juice, and plenty of seasonings.
Just mix it all up and your filling is done.
You’ll place a few tablespoons on small flour, or corn tortillas and roll them up tight. You’ll want to keep your filling about an inch away from both ends because it will leak out the ends. Another trick is to roll them tight. Don’t be loosey-goosey or they’ll fall apart.
Once you get them all rolled up, you can either bake them immediately, OR
save them for later. I’ve taken these to friends in a bag like this one below. They’re great in the fridge for a few days and you can bake them up as needed. Or you can freeze them and bake them straight from the freezer. It’s totally worth it to make a double batch so you can pop one in the freezer!
To bake them immediately, lightly spray a foil-lined baking sheet with non-stick spray, or brush lightly with oil. Place the taquitos in a single layer, not touching each other, and then lightly brush the tops with olive oil, or give them a quick spray of non-stick spray and sprinkle lightly with kosher salt.
Bake them in the oven until they turn golden brown, especially on the edges.
You can see how the bottoms totally crisp up
and while that outside tortilla is perfectly crisp, the inside layers are soft and awesome.
These are seriously amazing.
It is absolutely mandatory to serve them with our Creamy Lime-Cilantro dressing for dipping, but they’re also good with good ol’ salsa, sour cream, and guacamole.
If you’ve seriously never tried these, today is your day. Put them on your menu plan!
Baked Creamy Chicken Taquitos
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup 3 oz cream cheese (low fat is fine, avoid fat free)
- 1/4 cup green salsa
- 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/4 teaspoon granulated garlic or garlic powder
- 3 Tablespoon chopped cilantro
- 2 Tablespoon sliced green onions
- 2 C shredded cooked chicken for extra yumminess, use grilled taco chicken!
- 1 C grated pepperjack or plain jack cheese
- small flour or corn tortillas
- kosher salt
- cooking spray or olive oil
Instructions
For the filling
- Heat cream cheese in the microwave for about 20-30 seconds so it's soft and easy to stir.
- Add green salsa, lime juice, cumin, chili powder, onion powder and granulated garlic.
- Stir to combine and then add cilantro and green onions.
- Add chicken and cheese and combine well.
- (You can prepare up to this step ahead of time. Just keep the mixture in the fridge.)
For the taquitos
- Heat oven to 425. Line a baking sheet with foil and lightly coat with cooking spray.
- If using corn tortillas, work with a few tortillas at a time and heat in the microwave, wrapped in damp paper towels until they are soft enough to roll without cracking. Usually 20-30 seconds will do it. If using flour tortillas straight from the fridge, it helps to warm them in the microwave so they're easier to roll.
- Place 2-3 T of chicken mixture on the lower third of a tortilla, keeping it about 1 inch from the edges. Roll up tortillas and place seam down on a baking sheet, not touching one another. Spray lightly with cooking spray, or lightly brush with olive oil and sprinkle lightly with kosher salt. Place pan in oven and bake for 15-20 minutes or until crisp and the ends start to get golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool slightly before serving. Dip in sour cream, or our favorite: Creamy Lime-Cilantro Ranch.
For the freezer instructions
- Prepare the taquitos through rolling them out and placing them on the baking sheet. Place the baking sheet in the freezer and freeze until solid, then transfer to a large freezer bag. When ready to cook, preheat oven to 425 and place the taquitos on a lined baking sheet. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown and crispy.
Wanna make it a meal?
Serve with a side of Black Beans and a simple green salad with Creamy Lime-Cilantro Dressing. Wash it down with some Brazilian Lemonade!
Looking for the beef version? It’s right here!
Lastly, recently this recipe was noted in an article in the Chicago Sun-Times where the author noted that they were “some of the best taquitos I’ve ever had”
I’ll take it!
Questions & Reviews
Do you think these would freeze well? I am always thinking of things to freeze for my husband to take to work… Thanks!
I've been making chimichungas with the same, healthier techinique for a long time! My husband prefers the baked versions over the fried! I'm making the breakfast taquitos right now!
This recipe has become a staple in our menu! These are so incredibly flavorful and a huge crowd pleaser. It is nice that they're not fried but still have a great crunch!
Thanks for another great recipe.
LOL! I just read back in the comments and it looks like I said the same thing back in August! I guess it goes to show how much we really like it!
I wanted to tell you guys how often I use this technique now! I rarely make the actual recipe, but my family LOVES having "Crispy Beef and Bean Burritos". I fill up flour tortillas with refried beans, ground beef, and seasoning and bake them they same way as directed in this recipe. It is always a hit. I've also been known to sneak leftovers into the tortillas, and something about that crispy outside makes my family swill it. Tonight I filled it up with some leftover chicken, rice, a can of beans and some salsa and it got inhaled by everyone and no complaints about "leftovers".
I've also discovered that my burrito versionn freezes really well and it is cheaper than buying prepackaged burritos.
Fabulous! These are so amazing. I've recently discovered your site, and am in LOVE! These were a huge hit with my family and are now a common request by the Mister. Love, Love, Love your site. I can't stop cooking your stuff…it's all so yummy!
I just made these for dinner tonight and I LOVE them!! They seem to be popular with the whole fam. They are easy too. My husband grilled chicken last night while the grill was still hot for me to use in these. I think the chicken/cheese mixture would make a great dip with Fritos Scoops. 🙂 Thanks for the recipe!
Love your blog…everything I have tried is wonderful (and I have tried a lot in the last month since I discovered it)! I can't rave enough…thanks for sharing your amazing recipes.
Question about the taquitos: I am making a bunch for a freezer meal swap and I am debating if I should freeze the taquitos before baking or if I should bake them, cool, then freeze. What do you recommend?
They are so good…can't wait to share some with friends 🙂 Thanks!!
I keep browsing your blog for last couple of months and tried at least 5 recipes all of them turn out yummy.
Today this one was on my list and Oh Men!!! so easy and delicious!
We had these for dinner tonight and they were very good! Thank you for sharing your recipe!
I made these tonight and WOW!!! Instead of the green salsa I used a red chipotle salsa I had on hand (so I omitted the cilantro & green onions) and used flour tortillas. They turned out almost like our favorite store brand but EVEN BETTER! Even my 9 yr old picky eater went back for seconds!
I am trying to replace store bought convenience foods (like taquitos) with home-made versions & these are just perfect!!!
I am new to the site & I just love how you include tips for using leftovers, freezing, and pre-preparing items! I can't wait to try more recipes!
As I was popping these into the oven I thought…might as well squeeze out the remaining lime on top! These taquitos are AMAZING without any improvements, but I have to say, we LOVED the extra lime on top! The only other way to crank the yumminess factor past perfect is to dip them in homemade guacamole…I make one just like Chipotle's 🙂
Perfect, thank you! I will be sending friends and family to your site.
Next up are your beef taquitos! : )
MDI- glad you liked them! You could use our recipe for homemade ranch dressing- just cut the buttermilk in half (and if you don't have buttermilk, just use milk) and that should work great. Here's the link:
https://ourbestbites.com/2009/10/buttermilk-ranch-dressing
I made these taquitos the other night with the Creamy Lime Cilantro Dressing for dipping. WOW!!!! My husband and I INHALED these. We ate the leftovers last night and I just made more taquito filling for tonight. Thank you so much! This is DEFINITELY one of those all-time keeper recipes. It will make a great appetizer for parties, too.
One question, I need to make some more dressing/dip, but I am out of ranch mix. Any ideas?
I made this last night and it was a HUGE hit! My DH is sick of chicken, and he said it's "stupid good!" (that's a compliment!) and my kids said it was the best thing I ever cooked! THANK YOU!
Xeyed Mary- I'm so glad these were a hit with your family! I freeze them unbaked, but you could probably freeze them baked as well.
If you freeze unbaked, do you spray with cooking spray and sprinkle with salt before freezing?
Nah, do that before baking
I also made these last night for the first time- OH.MY.GOD!!
They were a huge hit. Daughter took the last one to work to reheat for lunch and texted me to please make these often.
Do I bake them and then freeze, or freeze them unbaked? I can foresee needing to have these in wait in the freezer at all times!
I also printed out your beef taquito recipe- you can bet I'll be trying that! Thanks!
Made these tonight but used red salsa {didn't have green} and they turned out FANTASTIC! Thank you!
Meridee- it's not quite the same, but you could use it in a pinch!
Is green salsa the same thing as your green enchilada sauce? I have some of that in the freezer.
I tried these and loved them so much I had to post a link to them on my blog. Thanks for a new favorite!
My husband and I love these so much. Today he saw I was making them again and he practically peed his pants he was so excited!
I love your blog, thanks so much for sharing.
I'm making these for a party, and I added a veggie option made of black beans, carmelized cumin onions, and sharp cheddar. This is such a great technique, thanks again!
I have never had a better taquito in my life!!! These were so scrumptious, whole family loved them, thanks so much for sharing 🙂
I just stumbled on your site because I am OBSESSED with cadbury mini-eggs and love the cookie recipe, and found myself (three hours later) still bookmarking recipes I wanted to try. These taquitos were a huge hit! Thank you! I also prefer flour tortillas, so I used the uncooked kinda you buy at Costco–heavenly. 🙂
Did you cook the tortillas before rolling them or did you roll them raw and then baked them?
This look delicious! Thanks for the recipe – I'm adding it to my monthly meal plan for next month!
I finally got around to making this-used your "fauxotisserie" chicken recipe, too -will do that often now that I've tried it. These were wonderful with flour tortillas. We had leftovers for lunch today and I pan-fried them in just a little bit of oil and it really crisped up the tortillas.
My 1 yr old loves these as much as my 6 and 7 yr olds. I have to double up or we don't have enough for dinner. My kids think I am awesome because I can make "takguidos". I love you for mentioning the flour tortillas because I would have never thought it. Thanks for all the great "spicy" recipes!
These are amazing! I've been making them and freezing them. So, before baking, I cool them in the fridge, then wrap them individually in plastic wrap and throw them in a freezer bag. I love that I don't even have to thaw them to bake them!! Just bake at 425 for 20 minutes and they are perfect!! Thank you!!!
When you freeze these, do you still spray them with non stick spray or oil?