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
I made these yesterday and they ROCK! My husband couldn't stop saying how delicious they were. I took them to work for lunch today, and again they were excellent! I think this will be my next dinner with friends. It's perfect because it makes a lot for a little. THANK YOU so much!
Kate & Sara –
I just found out about your site last month. I have already spent HOURS perusing your recipes (I love to cook and am such a foodie), have ordered your cookbook and am counting the days until it is released and just tonight made this recipe. My husband and 7-year-old loved the taquitos. Next time I'm making at least a double batch and will freeze some. Thanks so much for making cooking even more fun and sharing your tried and true recipes! I live in Logan so if I hear of any book signings I'm comin' over!
These have become standard football snacking fare around our house! We love them with shredded pork (that I slow cook with a spice rub in the crock pot) the best. And I even tried a vegetarian version for company. I kept everything else the same, but instead of meat used 1 cup black beans, 1 cup roasted corn and a handful of roasted red peppers. They were awesome and I loved being able to make one thing that pleased my entire family- meat eaters and vegetarians alike. Thanks for a terrific recipe!
So yummy! Figured out a neat little trick to combat the cracking corn tortillas. I tried heating them and they still cracked. So I had a couple more I had to make after dinner. I sprayed both sides of the tortilla with no stick spray and then heated them in the microwave. They were perfect, just like when you dip them in oil only these aren't covered in fat. Thanks for the fantastic recipe!
Yup, same instructions, they freeze great.
Can these be frozen using the same freezer directions as the beef ones? Or will these not work as well frozen?
I made these last night…SO yummy. Reheated them for lunch in the microwave and they were just as good…so yum!
Thank you! I am new to cooking…so I was not sure how easy this "shredding was". You made VERY helpful suggestions. I made these last night for my family,using flour tortillas and corn. Everyone voted on the flour. But the corn ones are more healthy. Your site has helped inspire me to cook more, and my family is so thankfu!-Tara
We made these for our small group and they were a huge hit! They are going into the rotation in our dinner arsenal.
ilovecroc- here's a few options!
1. Make your own using any of the methods in this tutorial:
https://ourbestbites.com/2010/02/how-to-cook-chicken-breasts.html
2. Buy a rotisserie chicken from the store
3. Use pre-cooked frozen chicken strips (just thaw in the microwave and chop or shred)
Could you suggest a quick easy way to get shredded chicken for this recipe? Please? Thank you =) -Tara
Thank you, thank you, thank you! This is the recipe that brought me to your yummy blog and got me hooked. After making them the first time, my husband came home the next night and asked when we could have them again — he'd been craving them all day! I've made them many times since then and just spent the last couple of days making a big batch of both the chicken and the chipotle beef versions so I could have plenty on hand in the freezer. ***One thought/suggestion — if you're lucky enough to live near a Costco that carries the uncooked flour tortillas, I'd definitely recommend using those. It makes the assembly process so easy (no worries about breaking tortillas), and the flavor is unbeatable. Just keep an eye on them in the oven — mine take about 9-10 minutes to cook. Delicious!!!
This is absolutely amazing! They taste JUST like a restaurant! I was apprehensive about the taste, but WOW! It is a bit spicy, so not sure what is causing that. The lime and cilantro really come through on the taste. Both corn and flour are really good. Thanks sooo much! I am definitely keeping this recipe!
My husband said the same thing as all the other husbands…"This is a keeper!" I used the corn tortillas, but will try the flour next time.
Thanks for sharing this! Yummmmm!
My husband doesn't prefer chicken. I made these anyway (because *I like* chicken, heh) and he said something to the effect of, 'See, if you'd cook with chicken like this, I like it.' In other words, we have a winner. 🙂 Oh and as for my opinion, loved them; I used flour tortillas btw and yes….. so very, very tasty!
These were so yummy! I'm 34 weeks pregnant and have been doubling meals to freeze for when the baby comes, so I doubled these. They were actually so easy to make. I had cooked the chicken ahead and just had to throw them together. We loved them! I served them with the cilantro lime rice and some corn. Thanks for such a great recipe!
Thanks you're a peach! I made the double batch as I mentioned earlier, however, I don't think they're all going to make it to the freezer (if any!) Hubby took one bite and said, "Wow, this is a keeper." We ate it with your lime rice ("Another keeper" in his words) and brazilian lemonade. This was in the same week we had chunky monkey pancakes for dinner =) as well as your black bean soup. I used to think I was a bad cook, now I'm convinced I just had bad recipes! Cooking is fun again b/c I'm always enjoying the results! I love how ya'lls recipes are non-time consuming and 100% there in flavor. We've got french dip sandwich meat in the crockpot for tonight and I'll be making your tortellini soup this week too. As well as your Thai noodles…and coconut chicken… did I mention I'm hooked? Well, I am. Love love love you guys! Btw, I'm a newbie to the site and I love how you have links sprinkled throughout your food posts. Like when you say, "Goes well with…" or "if you have leftovers of this, use it in this…" Yeah. My kitchen has seen more of me in these last two weeks than it has in a long time. Thanks again for sharing your talents!
Jenissa- you can do it either way. You don't have to thaw them, you can just stick them right on the sheet frozen (spray the sheet first) or if it's more convenient to let them thaw out in the fridge that works too!
these look great… I am making a double batch tonight so that I can freeze some extra while to eat when our kitchen is gutted next week/month/whenever hubby gets to it. One question, I plan on freezing them unbaked, and I'm wondering, when I cook them, do I need to thaw them, or do I just toss them on a baking sheet frozen, and then spray them w/cooking spray and salt (or do you do that step before you freeze?) thanks so much!
Made these with the Cilantro Lime Dipping sauce and the black beans. WOW! Amazing – all had quite a kick as I didn't hold back on the salsa, hot sauce or spices – boyfriend (whose awful picky) stated – You can make these again! Big win in our house. visiting g/f loved them 🙂
(I used flour fyi)
Sooo good – I might just have to make everything on your blog….
Adrienne- you can do it either way. I personally assemble first and freeze before baking.
Quick question about freezing – do you freeze after you have cooked them and then reheat them or do you freeze after you have assembled but not cooked? Thanks! I'm jonesin' for some mexican food!
Oh man, these look awesome. I plan on trying them. I'll blog about my results as well (with you as a reference site, of course (:)
Made these yesterday evening and they were yummy! Great flavor! I've always had the frozen kind and never thought about making them myself until I saw this recipe. These are much better than the frozen kind (and better for you too, I'm sure) and easy to make. Thank you!
I made these last night and they were wonderful! I will definitely be adding this to our favorite dinner recipes! We had them with a side of homemade guacamole, sour cream, black beans and spicy corn. 12 tortillas came in my package and I didn't have any filling left over – it was the perfect amount. I can't wait to eat the leftovers tonight.
We LOVE this recipe! It has become a family favorite, almost a staple, really. We prefer the flour tortillas, but the corn were much tastier than I expected.
We've also converted at least 5 more families to this site, based on this recipe alone. You gals are FANTASTIC, and I look forward to your new recipes!
These are so yummy! Thank you! I really liked them with the flour tortillas.
My husband and I loved these! Thanks!
These were very yummy! However I would suggest using flour tortillas instead. The corn tortillas still cracked pretty bad even when I heated them and followed the instructions.
Thanks for the great recipe!
p.s. I only had regular salsa on hand and they were still fabulous! I will have to try the green salsa next time!
OH. MY. GOODNESS! These were so awesome! I made the filling ahead of time and snuck a taste – and was so excited because I knew they were going to be delicious. And they were! Thanks so much for an awesome recipe, I'll be trying many more!