These creamy baked chicken taquitos are a staple for your menu!! We LOVE them and make the regularly. Healthy, crispy, salty, outside and tender chicken. warm cheesy inside! I love how easy it is, how fresh it is, how I always seem to have the ingredients around so when I’m in a pinch or dumbfounded as to what to make for dinner I have this as a backup.
HOW TO MAKE HOMEMADE BAKED CHIKEN TAQUITOS
There are two basic steps to making these taquitos.
- The filling
- How to bake them so they are nice and crispy!
WHAT TYPE OF CHICKEN DO I USE?
The basis for these taquito filling is shredded chicken! It doesn’t really matter how you get that shredded chicken just that you have a few cups of it. Here are a few different options to making the shredded chicken. You can see in my video below I used my instant pot. This is probably the most common for me, but sometimes I just use leftover chicken or rotisserie!
- Pick up a rotisserie chicken! Our favorite rotisserie chicken is from Costco. Pull off all the meat, add salsa and spices, cheese and roll up into corn tortillas.
- Use your pressure cooker. Throw the ingredients in your instant pot for 12 min high pressure, and natural release. The chicken will be pull apart tender. Really easy to shred and add all the cheese goodness, then roll up and bake. I used my mini Instant Pot which I love! It is perfect for small dishes and side dishes!
- If you are going to be gone all day you can use a slow cooker too! Put chicken and ingredients listed below in crock pot and let cook for 6-8 hours until chicken is tender enough to shred.
HOW TO MAKE THE CHICKEN TAQUITO FILLING
Shred your chicken and mix in all your ingredients! it’s THAT.EASY.
HOW TO MAKE THE PERFECT ROLLED TAQUITO!
Corn tortillas can be really tricky to work with because they tend to tear pretty easily. Here are the steps:
- on a plate, place about 15 tortillas and cover with 2 damp paper towels.
- Place in microwave for about 2 minutes. You want them pretty hot.
- Roll immediately from microwave! do not let cool.
- One at a time remove from the stack (cover stack to keep in moisture and heat) fill with chicken filling and roll quickly before it cools.
- DO NOT OVER FILL- it will rip.
- Lay taquito seam side down on baking tray.
HOW TO MAKE HEALTHY CRISPY BAKED CHICKEN TAQUITOS!
The secret to a really great crispy (but not fried!) taquitos is to spray the outside with oil. You definitely need to use a spray so it does a light even layer, coating the tops and sides of the taquitos.
WHAT OILS CAN I USE?
I have used several different oils on my taquitos with success! but again, make sure they are in a spray bottle. the best is an aeresol can.
other great oils:
- avocado oil
- coconut
- olive oil
- canola oil
My very favorite part!! Generously sprinkle a crunchy course salt over the taquitos after you have sprayed them.
I love Redmond’s Real Salt. So good.
Bake and then eat!!
CAN I FREEZE TAQUITOS AFTER THEY ARE BAKED
yes! We love to freeze or refrigerate the leftovers. In the fridge they will last about 2 weeks (if you can keep your hands off them). For the freezer make sure they are in an air tight container or bag and freeze. They will last months like this.
To re-heat wrap in paper towel and heat until warm through. OR place in your air fryer!!
We love to serve these with this
Chunky Guacamole and sour cream!
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It's full of tender chicken, a little bit of cream cheese, spices and a little more cheese. With a crunchy, crispy, salty crust.
- 1/3 c cream cheese
- 1/4 c green salsa
- 1 T fresh lime juice
- 1/2 t cumin
- 1 t chili powder
- 1 t garlic salt
- 3 T chopped cilantro
- 2 T sliced green onions or reg onions
- 2 c cooked shredded chicken
- 1 c grated pepperjack cheese or any cheese you have on hand
- small corn tortillas
- kosher salt
-
Heat oven to 425.
-
Line baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray with cooking spray.
-
Combine all the ingredients except tortillas and salt. Mix well.
-
Place 10-15 corn tortillas on a microwave safe place.
-
Cover with 2 very damp (not dripping wet) paper towels and microwave for 1-1:30.Tortillas will be hot! but you need them hot so work fast.
-
Place 1-2 T of chicken mixture on the lower third of a tortilla, roll as tight as you can. Lay seam side down on baking sheet.
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Spray tops with cooking spray and sprinkle with sea salt (my favorite part)
-
Bake for 15-20 minutes or until edges are crisp and brown.
-
(freeze extras, and to re-heat wrap individually in a paper towel and microwave)
-
Add 2-3 frozen chicken breast into pressure cooker. Add salsa, onions, chili powder, cumin and garlic. Cook 12 minutes high pressure, let natural release.
-
shred chicken and add remaining ingredients. Roll in tortillas.
-
Add 2-3 frozen chicken breast into slow cooker. Add salsa, onions, chili powder, cumin and garlic. Cook 6-8 low. (or 3 high).
-
Shred chicken and add remaining ingredients. Roll in tortillas.
You can double the recipe and freeze the filling. That way you just pull out a batch and thaw it without having to touch a knife or mixing bowl before dinner.
PRESSURE COOKER: Cook chicken in pressure cooker--2-3 chicken breasts in 1/2 c green salsa. Close and lock lid and valve, poultry setting for 12 minutes with natural release. Drain liquid, shred, then use chicken as directed in recipe.
WHAT TYPE OF CHICKEN DO I USE?
The basis for these taquito filling is shredded chicken! It doesn't really matter how you get that shredded chicken just that you have a few cups of it. Here are a few different options to making the shredded chicken. You can see in my video below I used my instant pot. This is probably the most common for me, but sometimes I just use leftover chicken or rotisserie!
- Pick up a rotisserie chicken! Our favorite rotisserie chicken is from Costco. Pull off all the meat, add salsa and spices, cheese and roll up into corn tortillas.
- Use your pressure cooker. Throw the ingredients in your instant pot for 12 min high pressure, and natural release. The chicken will be pull apart tender. Really easy to shred and add all the cheese goodness, then roll up and bake. I used my mini Instant Pot which I love! It is perfect for small dishes and side dishes!
- If you are going to be gone all day you can use a slow cooker too! Put chicken and ingredients listed below in crock pot and let cook for 6-8 hours until chicken is tender enough to shred.
HOW TO MAKE THE PERFECT ROLLED TAQUITO!
Corn tortillas can be really tricky to work with because they tend to tear pretty easily. Here are the steps:
- on a plate, place about 15 tortillas and cover with 2 damp paper towels.
- Place in microwave for about 2 minutes. You want them pretty hot.
- Roll immediately from microwave! do not let cool.
- One at a time remove from the stack (cover stack to keep in moisture and heat) fill with chicken filling and roll quickly before it cools.
- DO NOT OVER FILL- it will rip.
- Lay taquito seam side down on baking tray.
These look So good! You have two different pressure cooker methods listed though — in the recipe, it says 12 minutes on high, but in the notes it says 10 minutes on poultry. Which do you recommend? Thanks in advance, i cant wait to try these!
Thanks! It’s corrected ;)
“crispy” “creamy” “salty” – love all of these words hahahahah can’t WAIT to make
I love, love, love this recipe! And so does my husband. He prefers it with turkey, but it chicken is what I do most. A little putzy with steaming the tortillas, but so worth the end result. Thanks for sharing this.
My husband and I just love this recipe and I’ve made it several times, but the tortillas get so hard that they are hard to eat. Any suggestions for keeping them from getting so hard??
I have made this every week for the past three months. WE LOVE THEM!
Lisa! This makes me so happy! Thank you for your comment’