Creamy Baked Chicken Taquitos

It’s no surprise that my husband and I love tex-mex food. Our go-to favorite home cooked meals are usually tex-mex, and when we go out to eat, it’s usually at a tex-mex place. Obsessed, much? 🙂

Whenever we go to our favorite tex-mex place, my husband either gets the fajitas or the flautas. I like to know that I can replicate what we eat when we go out, and heck, I can make fajitas, but flautas? Flautas intimidate the heck out of me! Why, you ask? Well, flautas are fried, and I hate frying. I either under-cook or burn the food. It’s always bad when I want to try to fry. I just can’t figure out frying. (I guess that’s a good thing, health-wise!)

When I saw this recipe for taquitos, flautas popped in my head. Sure, taquitos aren’t flautas, but they are pretty dang close! And the best part, these taquitos are baked. Whew…escaped frying once again! 🙂

Let me tell y’all something…these taquitos are NOT the frozen taquitos that you buy in bulk in the frozen section. I swear. The ingredients sound so simple, but whoa, these taquitos are absolutely delicious. My husband even said that this may just be his favorite home-cooked meal that I’ve ever made (and I’ve made a lot of things…this is HUGE folks!)! The combination of cheeses makes these taquitos just like the title says..creamy, and the combination of ingredients just makes these taquitos so flavorful! Now, to note…for the chicken, we used an extra chicken breast that I cooked for these enchiladas, so the flavors were already in the chicken, which I think helped to put this dish over the top, but I’m sure if you use any pre-cooked chicken, these will still taste pretty awesome.

Creamy Baked Chicken Taquitos
Source: mildly adapted from Pink Parsley Blog, originally from Our Best Bites

Ingredients:

• 3 oz cream cheese, softened
• 1/3 cup salsa
• juice of 1/2 a lime
• 1 tsp. chili powder
• 1/2 tsp. ground cumin
• pinch cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tsp. onion powder
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 3 tbsp. chopped scallions
• 2 cups cooked and shredded chicken
• 1/2 cup shredded extra sharp cheddar cheese
• 1/2 cup shredded Pepperjack cheese
• 8-12 (6-inch) corn tortillas
• kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• cooking spray

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees and spray a baking sheet with cooking spray.
2. In a large bowl, combine the cream cheese with the salsa, lime juice, cumin, chile powder, cayenne, onion powder, garlic, cilantro, scallions, and 1/4 tsp kosher salt.  Fold in the chicken and cheeses.  Taste and season with additional salt and pepper if necessary.
3. Working 3 tortillas at a time, stack them on a microwave-safe plate and cover with plastic wrap.  Cook 30 seconds, or until tortillas are soft and pliable.
4. NOTE: Be careful when working with the tortillas…they are hot right out of the microwave! Spoon 2-3 tablespoons of filling onto the lower third of each tortilla, and roll tightly.  Place seam side-down on the prepared baking sheet.  Repeat with remaining tortillas and filling.
5. Spray the taquitos lightly with cooking spray, sprinkle with salt.  Bake 15-20 minutes, or until the tortillas are crisp and golden-brown.  Serve with salsa, sour cream, queso and/or guacamole.