Dinner doesn’t get much easier than these Crispy Baked Chicken Taquitos, which are just as easy to make with turkey as chicken. The recipe calls for just four ingredients and will take you under 20 minutes to make. Add a plate of crunchy vegetables, heat up a dish of black beans, and you have a thoroughly nourishing and very tasty dinner that’s a family favorite in our house.
Healthy and Easy to Make
The fact that these taquitos are baked rather than fried has two distinct upsides. First, you don’t have to bother with a deep fryer or skillet full of oil. That means a whole lot less mess. And because they aren’t deep fried, the finished taquitos are neither greasy nor high in fat.
Four-Ingredient Taquitos
These taquitos call for just four little ingredients: chicken, cheese, salsa, and corn tortillas. It’s a great dish to make when you have leftover chicken to use up. Alternatively, pick up a rotisserie chicken or make a couple of these baked chicken breasts (swap a few teaspoons of taco seasoning or several generous shakes of chili powder for the “everything” seasoning in the recipe).
A Few Tips for Baked Chicken Taquitos
Easy as this recipe is, it may be helpful to know a thing or two before you start.
- Be sure to soften the tortillas in the oven (or microwave) before you roll them up. If not warmed, corn tortillas will tear.
- Don’t stuff the taquitos too full or they won’t roll properly.
- Arranged the taquitos with the seam of the tortillas down on the baking sheet and nuzzle them snug, one against the next. This will keep them in place as they bake. Once baked, they won’t unfurl.
Can you Freeze Homemade Taquitos?
These taquitos freeze well. Bake them as instructed and let them cool completely. Then, wrap in foil followed by a sealable bag or plastic wrap, and freeze. To reheat, put them straight from the freezer into a 400 degree often. Cook until crispy on the outside and warm inside, 15 to 20 minutes.
What to Serve with Taquitos
Taquitos are tailor-made for a side of guacamole. It doesn’t need to be complicated. Just mash together one to two ripe avocados with the juice of one to two limes and several pinches of salt. Taquitos are also tasty served with
- Sour cream
- A drizzle of taco sauce
- Pickled jalapeños
- A squeeze of fresh lime juice.
- Warm canned or homemade black beans
- This Crunchy Slaw
If you like Crispy Baked Chicken Taquitos, check out:
Chicken Quesadillas with Avocado Salsa
Crispy Baked Chicken Taquitos
If you don't have leftover chicken on hand, pick up a rotisserie one at the market, or bake a couple of boneless chicken breasts at 350 degrees until cooked through (about 30 minutes). You can shred the chicken using your hands, chop with a knife, use two forks, or put the chicken in a bowl and use an electric mixer to shred. Make these vegetarian by using equal parts black beans and chopped, cooked vegetables. Freeze the extras for future suppers or school lunches. Reheat in the oven or toaster oven.
Ingredients
- 3 cups shredded cooked chicken
- 1 1/2 cups coarsely grated sharp Cheddar cheese (3 to 4 ounces)
- 1/3 cup mild salsa
- 1 bunch fresh cilantro (optional)
- 12 six-inch corn tortillas
- Olive oil or non-stick cooking spray
- Optional garnishes: guacamole, pickled jalapeños, taco sauce, sour cream, sliced radishes, extra salsa, sliced avocado, lime wedges
Instructions
-
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
-
In a medium bowl, mix together the chicken, cheese, and salsa.
-
Lay the tortillas on a baking sheet (overlapping is fine) and put in the oven to soften, about 1 minute. Remove from oven and lay a slightly moist dish towel over the tortillas to keep them pliable.
-
Set a tortilla on your work surface and arrange 1/4 cup of the chicken mixture in a line down the center. Add 1 to 2 sprigs of cilantro, if desired. Roll the tortilla tightly around the chicken so it is snug in the center, like a big cigar. Set it seam-side-down on the baking sheet.
-
Continue with the remaining tortillas and chicken, lining the taquitos up right next to each other to keep them from unfurling.
-
Use a pastry brush to lightly brush the surface of the taquitos with oil or lightly coat them with non-stick cooking spray.
-
Bake until lightly brown and crispy, 18 to 20 minutes.
-
Serve with any of the optional garnishes.
Comments
02.05.2016 at7:17 AM #
Anne Mullen
I find shredding chicken with two forks really tedious. Is there an easier way that I don’t know about? These look really good…. except for the shredding. Yes; I’m a really lazy cook.
02.05.2016 at7:17 AM #
Katie Morford
I’m a lazy cook too. So lazy, I just use my fingers. You can also pull out a knife and just chop the chicken.
02.05.2016 at7:17 AM #
Jennifer H
You can put it in a stand mixer and use the paddle attachment! Quick and easy, but you have to wash the mixer bowl. 🙂
02.05.2016 at11:37 AM #
Nicole S
Can’t wait to make this. Given my kids recent inspiration to cook because we love watching Master Chef Junior, this seems like a great recipe for the kids to try (while I sit back and have a glass of wine).
02.05.2016 at11:37 AM #
Katie Morford
Exactly!
06.21.2016 at7:38 AM #
Krystal
How do you recommend reheating them if you choose to freeze them for future use?
06.21.2016 at7:38 AM #
Katie Morford
I put them straight into the toaster oven (or regular oven) at 400 until warm and crispy.
07.23.2016 at9:50 PM #
C Stewart
You can purchase Costco pre shredded chicken breasts. They sell packages in the cheese and fresh prepared food area.
09.06.2016 at3:44 AM #
Janet horton
Wish u had nutrition analysis. Would help for diabetics, Weight Watchers, etc. ?
09.06.2016 at3:44 AM #
Katie Morford
Yes, I’m sure that would be helpful, particularly for folks managing their diabetes. Occasionally I will include nutrition information, but to be honest,the work of developing recipes, writing, and photography that are involved with running this blog on my own is as much as I can carve out time for at the moment. I do my best to create food that fits into the context of a healthy diet (with some wiggle room for goodies), which makes nutrition analysis less pressing. I do know that there are free online nutrition analysis programs that are fairly user friendly if you’d like to run the numbers on your own.
01.07.2017 at2:11 PM #
Kristie
I ran these through the Weight Watchers point calculator (newest smart points) recipe builder and it’s 7 points for 2. But I did only use 1 cup of regular cheddar cheese. And some corn tortillas are more caloric, I used some that were 1 point per tortilla. Hope that helps!
01.07.2017 at2:11 PM #
Katie Morford
Thanks Kristie. I’m sure that will be helpful for a lot of folks. Thanks for sharing.
03.03.2017 at11:52 AM #
Jennifer P.
Thinking about making this for dinner. I have canned chicken breast. If I do a good job squeezing out the extra liquid, do you think the flavor will be ok? Anything I’m not thinking of?
03.03.2017 at11:53 AM #
Jenny P.
Thinking about making this for dinner. I have canned chicken breast. If I do a good job squeezing out the extra liquid, do you think the flavor will be ok? Anything I’m not thinking of?
04.24.2017 at12:40 PM #
Sarah
How do you avoid the tortillas breaking? I found your bog in search of a healthier version of a family favorite. Currently, I flash fry the tortillas making them pliable. But of course this adds lots of extra calories. Does simply warming them provide the same effect?
04.24.2017 at12:40 PM #
Katie Morford
You can briefly microwave them or gently warm them in a pan. That should keep them from cracking when you roll them.
12.25.2017 at12:51 AM #
EasyRoasted5
Um This recipe is great Oven Baked Chicken Taquitos This is my spoonfuls of favorite Mexican salsa.I love how easy this sounds and this looks like something my family will love! Thank you for all the wonderful ideas!!!
01.08.2018 at4:04 PM #
Carla S.
After over 50 years of cooking, I finally got a food processor. I definitely don’t mind washing the container. I stopped frying foods about 1990, and as never really liked to cook, you just were expected to in my day, I always look for a recipe that bakes versus fry. And with less steps. The only thing I changed from this recipe is, I stepped up the heat as we prefer spicy. I use hot Rotel instead of salsa. I usually wouldn’t even go to this much trouble as would just buy the commercial frozen ones. But, I happened to have all the ingredients and decided to give it a try. I had tons of everything, they turned out great and have some frozen for snacks, which is how my husband usually eats them. But, for this meal, I made Mexican rice, avocado salad and it made a very nice meal. Thanks for submitting it. To the poster that mentioned canned chicken, I have seen versions of this in recipes, but, my husband would not like it. I have been tempted to try it and not tell him as the spices would probably make it to where it would not be obvious. HMMMM, maybe, someday.
01.08.2018 at4:39 PM #
Carla S.
PS- I forgot to say I used flour tortillas. I prefer them. I have made enchiladas with both and my husband swore he could not tell any difference, which is just nuts. So, since I prefer flour, I use flour. And to the person that said this was not an authentic Mexican recipe, who cares? I live in Texas, we have a lot of Tex-Mex here, California also has their style. I would never use a black bean in anything Tex-Mex, only pintos, but, a lot of American-Mex does use black beans. Again, who cares? If it tastes good, go with it. When I go to Mexico I surely don’t order tacos, taquitos, etc… I want something different that I can’t find at home. Like beef tongue or soups with, (can’t think of the word to save my life, I am old) intestines in it. It will come to me just as I log out.:(
01.08.2018 at4:39 PM #
Alice Miller
Menudo is the soup.
01.15.2018 at4:55 PM #
Sandy Madden
How do you make the guacamole, it looks delicious!
01.15.2018 at4:55 PM #
Katie Morford
I keep it really simple with guacamole. Here is a rough formula: mash together with a fork 1 ripe avocado, 1 tablespoon diced onion, 2 teaspoons lime juice, 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt, a little fresh black pepper.
02.14.2018 at7:11 PM #
Briseida
I’m making this for my husband tonight. I wss lucky to have all ingredients as leftovers from taco night last night. 🤓
02.14.2018 at7:11 PM #
Katie Morford
Wonderful. It’s a perfect leftovers recipe!
10.18.2018 at1:02 PM #
Shanna
This looks really good and I appreciate all the tweaks and comments people posted. A quick guac recipe from a friend of mine who didn’t cook much is, when you go to a Mexican fast food restaurant get some pico de gallo from their salsa bar and grab and avocado. Quick and easy. Also, you can cook your chicken in the crock pot, debone it, save the broth and freeze it and the chicken will already be falling apart so it’s easy to shred. You can also freeze the chicken after it’s cooked.
10.18.2018 at1:02 PM #
Katie Morford
Awesome tips. Love that simple guacamole recipe. Thanks for sharing!
11.20.2018 at6:48 AM #
Maria Capalbo
Hi,.
Can you make these with sliced crispy chicken strips. My son wont eat chicken any other way.
11.20.2018 at6:48 AM #
Katie Morford
Sure. That would work, too.
02.17.2019 at6:53 AM #
Leslie Caffey
I made these easy and wonderful taquitos yesterday. These will remain in my “go to” recipes and I can see how easy it would be to do variations on them, depending on what ingredients you have on hand. They are perfect to make up and store in the freezer for a quick dinner or after school snack. Very tasty!
02.17.2019 at6:53 AM #
Katie Morford
I’m so glad you like them, Leslie. And yes, they’re great for tailoring to whatever you have in the fridge!
06.05.2019 at11:38 AM #
Karen
I bought soft corn tortillas that fell apart and ruined my first attempt at this recipe. Any recommendations? They tasted good anyway but were not pretty. A couple I just folded over with the filling inside.
06.05.2019 at11:38 AM #
Katie Morford
Hi Karen,
Did they fall apart as you were trying to roll then around the chicken? If that’s the case, it can help to warm the tortillas either in the microwave or on the stove so they are less likely to split when you roll them.
06.25.2019 at6:11 PM #
hippie chick
i microwave them in a wet dish towel to keep them moist
10.17.2019 at9:46 AM #
Cathy
I tried this recipe last night and after 20 minutes in the oven, I checked them and they were all cracked and soggy. There was no way to salvage them. Had to throw them away and get take out. Very upsetting because I spent so much time making them,
10.17.2019 at9:46 AM #
Katie Morford
Hi Cathy, I’m so sorry to hear that. I’m not sure why they’d be soggy. You do have to soften the tortillas before rolling so they don’t crack. I think I need to try this again to see if the recipe needs tweaking. Thanks for the comment.
12.01.2019 at2:13 PM #
Judie Tremblett
Omgosh so amazing and crispy!Wayyyyyy better than fried.Family approved!
Thanks so much! Definitely a keeper!😁
12.01.2019 at2:13 PM #
Katie Morford
Yay! Love hearing that.
04.17.2020 at7:01 PM #
Dave
My wife made these tonight and they are fantastic!
We will be having them again.
Thank You!
04.17.2020 at7:01 PM #
Katie Morford
Awesome!
09.15.2021 at9:20 AM #
Gwen
Would you mind sharing the brand of corn tortillas you use? I find them to vary a lot in terms of quality and how well they hold up. I love the taste of corn tortillas, but don’t to buy them and have them tear on me — they’ve torn sometimes on other dishes, even if I’ve warmed them up first or even flash-fried them lightly in a sprayed pan. Maybe getting the right brand is key?
06.11.2023 at2:20 PM #
Fritz
Hi and thanks for the recipe! I’m a middle-aged sray-at-home-dad and father of two. Though I’ve always tried to eat relatively healthy, I’ve been battling weight and trying to keep an eye on blood sugar for a decade. This caused me to take a serious look at not only what I was eating but what I was feeding my kids and how I was shaping their future health. Most all of the processed and pre-made foods in the supermarket are delicious, quick and easy and absolute garbage for your bodies. It’s so nice to find healthier versions of those foods for our special Sunday Splurge Nights. I kept these pretty basic to make them kid friendly and then dressed up the rest in salsa and avocado for me and my wife and they were a big hit. They will definitely be in regular rotation at our home!
06.11.2023 at2:20 PM #
Katie Morford
Thanks for the comment! I’m glad you like the recipe and love your mission to take care of yourself and your family. I bet in time your kids will be trying these with avocado and salsa, too 🙂