Our chicken taquitos recipe will help you make a large batch of crispy treats for dinner in just 40 minutes.
If you love taquitos, you’re in for a treat. With this recipe, we’re showing you how to make fat, crunchy rolls of meat and cheese for dinner (in a healthier way than usual).
This recipe makes 4 servings so you can share it or stick it in the freezer and save some for future meals.
What Is a Taquito?
A taquito is a Mexican staple of meat and cheese rolled up in corn tortillas and deep-fried to crispy perfection. It’s a snack everyone adores — crunchy on the outside, flavorful and oozing on the inside.
The dish is typically served with a dip, such as sour cream or guacamole. We’re serving ours with guacamole, because it’s full of healthy fats and ooh so creamy.
Flautas vs Taquitos
Flautas are almost identical to taquitos. They’re also deep-fried tortilla rolls, but made with wheat flour tortillas instead and often come in larger sizes.
If these two tick your boxes, enchiladas probably do, too. They’re similar to Flautas or taquitos, but instead of being deep-fried, they’re baked with tomato sauce and topped with cheese.
Is Chicken Taquito Recipe Healthy?
Taquitos are often deep-fried, so they often come with loads of calories that you don’t want to consume. Ours, however, are baked in the oven instead, so you don’t have to consume any excess grease and gain unnecessary calories.
Our recipe also complies with the USDA’s dietary guidelines — calories, saturated fat, and sodium levels are all within allowance. We make it possible by using less (but enough) cheese and going easy on the salt.
For more details, here’s a comparison of what each serving contains and what the USDA recommends.
Besides, we add a healthy twist to the filling: cooked zucchini. It not only keeps the interior moist, but also adds fiber and several micronutrients.
Thanks to these changes, the taquitos are a little healthier.
Main Chicken Taquitos Ingredients
Let’s get to what builds these flavorful, crispy rolls.
1. Corn Tortilla
Corn tortillas are a must for taquitos, by definition. It’s an awesome gluten-free carb option in the world of flour and bread.
But to make a healthy dish, we’ve found you a low-sodium option (link for purchase is available in the recipe card). It also comes in just the right size to make indulgent rolls.
2. Chicken
The traditional version uses minced beef, but we just felt like trying something new. Chicken is a leaner, more-affordable protein option, and we’re happy to say it works just fine.
Still prefer beef? We get it — nothing compares to the flavor of ground beef browned by its own rendered fat. Simply opt for 85% lean ground beef instead of chicken for this recipe, and you still have a healthy, delicious meal.
3. Zucchini
If you don’t see yourself having zucchini in a separate dish, this is a smart way to sneak it into your diet. It helps the filling retain moisture and keeps us nurtured (as well as regular!)
4. Aromatics and Spices
The key to flavorful rolls is the right amount of seasonings and aromatics.
The chicken-zucchini filling is stir-fried with onions until it all becomes translucent and browns a bit. Onion is a crucial element for sweetness and caramelization.
Then for the seasoning, we just add cumin and pepper powder — the basics. If you want to, go wild with adobo sauce, smoked paprika, cayenne, or anything that gives the filling a kick.
5. Cheese
For this recipe, we’re using two types of cheese: ched and mozz.
As we said before, we’ve kept the fat content in check, so you can rest assured and enjoy the stringy deliciousness.
With the ingredients gathered, let’s get cooking.
How to Roll Chicken Taquitos
If you’ve never rolled taquitos before, don’t be intimidated because it’s easy.
- Place a tortilla sheet on your cutting board;
- Scoop a good amount of the filling and place it in the middle of the tortilla;
- Use your spoon to spread the filling out (not the entire tortilla), but a horizontal line in the middle. Something like this image.
- Top the filling with cheese, then grab the tortilla half on your side, fold it over the filling pile (don’t squish the filling). Steadily roll the tortilla up like a cigar, then place it seam-side down in your baking dish.
Corn tortillas can get dry quick and become stiff, harder to work with if left in the open air. You can either place a damp kitchen towel on top of the tortillas stack, or heat in briefly in the oven.
What to Serve With Baked Chicken Taquitos
Your experience with taquitos will be greatly enhanced with the right side dishes:
Going with crunchy taquitos is everyone’s favorite dip: guacamole. You can either dip the rolls in it or whip out some crispy Doritos, or both, which is what we’re doing.
And to round the meal off, add a glass of lightly sweet watermelon juice.
Preserving Chicken Taquitos
We highly recommend that you bake just enough to eat and leave no leftovers. Taquitos taste best with their crunchy shell, and reheating them won’t recreate that texture.
If you want quick taquitos, we suggest that you keep unbaked taquitos in the freezer. Roll as many as you can, keep them in the freezer, and take them out to bake (or fry) when you need to.
As the filling is frozen, we suggest thawing the rolls for at least 2 hours before baking. Then you only need to bake it at the same temperature for 5 minutes longer (20 in total).
To have perfectly cooked chicken every time, check out our amazing chicken roundup.
Taquito Variations
This section is dedicated to all the taquito cousins.
1. Beef Taquitos
Ground beef is what the traditional taquitos recipe calls for, and it’s amazing. We love the balance of 85% lean ground beef — low on fat, high on excellent flavors.
2. Chicken Taquitos
If you want lean taquito rolls, chicken breast is the protein you want to go with. Since chicken breast can be dry, there should be a juicy vegetable to keep the filling moist, like the zucchini we’re using.
3. Pork Taquitos
Pressure-cooked pulled pork makes an awesome filling for taquitos. Unlike other versions, you’ll find an extra juicy filling as you break the shell open.
4. Vegan Taquitos
With the correct spices, cooked jackfruit meat tastes (and eats!) similar to well-seasoned chicken strips. They make a great vegan alternative for this taquitos recipe.
There’s also a great meat alternative that’s been making headlines recently — seitan, which is made of gluten. It’s chewy in texture, and if well-seasoned, makes for a great chicken alternative.
Here are a few of our favorite recipes with flour tortillas:
Baked Chicken Taquitos Recipe
This baked chicken taquitos recipe will help you make crispy rolls of flavorful chicken and zucchini. All served in just 40 minutes.
- cook TIME 30 mins
- prep TIME 10 mins
- total TIME 40 mins
- COURSE Main Course
- CUISINE Mexican
- SERVINGS servings
- CALORIES 425 kcal
INGREDIENTS
- 12 oz skinless boneless chicken breast (ground, blended, or finely minced)
- 8 6-inch corn tortillas
- 8 oz onions (finely diced)
- 5.3 oz zucchini (grated)
- 2 oz cheddar cheese (grated)
- 1.5 oz mozzarella cheese (whole milk)
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tsp unsalted chili powder
- 1 tsp ground cumin
INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat the oven to 425°F. Heat up a large skillet over medium heat. Add 2 tbsp unsalted butter and 8 oz diced onions. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add 2 tsp chili powder and 1 tsp ground cumin; mix in with the onions.
Add 12 oz ground/minced/processed chicken breast and season with 1/4 tsp salt. Break down the chicken chunks into small pieces. Cook for 4 minutes. Add 5.3 oz grated zucchini and mix in with the chicken. Cook for 2 minutes. Turn off the heat and set aside.
Warm 8 tortillas by baking them for 2 minutes in the oven. Stack them and place a damp kitchen towel over. Take one tortilla sheet and put it on the cutting board, add the filling, sprinkle cheese on top, and start rolling. Repeat with the remaining tortillas.
Brush with olive oil and bake for about 15 minutes.
Transfer to a serving plate and sprinkle chopped parsley to garnish. Serve with guacamole and beverage.
- You may want to work quickly when you fold the taquitos because corn tortillas dry out very fast. A good tip to keep them from hardening is to cover them with a dampened kitchen towel.
- If they do dry out, however, you can sprinkle or spray a bit of water on them and bake for 1 minute to make them pliable again.
NUTRITION
Tuyet Pham
Chef, Culinary Consultant
Luna Regina
Writer, Author
Lizzie Streit, MS, RDN, LD
Nutrition Reviewer
- Sandra
August 6, 2020 at 9:34 PM
Loved it. My kids loved it. They really enjoyed helping me wrap the taquitos!