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Filled with chicken, cheese and salsa, and topped with fresh corn salsa, these chicken flautas are a quick and delicious dinner the whole family will love.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe!
When my kids were younger one of our favorite ways to use up leftover meat was to make taquitos or flautas. A flauta is basically a rolled up taco that is filled with meat, cheese or chicken. You can use the delicious chicken recipe below or use up any leftover meat you may have on hand for a quick and easy chicken flautas recipe.
What is the Difference between a Flauta and a Taquito?
Flautas are made with flour tortillas and taquitos are made with corn tortillas.
Ingredients Needed
- Chicken breasts. Skinless, boneless
- Canola oil
- Garlic
- Seasonings. Ground cumin, smoked paprika, Mexican oregano, salt and pepper.
- Flour Tortillas
- Salsa
- Cheese. I use a Mexican Cheese Blend, Cheddar Cheese, Monterey Jack or Pepper Jack.
How to Make Chicken Flautas
- Heat 2 Tbsp oil in a skillet and add in diced chicken and garlic. Stir and cook until meat turns white.
- Add in cumin, smoked paprika, Mexican oregano, salt and pepper. Cook until meat is cooked through.
- Place a few tablespoons of chicken mixture into middle of tortilla, top with cheese and salsa. Roll up tortilla and close with a toothpick.
- Heat oil in large frying pan (1/2″ deep) and add in flautas, place seam side down. Use tongs to turn the flautas so they get golden brown on both sides. Drain chicken flautas on paper towels placed on a baking sheet.
- Place on plate on a bed of shredded lettuce, top with queso fresco, avocado, sour cream, hot sauce and corn salsa.
Variations
For the meat you can use whatever leftover meat you have on hand. We like to use:
- Rotisserie Chicken
- Pork Carnitas
- Mexican Shredded Beef
- Mexican Shredded Chicken
- Salsa Chicken
Our favorite thing to top chicken flautas with is corn salsa. We like to use fresh corn but you could also use canned or frozen corn.
How to serve chicken flautas:
- Lettuce
- Sour Cream
- Queso Fresco
- Hot Sauce
- Avocado
- Guacamole
- Pico de Gallo
- Corn Salsa. See below for recipe
Ingredients For Corn Salsa
- Corn
- Jalapeno
- Red onion
- Cilantro
- Lime or lemon juice
- Salt & pepper to taste
How to Make Corn Salsa
- Place ears of corn, with husk on, into microwave. Cook for 10- 12 minutes. Carefully remove from microwave, they will be hot.
- Cut off ends of corn and carefully pull the cob out of the husk. There will be no silk. This works so well!!
- Allow the corn to cool and then use a sharp knife to cut the corn off the cob.
- Combine corn with remaining ingredients. Salt and pepper to taste.
- Squeeze fresh lime juice or lemon juice over the top. Refrigerate until ready to use.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I make chicken flautas in the oven?
You can bake them in the oven, they just won’t get as golden brown and crispy. Bake at 425 degrees F for 15-20 minutes.
Can you freeze flautas?
They freeze great. Make the flautas in advance and place them in an air tight, freezer container. Thaw overnight in the fridge and then fry them in hot oil before serving.
Some of my other favorite Mexican dishes:
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Chicken Flautas with Corn Salsa
Ingredients
- 2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts diced
- 2 Tbsp canola oil
- 2 tsp garlic minced
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp Mexican Oregano
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 8 tortillas flour or corn
- 1 cup salsa
- 1 cup Mexican cheese blend or Monterey Jack grated
- lettuce shredded
- sour cream
- queso fresco crumbled
- hot sauce
- 1 avocado diced
- 1 cup corn salsa (see below)
- canola oil for frying
Corn Salsa
- 3 ears corn
- 1 tsp jalapeno diced
- 1/4 cup red onion diced
- 1/4 cup cilantro chopped
- salt & pepper to taste
- 1 Tbsp lime or lemon juice
Instructions
- Heat 2 Tbsp oil in pan and add in diced chicken and garlic. Stir and cook until meat turns white.
- Add in cumin, smoked paprika, Mexican oregano, salt and pepper. Cook until meat is cooked through.
- Place a few tablespoons of meat into middle of tortilla, top with cheese and salsa. Roll up tortilla and close with a toothpick.
- Heat oil in large frying pan (1/2″ deep) and add in flautas. Fry until golden brown on both sides. Drain on paper towels.
- Place on plate, on a bed of shredded lettuce, top with queso fresco, avocado, sour cream, hot sauce and corn salsa.
Corn Salsa
- Place ears of corn, with husk on, into microwave. Cook for 10- 12 minutes. Carefully remove from microwave, they will be hot. Cut off ends of corn and carefully pull the cob out of the husk. There will be no silk. This works so well!!
- Allow the corn to cool and then use a sharp knife to cut the corn off the cob.
- Combine corn with remaining ingredients. Salt and pepper to taste. Squeeze lime or lemon juice over the top. Refrigerate until ready to use.
Tips & Notes:
- Rotisserie Chicken
- Pork Carnitas
- Mexican Shredded Beef
- Mexican Shredded Chicken
- Salsa Chicken
Nutrition Facts:
Paula Hurst says
I love your blog and follow it all the time. I am however not able to save to Pnterest or get the print function to work Any suggestions?? I don’t have this problem with other blogs.
Leigh Anne says
Paula, Both of those functions are working for me. What browser are you viewing my blog in? Let me know and I’ll let my tech person know, wondering if it is your browser?
Marissa says
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Leigh Anne says
Marissa, Welcome to Portland. Portland is a big place and there are lots of good choices. It would depend on where work will be, price range etc.