Baked Chicken Taquitos

These Baked Chicken Taquitos are full of classic Mexican comfort food flavor in every bite. A filling of cream cheese, sour cream, shredded chicken, and zesty Mexican spices is wrapped up in corn tortillas and baked until crispy to create a delicious appetizer or main meal everyone will love.

If you love Mexican food the way we do, then you know there’s never a wrong time to enjoy it! We love to serve up delicious south-of-the-border flavors, like chicken fajitas wraps for dinner, or bring creative variations like crack corn dip to parties to inject them with some big, bold flavor.

Our favorite dishes are those that can serve as both appetizers and main meals, and that’s just what you can do with these baked chicken taquitos. We love making these in big batches for parties or enjoying them for a fun twist on our Taco Tuesday meals.

The best part about them, aside from their deliciousness, is how easy they are to make. We get a ton of flavor in a quick and easy recipe, and that’s really the best combination.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• Simple Ingredients: You’ll only need a few basic ingredients found in your kitchen or grocery store.
• Easy: This recipe only takes a few simple steps and about 30 minutes from start to finish.
• Easy Cleanup: Because these are baked, not fried, you won’t have to worry about cleaning a spattery mess.
• HUGE Flavor: The combination of shredded chicken, cream cheese, sour cream, cheddar, salsa, and zesty spices creates a huge blast of flavor in every bite.
• Customizable: It’s easy to change ingredients to create different flavor combinations.
• Versatile: These taquitos are the perfect appetizer or main course for a fun twist on Taco Tuesday.
• Great for Meal Prep: These are freezer-friendly, so you can make extra for future use.

Variations

• Chicken: You could use pulled pork or beef in these taquitos. Even diced shrimp or lump crab meat would work for a seafood version.
• Semi-Homemade: Shred a rotisserie chicken for even more convenience and extra flavor.
• Spicy: Use spicy salsa or add diced jalapenos to the filling for a kick of heat. If you really enjoy heat, do both!
• Cheese: Shredded cheddar, Cheddar Jack, Mexican blend, and taco blend all work well in this recipe.
• Tortillas: Flour tortillas work for this recipe, as well.
• Fried: We’ve baked these taquitos, but you could fry them in a couple of inches of hot oil if you prefer.
• Flautas: Use larger tortillas to make flautas, essentially very large taquitos.

How to Make Baked Chicken Taquitos

This is a quick overview of the steps needed to make this recipe. You can find the full instructions in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.

1. Beat the cream cheese until smooth.

2. Add the remaining filling ingredients except the chicken and cheddar cheese, and mix. Then, add the chicken and cheddar cheese and mix until combined.

3. Warm the tortilla in the microwave until soft and pliable. Then, add 2 to 3 tablespoons of filling to the lower third of each tortilla.

4. Roll the tortillas up tightly and place them seam side down on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

5. Lightly brush the tops of the taquitos with vegetable oil and bake at 425°F until golden brown and crispy.

6. Serve hot with your favorite toppings or sauce for dipping.

Expert Tips

• Fully soften your cream cheese to avoid any little bits of raw cream cheese in the filling.
• Shred your chicken while it’s as hot as possible, while still being safe to handle. Hot meat shreds much more easily than cool meat.
• If you choose to fry your taquitos, do so in about 2 inches of vegetable oil in a heavy skillet over medium-high heat.
• Only heat your tortillas for 20 to 30 seconds. They need to be soft, but they also need to be safe to touch!
• If you add diced jalapenos, wash your hands thoroughly after handling them and NEVER touch your face.