Creamy Baked Chicken Taquitos

Currently, I have about 2,300 pins on Pinterest and between recipes and DIY projects, I’ve probably tried about 100 of them.  That’s a lot of inspiration… probably enough to last me a lifetime (not that I’m going to stop pinning any time soon ;)).  One of my first ever pins was this recipe for Taquitos by Sweet Pea’s Kitchen and HANDS DOWN these are my favorite thing I’ve tried from Pinterest (Jon agrees!).

We’ve made them 3 or 4 different times and last time we even doubled the recipe so we could have leftovers for lunch.  That means we had taquitos 4 days in a row and Jon and I STILL wished we had more… they’re that good.  This is one of those recipes that I plan to keep in my recipe box forever.

These taquitos are incredibly versatile – good for dinner, lunch, or even appetizers!  What’s not to love about a warm, creamy, cheesy, chicken filling wrapped in a crispy tortilla?  They’re also a great way to use up leftover chicken or if you want to make it super simple, buy a precooked rotisserie chicken from your grocery store.

On to the recipe… (I won’t judge you if you double it!)

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees (F) and line a large baking sheet with aluminum foil.

In a large mixing bowl, add your room temperature (important!) cream cheese, salsa, lime juice, cumin, chili powder, onion powder, garlic, green onion, and salt and pepper.

Tip:  In order to avoid chunks of cream cheese, I use the back of a wooden spoon to spread the cream cheese around the bowl before adding the rest of the ingredients – See picture below:

Tip:  The last time I made these, I thought I had bought a jar of salsa but I didn’t (oops!) so I used diced tomatoes instead and added extra seasoning.  I couldn’t taste a noticeable difference so if you don’t have salsa, this will work in a pinch!

Mix it all together then add your shredded chicken and shredded cheese.

Next, take a few of your tortillas (3-4) and microwave them for 10 seconds.  This will make them more flexible and easier to roll up.  Take one at a time and place about two tablespoons of the chicken mixture onto the third of the tortilla that is closest to you.

Roll the tortilla up tightly and repeat the process with all remaining tortillas.

Tip:  Jon and I found low-carb tortillas that were only 80 calories each.  If you can find something similar, this is a great recipe to use them in since they get baked and will be crispy so you can’t notice a texture difference from ‘real’ tortillas.

Another Tip:  Try not to place the chicken mixture too close to the edges of the tortilla because the mixture will expand during baking and will ooze out.

Once you’ve finished rolling up your tortillas, place them on your baking sheet.  Now, spray them with cooking spray (olive oil, canola, etc) and sprinkle with ground black pepper and sea salt.

Bake for 15 minutes, or until slightly browned and the cheese is bubbly.

Creamy Baked Chicken Taquitos

Inspired by Sweet Pea’s Kitchen

Makes 8-10 taquitos

Ingredients

• 2 cups cooked & shredded chicken
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 8-10 8″ (low carb) tortillas
• 3oz cream cheese, room temperature
• 1/2 cup salsa
• juice of 1/2 lime
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoons garlic powder or 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 4 tablespoons chopped green onion
• salt & pepper to taste

What to Do

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees (F) and line a large baking sheet with aluminum foil.
2. In a large mixing bowl, add the room temperature cream cheese, salsa, lime juice, cumin, chili powder, onion powder, garlic, green onion, and salt and pepper.
3. Mix it all together then add the shredded chicken and shredded cheese.
4. Next, take a few of your tortillas (3-4) and microwave them for 10 seconds.  This will make them more flexible and easier to roll up.
5. Take one at a time and place about two tablespoons of the chicken mixture onto the third of the tortilla that is closest to you.
6. Roll the tortilla up tightly and repeat the process with all remaining tortillas.
7. Once you’ve finished rolling up all of the tortillas, place them on your baking sheet.
8. Spray them with cooking spray (olive oil, canola, etc) and sprinkle with ground black pepper and sea salt.
9. Bake for 15 minutes, or until slightly browned and the cheese is bubbly.

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Tags: appetizer, baked, cheddar cheese, chicken, Chili powder, cream cheese, creamy, crispy, cumin, Dinner, filling, green onion, leftover chicken, lime juice, low carb tortillas, lunch, mexican, party food, roll-ups, rolls, rotisserie chicken, salsa, scallions, shredded cheddar, shredded chicken, southwestern, taquitos, tex mex, tortilla

• November 8, 2012
• Main Dishes, Recipes, Snacks & Appetizers
• 28 Comments