These baked chicken taquitos are crispy, savory and a bit sweet. If you enjoy tacos, you will probably love these. They are dip-able, crunchy and quite easy to make (in my opinion). Topped with a light greek yogurt and avocado sauce and lots of lime juice! Definitely try these for your next gathering or party!
Plus, these taquitos are oven-baked instead of fried, which is MUCH easier AND healthier. Less oil and less mess.
What you need to make baked chicken taquitos
- Large baking sheet – you will need at last a quarter-sized sheet pan to fit all of your taquitos. We will bake them for about 10 minutes. Here’s my favorite sheet pan I’ve ever used from Williams Sonoma. I use the “half sheet” size, which was plenty big.
- Large frying pan – I love my cast iron skillet, but you can definitely use a standard non-stick pan for this recipe. I used my 12 inch cast iron from Staub, called the Everything Pan, linked here.
- An oven – for oven baked taquitos!
And that’s pretty much it!
Ingredients for chicken taquitos
You can swap a lot of these ingredients for whatever you have lying around!
- Ground chicken – you could also use ground beef or ground turkey if you have that in your freezer!
- Yellow onion – Adds a touch of sweetness to the taquitos. We let them caramelize a bit before they are stuffed into tortillas.
- Red pepper – again, you can definitely swap for green, orange or yellow peppers. I just LOVE red!
- Cilantro & parsley – I love throwing both in this dish, but feel free to omit one if you only want to purchase one or the other at the store.
- Garlic cloves – to spice up our chicken and veggies.
- White cheddar cheese – I used this because it’s what I had. It shreds well and melts into the meat nicely. But use what you have! Fontina, cheddar jack or hot pepper cheese all sound great in this recipe.
- Enchilada sauce – I bought mine at Trader Joe’s!
- Cumin – for some heat.
- Corn tortillas – these usually come in packs of 12, but if you can find one with 14 or 15 tortillas, I would get that instead!
How to make the chicken taquito filling
- In a large skillet over medium heat, add the onions, peppers and garlic with a tablespoon of olive oil. Add a pinch of salt and pepper and the cumin. Cook the vegetables for 3-4 minutes, until softened.
- Dump the ground chicken right into the skillet and break it up with a spatula. Continue to cook the meat and vegetables until fully cooked through, about 4-5 minutes. Stir occasionally.
- Add the enchilada sauce, the parsley, and cilantro. Stir and allow to heat for 1 minute. Then bring the heat down to low and allow the food to simmer for about 5 minutes to thicken. NOTE: I got my enchilada sauce from Trader Joe’s. You can definitely make your own but the jarred kind is easy and quite good.
How to bake the taquitos
- Preheat the oven to 425°F. Heat the corn tortillas in the microwave for about 60 seconds, until they are extremely soft and pliable. NOTE: It is so important to heat your corn tortillas. I am not kidding. I completely ruined my first batch of taquitos because I didn’t heat the tortillas up enough and they cracked and split when I tried to roll them. If you try to make one and it starts to crack, put the tortillas in the microwave for longer.
- To assemble the taquitos: rub the tortillas with a touch of olive oil – this will help them become golden and crispy! Add a small spoonful of the meat and veggie mixture on one end of the tortilla. Top the meat with a pinch of cheese. Roll the taquito up tightly and place it seam-side down on a baking sheet. Repeat until you run out. TIP: You can place the taquitos close together to prevent them from unrolling. In fact, I actually push them together which is very helpful.
- Bake the taquitos for five minutes in the oven. Flip each taquito and then bake them for an additional five minutes. Remove and let cool for a few minutes. The taquitos shouldn’t fall apart at this point because the seams of the tortillas will be a bit stuck together. I recommend using tongs to do this but a spatula works too.
How to make the avocado cream sauce
The sauce is really easy. I wanted to keep it super light, especially since the taquitos are pretty flavorful. Just smash half an avocado in a bowl. I added plain greek yogurt (no sugar added), but you could use an almond yogurt or another dairy free alternative. Add some lime juice, a pinch of salt and some extra parsley. I added a dash of olive oil to thin it out as well. Stir together and serve on the side!
Storing and reheating chicken taquitos
For leftovers, place these taquitos in an air tight container and place them in the fridge. To reheat, put them back on a baking sheet and put them in the oven for 5-6 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Consume within 2-3 days, or else the tortillas will get pretty hard.
Other recipes to try
If you enjoyed these baked chicken taquitos, please rate them below or leave a comment! Here are some other recipes you might like:
- Chicken Tinga Tacos with Corn Salsa
- Slow Cooker Beer Chicken Tacos with Corn and Mango Salsa
- Salmon Tacos with Slaw and Peppers
- Mexican Street Corn Salad
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Baked Chicken Taquitos
These baked chicken taquitos are crispy with sweet red peppers, onions, and enchilada sauce.
Servings: 12 taquitos
Calories: 180kcal
Cost: $20
Equipment
- large baking sheet
- large skillet
- microwave
- cutting board
- sharp knife
Ingredients
For the chicken taquitos
- 1 lb ground chicken
- ½ large yellow onion diced
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 red bell pepper diced
- ½ cup enchilada sauce store bought
- ¼ cup fresh parsley chopped
- ¼ cup fresh cilantro chopped
- 2 cloves garlic chopped
- 12-14 corn tortillas
- ½ cup white cheddar cheese grated
- salt & pepper
- olive oil
For the avocado sauce
- ½ a ripe avocado mashed
- ¼ cup plain greek yogurt
- chopped parsley optional
- ½ a lime zest and juice
- pinch of salt
- 1 tbsp olive oil
Instructions
- In a large skillet over medium heat, add the onions, peppers and garlic with a tablespoon of olive oil. Add a pinch of salt and pepper and the cumin. Cook the vegetables for 3-4 minutes, until softened.½ large yellow onion, 1 tsp cumin, 1 red bell pepper, 2 cloves garlic, salt & pepper
- Dump in the ground chicken into the skillet and break it up with a spatula. Continue to cook the meat and vegetables until fully cooked through, about 4-5 minutes. Stir occasionally.1 lb ground chicken
- Add the enchilada sauce, the parsley, cilantro. Stir and allow to heat for 1 minute. Then bring the heat down to low and allow the food to simmer for about 5 minutes to thicken. Then remove from the heat.½ cup enchilada sauce, ¼ cup fresh parsley, ¼ cup fresh cilantro
- Preheat the oven to 425°F. Heat the corn tortillas in the microwave for about 60 seconds, until they are extremely soft and pliable.
- To assemble the taquitos: rub the tortillas with olive oil. Add a small spoonful of the meat and veggie mixture on one end of the tortilla. Top the meat with a pinch of cheese. Roll the taquito up tightly and place it seam-side down on a baking sheet. Repeat until you run out. You can place the taquitos close together to prevent them from unrolling.12-14 corn tortillas, olive oil, ½ cup white cheddar cheese
- Bake the taquitos for five minutes in the oven. Flip each taquito and then bake them for an additional five minutes. Remove and let cool for a few minutes.
- To make the sauce, add the avocado, greek yogurt, parsley, lime zest and juice, olive oil and a pinch of salt to the bowl. Stir together.½ a ripe avocado, ¼ cup plain greek yogurt, chopped parsley, ½ a lime, pinch of salt, 1 tbsp olive oil
- Serve the taquitos with the sauce!
