These homemade Chicken Taquitos are fried to crispy perfection on the outside and loaded with tender white meat chicken, spicy, pepper jack cheese, and punchy blend of seasonings on the inside. They’re a delicious Mexican-inspired feast that makes the perfect appetizers or main dish for your next Taco Tuesday.
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Living in Texas, Mexican and Tex-Mex foods are a huge part of my cooking. Wherever I look, I see tacos, taquitos, burritos, nachos, and other delicious Mexican or Mexican-inspired dishes, and that inspires me to make more of them, as well.
This chicken taquitos recipe cooks up super crispy and delicious. Corn tortillas are wrapped around pan-seared chicken pieces seasoned with chili powder, Slap Ya Mama seasoning, and other spices, spicy pepper jack cheese, and lime juice. It all comes together as the tortillas are pan-fried to crispy perfection!
Looking for more tasty treats to serve for Taco Tuesday? Try these crispy buffalo chicken flautas, these tender skirt steak fajitas, and these mini chicken tacos.
Why You Will Love This Recipe
- My Family Loves Them & Gives Them Rave Reviews: I’m pretty sure yours will too! There’s nothing better than that golden-fried crunch giving way to juicy chicken and all of those spices. It’s pure Tex-Mex perfection!
- Perfect for Parties: These rolled tacos are the perfect hand-held Mexican treat for parties or dipping that are easy to eat!
- A Little Bit Different: If tacos, burritos, and other Mexican-inspired standards are feeling stale these homemade chicken taquitos are an easy way to spice things up.
Chicken and Cheese Taquitos Ingredients
- Chicken Breasts: We love using boneless, skinless chicken breasts to make this dish but chicken thighs work too. Just note you may need to cook them slightly longer.
- Limes: Freshly squeezed lime juice adds brightness to the chicken marinade. Try to avoid substituting with bottled juice.
- Seasoning Mix: We make our own chicken seasoning with garlic salt, paprika, black pepper, chili powder, oregano, basil, and our favorite Slap Ya Mama Cajun seasoning blend.
- Butter: Used for cooking the chicken breasts. I love the additional flavor it adds but you can also use olive oil if you prefer.
- Pepper Jack Cheese: I love pepper jack cheese, but almost any cheese works in this recipe. Cheddar, Monterey Jack, Colby Jack – anything at all! Try all your favorite cheese varieties and see which ones work best for you.
- Corn Tortillas: The traditional tortilla for taquitos but you can make flour tortilla taquitos if you prefer.
- Frying Oil: Choose a vegetable oil with a high smoke point for frying the taquitos.
See the recipe card below for exact ingredient amounts, nutritional information, and detailed instructions.
Variations
One of the things I love so much about these chicken taquitos is how much you can play with them. At their core, taquitos are nothing more than meat wrapped up in a fried tortilla, so there are a few things you can do to switch them up. They’re so much fun to play with because it’s always a tasty outcome!
- Change the Meat: Shredded pork or beef work very well in this recipe. Simply cook the meat up nice and tender and shred it!
- Bump Up the Heat: If you love spicy food, feel free to up the heat by adding some finely diced jalapenos to it. You can even throw in some red pepper flakes!
- Milder Flavor: If you’re not a fan of heat, leave out the Slap Ya Mama seasoning, as that’s where the majority of the heat comes from in this recipe.
- Add Beans and/or Corn: Add some drained and rinsed black beans along with corn kernels to the chicken mixture after it’s cooked.
How to Make Chicken Taquitos
- Step 1: Season the Chicken. Add the chicken, olive oil, lime juice, and seasonings to a large bowl. Toss the chicken in the seasoning mixture to fully coat each piece on both sides.
- Step 2: Cook the Chicken. Heat the butter over medium heat in a large skillet. Add the chicken pieces and cook chicken until cooked through, approximately 7-10 minutes.
- Step 3: Shred the Chicken. Remove the cooked chicken from the pan and use two forks to shred the chicken into pieces.
- Step 4: Heat the Tortillas and Oil. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Place the corn tortillas in a moistened paper towel and microwave for about 10-15 seconds prior to filling. This will keep the tortillas from falling apart.
- Step 5: Roll the Taquitos. Add the shredded chicken and cheese to tortillas and tightly roll up each one.
- Step 6: Fry the Taquitos. Place the fried taquitos seam side down into the hot oil and fry until golden brown on all sides.
- Step 7: Drain and Serve. Remove the taquitos once they’re brown from the pan and place them on plate lined with paper towels. Serve while warm with homemade guacamole, salsa, sour cream, or your favorite dipping sauce.
Pro Tip: If the taquitos don’t want to stay together, you can use a toothpick to hold the tortillas together during cooking. Just be sure to remove them before serving.
Expert Tips
These chicken taquitos are very easy to make. It’s a simple matter of cooking the chicken in the pan, filling the tortillas, and frying them. These are easy tips that will ensure your chicken taquitos come out as perfectly as possible, so don’t skip them.
- Soften the Tortillas: Be sure to remember to soften your tortillas with a damp paper towel and microwave them to keep them soft. This will keep the tortillas from cracking as you roll them and falling apart as you fry them.
- Don’t Brown the Chicken: Cook the chicken on medium heat as directed to cook it through without developing a golden crust. This makes it simple to shred for the taquitos.
- A Tight Roll is Key: Be sure you roll the taquitos up as tightly as possible. A tightly-rolled taquito will easily stay together and cook more uniformly in general. It also helps keep all that delicious filling inside the rolled tortilla where it belongs.
- Don’t Overcook the Taquitos: Remember not to fry the taquitos for too long. When you see the words “golden brown” always lean more toward golden and less toward brown. You want your taquitos to be crispy and gold and not burnt. Take them out of the oil as soon as you see a nice, uniform golden color.
Serving Directions
My favorite way to serve these cheesy chicken taquitos is to simply set them out on a platter on the table and let everyone take as many as they want. They’re perfect this way for a party, dinner, or even just a fun snack.
We love them as an addition to any taco bar setup, as well. Simply set out your taquitos, taco shells, fillings, and toppings, and let everyone take what they want! Don’t forget to add on favorites such as Spanish rice, crockpot queso, charro beans, and beef nachos.
These taquitos are perfect for dipping, as well, so I always have various bowls of dipping condiments on hand for them. Serve them with homemade guacamole, jalapeno salsa, jalapeno cilantro dip, sour cream, or any of your other favorite dipping sauces!
Storing Suggetions
- Storing: These taquitos will keep well in the refrigerator for up to four days in an air-tight container. To freeze, place the taquitos on a cookie sheet and put in the freezer. Once they’re frozen, transfer them to an air-tight, freezer-safe container, or heavy-duty freezer bags and store for up to three months.
- Reheat: These work best reheated in the air fryer or oven. Heat them up at 400° F for 6-8 minutes or until heated through.
Recipe FAQs
Sure you can! You can use any leftover shredded chicken or even make rotisserie chicken taquitos by picking one up at the store. They won’t be seasoned the same but you can toss the chicken with some of the spices and a few squeezes of lime juice for more flavor.
Yes, of course! Follow the same instructions in this air fryer chicken flautas recipe to air fry your taquitos. The timing may vary a bit based on your model of air fryer.
Have Shredded Chicken Taquitos for Your Next Taco Tuesday!
These chicken taquitos are so good, and they’re so easy to make. It only takes a few minutes of cooking and then pan-frying to deliver delicious little tubes of tasty Mexican goodness that everyone loves. Give this recipe a try, and I know you’ll love it. In fact, I can almost guarantee that you’ll end up making this delicious recipe more often than you might think!
More Tex Mex Recipes
And here are some BBQ Brisket Tacos you might enjoy as well from Great Grub, Delicious Treats.
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Crispy Chicken Taquitos
Ingredients
- 2 chicken breasts, cut into 1½-2 inch pieces
- 2 limes, juiced
- 1 tsp Slap Ya Mama
- 1 tsp garlic salt
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp pepper
- ½ tsp chili powder
- ½ tsp oregano
- ½ tsp basil
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1-2 cups pepper Jack cheese, shredded
- 12-15 corn tortillas
- 1-2 cups olive oil or vegetable oil
Instructions
- In a large bowl, add chicken, olive oil, lime juice, and seasonings. Toss to coat chicken pieces.
- Using a large skillet or frying pan, heat butter over medium heat and add chicken pieces. Cook chicken until thoroughly cooked, approximately 7-10 minutes.
- Remove from pan and shred chicken pieces. Set aside.
- Place corn tortillas in a moistened paper towel and microwave for about 10-15 seconds prior to filling so tortillas will not fall apart.
- Heat oil over medium high heat in large skillet.
- Add shredded chicken and cheese to tortillas, tightly roll up. Place seam side down into the hot oil and fry until golden brown on all sides. Can use toothpicks to hold tortilla together, if needed.
- Once browned, remove from pan and place on plate lined with paper towels.
- Serve with homemade guacamole, salsa, sour cream or your favorite dipping sauce.
Notes
- Warm up your tortillas wrapped in a damp paper towel in the microwave so they stay soft and don’t crack when you roll or fry them.
- Cook the chicken on medium heat without letting it brown—this makes shredding way easier.
- Roll those taquitos nice and tight! It helps them hold together and keeps all that tasty filling inside.
- Don’t over-fry—aim for a light golden color, not deep brown, so they stay crispy but not burnt.
