This Chicken Taquito recipe is one of the all-time most popular recipes on Our Best Bites. They can be made in a variety of sizes and on any type of tortilla you like (more details below) and also work great as a freezer meal! These are a go-to for me when taking a meal to a friend. I love rolling them up and including baking instructions so people can bake them when they’re ready. They also work well for making ahead and keeping in your own freezer. You can pull them out for a busy weeknight dinner, or just one or two at a time for a snack in the air fryer.
Ingredients Needed
- Cream Cheese
- Green salsa
- Lime
- Cumin, chili powder, onion powder, garlic powder
- Cilantro
- Green onions
- Chicken – any kind of cooked shredded chicken will work. Rotisserie chicken is great and works well!
- Pepper jack cheese
- Tortillas – more notes on tortillas below, but you can use corn, flour, or un-cooked.
- Salt
- Cooking spray or oil
Here’s a photo walkthrough of the recipe!
How to Make Creamy Baked Chicken Taquitos
This is just a quick overview, you’ll find a printable recipe at the end of this article.
- Combine a sauce of cream cheese, green salsa, fresh lime juice, cumin, chili powder, onion powder, garlic, cilantro and green onions.
- Mix in shredded cooked chicken and pepper jack cheese and this is the easy flavor-packed filling.
- Now just roll them up in the tortillas of your choice.
- I like to rub them with a bit of oil to help the outsides crisp up and sprinkle the tops with just a bit of kosher salt.
- Bake them up in the oven until they’re golden and crisp on the outside. You might see cheesy filling spilling out the edges and that’s okay! After they come out of the oven you can take a spoon and push it back in.
What tortillas should I use?
You can really use any tortillas you like. I originally created this recipe with small corn tortillas but over the years people kept telling me they loved them with flour so eventually I started doing that too and that’s what you see in my photos. But you can use whatever you like!
- Corn tortillas – you’ll want to buy them fresh so they are less likely to crack. Wrapping in a few damp paper towels and warming in the microwave will help keep them soft and rollable.
- Flour tortillas – I use the soft taco size flour tortilla (which produces about 12 taquitos). They will crisp up brown on the ends, but stay soft in the centers. They’re easy to work with and work great for freezing or making ahead.
- Fresh/raw tortillas – if using this style of tortilla, you don’t need to cook the tortilla before rolling! You can just roll up raw and they cook quickly in the oven. This style of tortilla tends to puff up when baked so you might get some puffs or splits during baking, but they taste delicious.
- Low Carb Tortillas – These work great with low carb style tortillas as well as lavash bread.
Dipping Suggestions
These are great simply served with sour cream on the side, but if you want to kick it up a notch, pair it with my Lime-Cilantro Ranch or some homemade guac and salsa!
Cafe Rio Copycat Creamy Tomatillo Dressing (Lime Cilantro Ranch)
Guacamole
Cantina-Style Salsa
Take a Meal
I love taking this recipe to friends when I’m delivering a meal. I prepare until the rolling step and skip brushing in oil and salt (they’re still great without that step and it’s simpler just to skip it, but that’s up to you! You can also include on the instructions to brush with oil or spray with non-stick oil spray before baking). Just stack the rolled taquitos in a zip-top back or other container and include baking instructions. Some things you can mix and match with this meal depending on what you have time for:
- Sour cream or a container of my homemade Lime-Cilantro Ranch for dipping
- A side of rice and beans
- A bag of chips and a jar of salsa
- A bagged salad
- Fresh fruit
- A quick treat like cookies or a pint of ice cream
Baked Creamy Chicken Taquitos
Ingredients
- 3 ounces cream cheese low fat is fine, avoid fat free
- ¼ cup green salsa
- 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ¼ teaspoon granulated garlic or garlic powder
- 3 tablespoons chopped cilantro
- 2 tablespoon sliced green onions
- 2 cups shredded cooked chicken 10-12 oz
- 1 cup grated pepperjack or plain jack cheese about 4 ounces
- 12 soft taco size tortillas or tortillas of your choice
- kosher salt
- cooking spray or oil
Instructions
For the filling
- Heat cream cheese in the microwave for about 20-30 seconds so it’s soft and easy to stir.
- Add green salsa, lime juice, cumin, chili powder, onion powder and granulated garlic, cilantro and green onions.
- Add chicken and cheese and combine well. (You can prepare up to this step ahead of time. Just keep the mixture in the fridge.)
For the taquitos
- Heat oven to 425℉. Line a baking sheet with parchment or spray a baking sheet or foil-lined baking sheet with nonstick spray.
- If using corn tortillas, work with a few tortillas at a time and heat in the microwave, wrapped in damp paper towels until they are soft enough to roll without cracking. Usually 20-30 seconds will do it. If using flour tortillas use them at room temperature or warm them slightly in the microwave if they aren't super fresh. If using fresh, uncooked tortillas you can roll them raw.
- The amount of filling you use will be different depending on what size tortilla you use. For soft taco size tortillas place about ¼ cup of the chicken mixture on the lower third of a tortilla, keeping it about 1 inch from the edges as you roll to prevent filling from leaking out. Roll up tortillas and place seam down on a baking sheet, not touching one another.
- Spray each taquito lightly with cooking spray, or lightly brush with olive oil and sprinkle with just a little bit of kosher salt, if desired.
- Place pan in oven and bake for 15-20 minutes or until the ends start to get golden brown and crisp. Different types of tortillas will bake differently so set a timer for less and keep an eye on them. Sometimes seeing a bit of filling coming out is a good indicator. Remove from oven and let cool slightly before serving. If filling has leaked out just use a spoon to push it back in.
- Dip in sour cream, guacamole or my Lime-Cilantro Ranch.
- Air Fryer Instructions: All air fryers will cook differently, but in mine I do 8-10 minutes at 350 degrees. I suggest checking them at the 6-8 minute range.
Notes
Nutrition
More recipes to love!
Here’s some recipes that pair nicely with these taquitos if you want to bulk it up into a bigger meal!
Questions & Reviews
These are so delicious!
I made these last night with flour tortillas and they were absolutely delicious. I baked four of them last night and froze the other six, so I’m looking forward to just popping them in the oven and having dinner in the near future. This is definitely a recipe I’ll be making again! Oh, I didn’t like the salt on top, though, and ended up brushing it all off. I might have been heavy handed, though.
Used this recipe tonight although I didn’t have any lime (which would have made them THAT much better) it was a HUGE hit!! So yummy and quick to make!
These are one of my favorites!!! I like to use flour tortillas. So easy and so delicious!
I have a question. This recipe calls for grated pepperjack cheese. It’s not really possible to grate the pepperjack without it becoming a mutilated ball of cheese. Do you mean shred it? It sort of affects the volume of cheese in the cup so that’s why I am asking. Thanks so much in advance. I made these taquitos today and they are amazing! I carefully measured two tablespoons of filling and some of them still exploded a bit. Next time I may use less filling or figure out a better way to stuff them. I did fold down the edges of two of the tortilla sides to make a fancy end like you did. It looked nice. I used Mission small flour tortillas. I also bought Mission extra thin small corn tortillas but didn’t get to using them yet and I think they will be perfect to use also. My daughter LOVED them. Great recipe!
You can definitely grate pepperjack cheese. If you’re having trouble, maybe try a different brand!
I made them up to the point where you are supposed to spray and bake them in the oven and then froze them in a Pyrex pan making sure the taquitos weren’t touching. I took them out of the freezer, sprayed with oil, sprinkled with salt and baked them for a few minutes longer than stated. They heated up perfectly. Next time, if I am going to freeze and bake, I will pinch and roll them up with the top and bottom closed so that the filling will not spill out of the top. These would make a great appetizer for a party as they can be made ahead of time and baked when needed. Thanks for a great recipe!
Oh and I also doubled the recipe but replaced half the chicken with two cups of canned, rinsed black beans pulsed in the food processor. The black beans added creaminess and texture and were cheaper than extra chicken. Thanks!
I just stumbled upon your blog via a pin on pinterest three days ago. I saw these and immediately HAD to make them. I’m not the biggest fan of green salsa so I opted for red and they were amazing. 🙂 My husband and I devoured them. I’ve been scoping your blog out since I found it and can’t wait to try the coconut chicken fingers!
Do you think these could be frozen? at what step do you think it would work best? I am trying to find a quick heat up for meals on the run.
I am trying it this week and will let you know how it goes.
tia
Yep, they freeze great. See this post for freezer instructions:
https://fit-over50.news/2009/06/baked-chipotle-beef-taquitos/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
Just made these for dinner. I used flour tortillas and added a can of black beans. Big hit with everyone in the family. Think we will be adding this to the “rotation”.
Thanks!
I love this recipe – so good. In fact, every recipe that I have tried from your blog is amazing. Thank-you for sharing them with us.