Crispy flour tortillas rolled around the most delicious creamy cheesy chicken filling will leave all your guests asking for seconds! These chicken flautas are so popular with everyone that tries them.
Easy Chicken Flautas
These chicken flautas are such a tasty little snack, and they have big flavor!
The flour tortilla wrap is nice and crunchy. It’s balanced perfectly with the creamy, cheesy, taco flavor filling.
Add some taco toppings on top and you have a delicious and quick meal or an appetizer for a crowd. Regardless of who’s eating them there’s not going to be any left behind – they’re always a hit at our house!
Are Flautas The Same As Taquitos?
They’re very similar. The main difference is that flautas typically use slightly larger flour tortillas than the small corn tortillas that are used with taquitos.
Ingredients
These chicken flautas are made of:
Flour Tortillas: I like using 8-inch flour tortillas in this recipe. They’re flexible and easy to bend, which makes them so easy to roll. They also crisp up beautifully in both the oven and on the stove.
Cream Cheese: This isn’t a traditional ingredient for flautas, but I like using it because it holds the filling together so well. That makes it a lot easier for the flautas to stay rolled while you’re pan frying them. It’s also a delicious and creamy addition that tastes great with all the spices!
Sour Cream: This adds to the creaminess without being too heavy or thick.
Green Onions: These add a bit of freshness, which is wonderful in breaking up the creamy flavors. You could also substitute this for fresh cilantro.
Spices: We’re using a homemade taco seasoning blend made of chili powder, ground cumin, fine sea salt, ground black pepper, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, and dried oregano.
You could swap this for a store bought taco blend, but I think the flavor is so much better with homemade blends. If you’d like it to be spicy, feel free to add some cayenne or red pepper flakes.
Shredded Chicken: I like cooking a boneless skinless chicken breast and shredding it, but you could also use rotisserie chicken or canned chicken.
Cheese: Freshly grated sharp cheddar cheese is my favorite cheese for this recipe. It has lots of flavor, which pairs really well with the seasonings. You could also use Monterey Jack cheese if you prefer.
It’s important to use freshly grated cheese because pre-grated cheeses are coated in an anti-caking agent that stops them from melting well.
How To Make Chicken Flautas
Start by mixing together the room temperature cream cheese, sour cream, green onions, and spices. (See the recipe card below for the full printable recipe.)
Mix in the shredded chicken and the freshly shredded cheese.
Add about 3 Tablespoons of filling in a line that’s slightly off center across a flour tortilla. Bring the short end of the tortilla up and over the filling.
Continue rolling the flauta until it’s tightly wrapped (similar to how you would roll a rug).
Pan fry, air fry, or bake the flautas until they’re golden brown and crispy. See the recipe card below for the full written instructions, including ingredient amounts, cooking times, and helpful tips, etc.
How Do You Keep Them Rolled When Frying?
First, be sure to roll them tightly so that there are no air pockets inside them. This makes it harder for the oil to get inside. They tend to expand and fall apart when the oil gets inside.
Second, start by cooking them seam side down. This helps to seal them shut before you rotate them to cook the other sides.
Third, make sure you’re starting with oil that’s hot enough. You need that initial sizzle from the hot oil to seal the seam side shut.
If you’re still having a hard time getting them to stay closed, you can use wooden toothpicks to help them stay together while cooking them. Just be sure to remember to remove all of the toothpicks before you serve them.
How To Bake Flautas De Pollo
I think they turn out the best when they’re baked on a cooking rack, but they’ll turn out delicious without one, too.
Just be sure to leave plenty of space between each flauta so that the air has room to circulate. It also helps to spray them with oil and sprinkle some flaky salt on top.
Then just bake them as instructed until they’re golden brown and crispy, and the cheese inside is hot and melted.
How To Eat Them (Which Toppings To Eat Them With)
It’s really popular to serve flautas topped with shredded iceberg lettuce. You can also top it with sour cream, salsa verde, queso, guacamole, homemade salsa, sliced olives, pico de gallo, this delish copycat Taco Bell jalapeno quesadilla sauce, or this reader favorite cilantro garlic sauce.
If you want to serve this as a dinner instead of an appetizer, try serving it with some sides of rice and beans. This Instant Pot cilantro lime rice would taste amazing with it!
Keep In Touch
I’d love to hear what you thought of this recipe in the comments or on Instagram! @KeyToMyLime #KeyToMyLime
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Appetizers
Looking for more easy and delicious appetizer recipes? These are my favorites, and they’re all perfect for game day:
Mexican Food
If you like this recipe, be sure to check out our entire section of Mexican recipes! Some reader favorites are:
BEST Chicken Flautas Recipe
These chicken flautas are crispy flour tortillas rolled around the most delicious creamy cheesy chicken filling - everyone loves them!
Ingredients
- 4 ounces cream cheese (softened to room temperature, half a brick)
- 1/3 cup sour cream
- 1/4 cup sliced green onions
- 1/2 Tablespoon chili powder*
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
- 2 1/2 cups shredded chicken (I shredded a 1 pound chicken breast that I cooked)
- 1 cup freshly shredded cheddar cheese**
- 12 (8 inch) flour tortillas
- Vegetable oil or canola oil (for frying)
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, mix the softened cream cheese, sour cream, green onions, and all the spices together until they’re fully combined.
- Add in the shredded chicken and cheddar cheese. Gently fold in until just combined.
- If the tortillas are not pliable enough to roll, heat them on a nonstick skillet over medium heat. It’s best to do this one at a time for 10 seconds per side. It’s best to only heat a few before adding the filling and rolling, otherwise they’ll cool off too much to stay pliable.
- Place a few Tablespoons of filling in a line down the center of each tortilla, and roll the tortilla tightly around the filling. If you’re having a hard time getting the flautas to stay rolled, you can use a toothpick to hold it together while it cooks, and then remove the toothpick before serving.
To Pan Fry:
- Add about 1/2” of oil to a large skillet, and heat over medium-high heat. Once the oil is hot, turn the heat down to medium-low. Then use tongs to add a flauta seam side down to the skillet (if the flautas don’t sizzle immediately when you place them in the oil, it’s not hot enough yet). It’s best to work in small batches, with all of the flautas lined up the same direction, so I typically fry 3 at a time. Use tongs to rotate the flautas as they cook, until they’re golden brown on each side. Once they’re cooked, use tongs to remove them to a paper towel lined plate.
To Bake:
- Preheat the oven to 425 F (218 C).
- Spray the baking sheet with cooking oil (preferably a baking sheet with a cooking rack), and place the flautas seam side down on the greased baking sheet with space between each one (so that the air has room to circulate). Spray or brush cooking oil on top of each flauta, sprinkle with flaky salt, and then bake for 15 - 20 minutes (or until the tortillas are turning turn golden brown and look crispy).
Notes
*This chili powder is a spice blend sold in the USA and Canada that is relatively mild. It’s not the same as chili powder sold in the UK or the rest of the world (where it’s very spicy because it’s just pure ground chili).
**It’s important to use freshly grated cheese because pre-grated cheeses are coated in an anti-caking agent that stops them from melting well.
Nutrition Information:
Serving Size:
1/12Amount Per Serving: Calories: 280Total Fat: 11.9gCarbohydrates: 27gFiber: 0.2gSugar: 0.7gProtein: 16.2g
Nutrition information isn’t always accurate. This doesn't include any oil for pan frying.
If you love chicken taquitos, you’ve got to try these chicken and cheese flautas! Flautas de pollo are crispy, cheesy, and so delicious.
2 thoughts on “Chicken Flautas Recipe”
These are incredible! I have made them several times for my family and for friends. Each time they are met with rave reviews! I am now trying to think of a way to make them “Italian”… Possibly with sausage and mozzarella and scallions? Thank you so much for such a different – delicious and interesting recipe!
Hi Adele, I’m so happy to hear that you enjoy the flautas so much. I think they would taste great with an Italian twist. The idea of crumbled browned sausage with mozzarella sounds delicious. I would maybe use cream cheese instead of ricotta, just because it might hold the filling together a bit better. I think both ways would be delicious though! -Alexa