Air fryer Chicken Taquitos

 

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Here’s my quick and easy method for making taquitos or flautas in your air fryer! Air Fryer Chicken Taquitos take only five ingredients and they’re a great way to use up leftover cooked chicken!

 quick and easy method for making taquitos (corn tortillas) or flautas (flour tortillas) in your air fryer! Air Fryer Chicken Taquitos take only five ingredients and they’re a great way to use up leftover cooked chicken!

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup cooked chicken breast (any leftover or rotisserie chicken works)
• 1/3 cup shredded cheese (Mexican blend or cheddar)
• 2 ounces (1/4 cup) cream cheese
• 2–3 tablespoons chunky bean & corn salsa (any salsa works – less if thinner, more if thicker)
• 4 taco size tortillas (8 inches – flour or corn)
• avocado oil spray

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Make the filling: Combine the cooked meat, cheese, cream cheese and salsa together in a bowl until completely blended.
2. Roll up the taquitos/flautas: Use your spoon to loosely mark/divide the bowl of filling mixture into four quarters (this helps make each taquito about the same size). To make it easy, use flour tortillas because they don’t rip (flautas). If using corn tortillas (taquitos), warm them by wrapping in a paper towel and microwave on medium power for 10 second intervals until just barely warm to the touch (20 or 30 seconds max). Arrange a quarter of the filling in a line across the widest part of each tortilla (lots of pictures in the post above!). Roll them up and place them into the air fryer, then give a quick spray over the entire thing with your spray oil.
3. Cook: Air fry for 7-10 minutes at about 375F (my air fryer is analog so it’s not exact). Check them at 5 minutes so see how fast they’re cooking. You want the taquitos to be nice and golden brown all around. Top with your faves: guacamole, sour cream, cilantro, salsa, tomato, etc. Serve over some greens for a full meal.
4. 1. To freeze: Make the filling and roll the taquitos, but instead of cooking them, place each taquito on a small baking sheet with the edge of the tortilla facing down so they stay rolled. Transfer the frozen taquitos into a storage container with an airtight seal and keep them for 3-6 months! Cook from frozen: Place frozen taquitos in a single layer in your air fryer and spray with a quick spritz of avocado oil. Cook at 375F for 12-15 minutes, checking at 10 minutes to see how fast they’re cooking.

   NOTES

   Instead of chicken, you can also use ground taco meat, cooked shrimp, or you can make my salsa chicken thighs and then omit the extra salsa when mixing up the filling.

   The recipe makes four taquitos (that’s how many fit into my air fryer at one time), but you can double or triple it for larger batches of 8 or 12! You can also prep the filling ahead of time so all you have to do is roll up the tortillas and air fry them. That’s dinner in 10 minutes!

   Nutrition information estimated with My Fitness Pal using flour tortillas.