These Baked Chicken Flautas topped with a tangy cilantro-lime sauce will satisfy your craving for Mexican food, making them perfect for Cinco de Mayo or anytime you want a fun, Mexican inspired meal!!
With Cinco de Mayo coming up, I thought I’d give this post a quick update. I’m a huge fan of Mexican food – I’ve been known to eat it several days in a row!! When I lived in Chicago I used to love walking over to Antique Taco, this somewhat trendy little spot in my neighborhood. It’s a super casual place with some really unusual tacos and super tasty rosemary-infused margaritas. It’s been on my list of restaurants to try for quite a while! Speaking of margaritas, wait until you taste these grapefruit margaritas – they are super tangy and refreshing!!
Crispy flautas are one of my favorite Mexican dishes, however, I’m not a huge fan of fried food and I rarely make it at home, so this version is baked to a lovely crunch and then topped with my favorite Cilantro Lime Sauce.
I start this dish with my favorite base for Mexican food, this Spicy Mexican Chicken. The chicken is really easy to make and you can throw what leftover into quesadillas or even a salad.
What’s the difference between flautas and taquitos?
In Spanish, flauta means flute. Technically flautas are made with flour tortillas and taquitos are made with corn tortillas, often making them longer or more flute-like than taquitos. The two names are now often used interchangeably.
For this dish, I mixed the chicken up with a bit of cream cheese and some chihuahua cheese to give it a great taste along with a creamy texture. Throw in a bit of dried cilantro and you’ve got the perfect flauta stuffing!
Once the chicken is mixed you’ll roll each flauta and place them on the baking sheet seam side down so they stay closed. A little spray of olive oil to help them crisp up and you are ready to bake.
While the flautas are baking you can mix up a margarita or two so everything is ready to go when the flautas come out of the oven!
things you may want for this recipe
Olive Oil Mister – This is a super handy kitchen tool. I use it to spray oil on things that I want to crisp up when baking or even to just lightly dress a salad.
Baked Chicken Flautas
Ingredients
For the sauce:
- 3 oz plain greek yogurt
- ¼ teaspoon minced jalapeno
- 1 teaspoon fresh lime juice
- pinch of sugar
- ¼ cup cilantro leaves, chopped
For the flautas:
- 2 cups Spicy Mexican Chicken
- ½ cup light cream cheese
- ¾ cup shredded Chihuahua cheese
- 1 tablespoon dried cilantro
- 8 taco size flour tortillas
- Olive oil spray
Instructions
- Mix all of the ingredients for the sauce together in a small bowl. Refrigerate while you prepare the flautas
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees and line a jelly roll pan with parchment paper.
- Add the chicken to a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the cheeses and still until both cheeses are melted. Remove from heat and all the cilantro.
- Place a tortilla on a large plate or another work surface. Place a few spoonfuls of the chicken in the middle of the tortilla. Roll tightly and place on a baking sheet, seam side down. Repeat with remaining chicken and tortillas.
- Lightly spray the rolled flautas with olive oil and bake for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes remove from the oven and carefully flip them over. Spray the bottom sides lightly with oil and return to the oven for 5 to 7 minutes or until the flautas are lightly browned.
- Remove from oven and top with Cilantro Lime Sauce. Serve immediately.
Both the flautas and Margarita sound great. And Antique Taco sounds like a fun place to go! Glad they inspired this meal!
I want to eat these flautas right now. I would love it.
Baking these instead of frying is such an easier option not to mention healthier! By the way, the sauce . . . amazing!