The ultra-crispy baked chicken flautas have fewer calories AND are easier to make than traditional versions. This recipe is a crowd favorite and has been pinned over a million times!
You guys, these baked taquitos are so good. SO. GOOD.
They’re really well seasoned (not spicy at all, but definitely not bland either). And baking them at a high temperature leaves them nice and crispy without any greasiness.
I even managed to sneak some vegetables into them.
You should make them ASAP.
I was worried that the flautas wouldn’t be filling enough on their own, so I served them with some refried beans. They ended up not really needing the beans, but it was a nice touch to round out the meal.
Taquitos? Flautas? What are these things called?
Taquitos and Flautas are deep fried tortillas wrapped around savory fillings.
Traditionally, taquitos are made with corn tortillas, while flautas are made with flour tortillas.
Since I used flour tortillas in this recipes, these are technically baked chicken flautas. However, the two works are often used interchangably and most people simply refer to both versions as taquitos.
Whatever you call them, they’re delicious!
The secrets to making healthier taquitos
I use a few tricks to keeping these delicious flautas on the lighter side.
- Bake instead of fry. Baking these taquitos uses less oil than frying, cutting both calories and fat. You can be them in a regular oven, like I did when I started making them, or in an air fryer.
- Cut the tortillas in half. Cutting the tortillas in half before you roll the filling up helps cut way back on calories and carbs! You’ll never miss that other half. Be sure to watch the video to see my rolling technique.
- Poach the chicken. You can make these flautas with chicken breasts or thighs. Whichever you use, poaching them will keep them extra juicy, for that perfect soft and creamy flauta filling.
What to serve with chicken flautas:
I love serving these chicken taquitos with Mexican rice or refried beans. They’re also great served on the side of a steamy bowl of tortilla soup.
More baked taquito ideas:
If you love baked taquitos, be sure to also try my:
- Baked Chicken and Hummus Flautas
- Baked Buffalo Chicken Taquitos
- Baked Vegetable Taquitos
- Baked Breakfast Taquitos
You’ll also love my collection of healthy Mexican food recipes.
Baked Chicken and Spinach Flautas
Ingredients
- 1 pound boneless skinless Chicken Thighs (about 4)
- 16 ounces Beer or chicken broth
- 2 cups Water
- 1 teaspoon Paprika
- 1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
- 1 teaspoon Garlic Powder
- 1 teaspoon ground Cumin
- 1 teaspoon Chili Powder
- 1 Jalapeno Pepper minced
- 3 cups Baby Spinach chopped
- 5 burrito-size Flour Tortillas 9 inches
- 6 ounces Quesadilla cheese or other soft cheese like Monterey jack shredded
- 1 teaspoon Olive Oil or cooking spray
- Salsa for serving
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 450ºF.
- Put the chicken thighs in a deep sided saute pan and cover with the beer and water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove the chicken from the liquid and shred it. Mix together the chicken and seasonings.
- Pour out all but 1/4 cup of the cooking liquid. Add the jalapeno and spinach and cook over low heat until for 2-3 minutes, or until the spinach is wilted.
- Cut the tortillas in half. Spoon 1/10th of the chicken (about 1 tablespoon) along the long edge of a tortilla. Repeat with the spinach and cheese. Roll the tortilla up, starting with the straight edge. Place seam-side down on an oiled baking sheet. Repeat with remaining tortillas.
- Brush the flautas with olive oil or spray with cooking spray. Bake for 10 minutes, then turn them over and bake for until 10 minutes, or until crispy. Serve with salsa.
Making them right now.. Using chicken breast I hope there not to dry but all I had in the freezer also using caned spinach not fresh.. That’s what happens when you send your husband to the store.. I live in NM close to the Mexican border so quesadilla cheese is always on hand.. Yummy can’t wait…
This is what we’re having for dinner tonight! MMM..what’s in your oven?
Will be put’n work in on these here tonight 🙂
I made these using chicken breasts rather than thighs and they were amazing. We devoured them all, and it was requested that I make them again this week!
These look great .. going to try to make these this weekend! yum!
I just made these and they’re in the oven cooking right now. They smell delicious! The only thing, I used corn tortillas and they kept breaking as I rolled them. If you chose to use the same, try heating them first. If not, they’ll just fall apart 🙁
This is great!! I don’t buy the frozen ones…they weird me out too!! I’ve been making mine with shredded chicken breast, seasoned with garlic salt and onion powder and then fried with a corn tortilla. I’ve thought of the possibility of baking them but wasn’t sure how long to bake them. I’m so excited to try this recipe!! Thank you!
I just made these for dinner tonight & they smell DELISH! My only other comment is that instead of burrito sized FLOUR tortillas..I used 96% fat free whole wheat medium sized (soft taco) tortillas. I am curious to know what my calorie intake would be after making an (in my opinion) even healthier version?
Have you put them in the freezer for later?
I haven’t tried personally, but I know that some other people have frozen them with good results!
I was just wondering how many servings this recipe made? The recipe says 181 cal, 9 g fat, 10 g carbs, and 14 g protein, but does not state the serving size to yield these numbers.
Whoops, that information must have gotten lost somewhere. It was there at one point! Serving size is one flauta and the recipe makes 10. I find that two flautas with a side of beans makes a great dinner.