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These Chicken Flautas are filled with chicken, salsa, and cheese and baked in the oven until crispy. Your whole family will love this easy, delicious recipe.
Featured with this recipe
These Chicken Flautas are a staple at my house. Not only do I make them for dinner, but I also make batches and store them in the fridge for quick after school snacks or a last minute appetizer. They are so easy to make and more substantial than some of the other snacks my kids might reach for in the pantry. Flautas are also a great game day food. You don’t need utensils to eat them and they aren’t messy.
Bring the taste of Mexico home to your dinner table with these flautas as part of a Mexican feast! We have recipe for everything you’ll need from Enchiladas with Homemade Enchilada Sauce to Restaurant Style Mexican Rice to Grilled Mexican Street Corn to a luscious dessert of Baked Strawberry Empanadas.
Ingredient in Chicken Flautas
- Shredded chicken
- Monterey Jack cheese (to add some spice, use Pepper Jack cheese)
- Cream cheese
- Salsa
- Salt and pepper
- Flour tortillas
Difference Between Flautas and Taquitos
Ever wonder what the difference is between flautas and taquitos? My kids ask me that all the time. Basically there’s only one difference: the tortilla! A flauta is make from a large flour tortilla (you can use burrito or quesadilla sized tortillas). Taquitos are made from smaller corn tortillas. The fillings for flautas and taquitos can be the same. Use shredded chicken, pork, shredded beef, or even vegetarian.
Homemade vs. Store Bought
This chicken flautas recipe reminds me of the Costco Chicken Flautas. While those store-bought versions are convenient to purchase already made, there are some advantages to making your own at home. First, making your own is definitely the healthier option. We bake our flautas instead of frying them in vegetable oil in a skillet. Corn tortillas, whole wheat tortillas, and low carb tortillas can all be used in this recipe. You can also air fry them for that crispy outer texture. Use tongs to lift them out of the pan and cool on a paper towel before serving.
Second, making your own at home is more economical. The last time I looked at my area Costco, a package of 16 flautas cost $11.49. You can make a lot of these Chicken Flautas at home for that amount.
Best Chicken for Chicken Flautas
I usually have the idea to make Chicken Flautas when I have leftover chicken from another recipe. However, if you are starting from scratch you can make your own shredded chicken or use a rotisserie chicken or even canned chicken. My favorite way to make shredded chicken is in my Instant Pot.
I put two chicken breasts, 1 cup of chicken broth, salt, and pepper into the pot and cook for 10 minutes on Manual with high pressure. After the timer goes off I let it naturally release for 5 minutes, and then do a quick release. I get tender, easy-to-shred chicken every time. For added flavor, you can also season the chicken with cumin, chili powder, garlic powder or paprika.
What Our Readers are Saying About Our Chicken Flautas
Don’t just take our word for it! Check out what our readers who try this recipe say about it!
“I made these on Sunday during halftime of the Houston Texans game (since my family ate all the Cheese Steak Crescent Rolls before the game). BIG hit! I made a double batch so we could eat them for snacks and/or school lunches this week. And they were all gone today! Thanks for another great recipe!”
“I made these chicken flautas last night. They came together so fast!. We loved them, and needed something easy during the holiday season. I served them with a green salad, and they were perfect. Thanks.”
“Made these for the first time tonight and they were a huge hit! I love how quickly I could put these together, and how tasty they were! Thank you!”
“Made these chicken flautas tonight and they will certainly be going into our rotation for dinners. They went together real quick and tasted oh so good.”
Questions About Chicken Flautas
Flautas are a Mexican dish. A savory filling made with chicken or beef is wrapped in a flour tortilla and deep fried or baked. This recipe features baked flautas, which are a healthier option.
Shredded meat (usually chicken or beef), melted cheese, and a flavorful sauce.
In Spanish, “flauta” translates to English words like flute, pipe, or whistle, which is what a flauta is shaped like – a small pipe or flute filled with a delicious filling!
What to Serve with Chicken Flautas
Chicken Flautas work great as a meal on their own. However, if you are wanting to round out the meal you can’t go wrong with a green salad or some rice and beans. For a beautiful table centerpiece, serve the flautas on a bed of romaine lettuce or iceberg lettuce with some diced onion, sliced avocado, pico de gallo, cheddar cheese and a little lime juice on top.
We also love to dip our flautas! Our favorites are sour cream, salsa, guacamole, Mexican crema, or ranch dressing. If you want to make some dips at home, try some of our favorite recipes!
More Easy Mexican Recipes
We have more EASY Mexican recipes that I highly recommend if you like our Easy Chicken Flautas. I use our Restaurant Style Refried Beans and our Restaurant Style Mexcian Rice for side dishes every time I make Mexican food at home. We honestly never make a Mexican dish without these two sides anymore. Some of my other favorite Mexican dishes are our Easy Taco Salad and our Grilled Carne Asada.
Chicken Flautas
Video
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups shredded chicken
- 6 ounces cream cheese
- 1 cup Monterey Jack cheese shredded
- 1/3 cup salsa
- salt and pepper to taste
- 6 flour tortillas soft taco size
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400-degrees. Combine chicken, cream cheese, Monterey Jack cheese, salsa, and salt & pepper in a medium-sized bowl. Mix together well.
- Evenly distribute chicken mixture over each tortilla, making a line down the middle of each tortilla and then rolling them up tight.
- Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray with cooking spray. Place rolled up tortillas evenly spaced on the cookie sheet (place seam side down) and spray cooking spray generously over the top.
- Bake for 10-15 minutes or until tortillas become golden-brown.
What is the ‘sauce’ you dip these in?
We usually dip it in salsa and/or sour cream. What you see pictured is salsa 🙂 Hope this helps!
Can you substitute sour cream for the cream cheese? I’m trying to avoid a trip to the grocery store! ????
that should work, the flavor will be different though.
Does anyone know what the calorie count is?
Our Recipe Analyzer knows it 😉 Here are estimated values:
whole recipe = 3188 kcal
100 g of recipe = 262 kcal
1 oz of recipe = 74 kcal
Can you make these without the cream cheese?
Sure, I just can’t promise they will taste the same!
I am hispanic, when you say flautas, I think corn torillas, flour tortillas to me are for eating, and burritos. Ty for sharing .
These are amazing! And as a Mexican born in Mexico, raised in California, when you say flautas it definitely means flour tortillas. Like you said, corn tortillas make them taquitos! : ) Either way, so bomb! Thanks for the recipe!
So glad I finally get some back-up on this 😉 Thanks!
Love these! I have made them several times and featured them on our blog! They freeze well and are a great go to meal from my freezer on busy days! Thanks for the great recipe, as always!
Hi! Did yoy freeze mixture or final product? Thanks! This is great to know they’re a hit w my baby girl!
Very yummy!! Cheap and quick to make. I’m eating them now while typing this
Will Corn tortillas work just as well?
YOu can use corn tortillas and fry them.. but that would make them a taquito 🙂 Yes, they are very delicious that way!
Would you use all the ingredients as above if I use corn and fry them?
Thx
Yes, you could make them the same with corn tortillas and fry them
I found your recipe recently via Pinterest and have made it so many times since. My family and I love them! They freeze so well too. Thanks!
Hi Sarah! Did you freeze final product or mix?
Do you freeze them after already wrapped up in the tortillas? Or just as the prepared chicken mixture?
I’ve made these 2 times and it’s my husband’s new favorite 🙂 I slow cook the chicken for a few hours, helps the chicken shred really easily
Great idea! I’m glad you like the recipe!
OMG sounds delicious, I know most versions of flautas with chicken or beef
Can I use Pita bread instead of tortilla wrap. If not hopefully u can post a recipe using Pita bread.
I don’t know how well that would work for this recipe. We do have a recipe for “pita pizzas”… /2010/03/guilt-free-pita-pizzas.html
This was delicious! Thank you so much!
Does the oven cook the chicken? Or do you boil it or something first?
Definitely used pre-cooked, pre-shredded chicken. You can boil it or bake it first. Whichever you prefer. Just make sure it is fully cooked and shredded before adding to the recipe!
I’m cooking my chicken in the crock pot with a tsp of cumin and will shred it myself later.
Yum! Sounds delicious!
im going to try get my ex gf back by making these on saturday night. wish me luck
Good luck!!! Maybe make a good dessert too. 🙂
How did it go?! I was thinking about going with a similar plan for my ex boyfriend!
Made these tonight and they will certainly be going into our rotation for dinners. They went together real quick and tasted oh so good.
Made these for the first time tonight and they were a huge hit! I love how quickly I could put these together, and how tasty they were! Thank you!
I made these last night. They came together so fast!. We loved them, and needed something easy during the holiday season. I served them with a green salad, and they were perfect. Thanks.
I made these on Sunday during halftime of the Houston Texans game (since my family ate all the Cheese Steak Crescent Rolls before the game). BIG hit! I made a double batch so we could eat them for snacks and/or school lunches this week. And they were all gone today! Thanks for another great recipe!
Yum. I’m making these for dinner tonight.