Are you sensing a trend at my house? Mexican food. I never tire of it. Ever, ever. I really could eat it for every meal. I love how fresh it is and that it is very easy to make a vegetarian version of. Even though I am not a vegetarian, I try to eat a few vegetarian meals a week. I recently shared a recipe for Baked Turkey Taquitos so I was not going to share this version, but it is too delicious not too. I served these alongside my Tortilla Soup and it is quite possibly the best soup and grilled cheese combo on the planet.
As I said before, you can make these with whatever you have in your fridge. The method is really what I am showing you, the ingredient list can be altered to suit your tastes and what you have around. I really prefer a corn tortilla, but unless they are really soft, they crack and will not hold their shape. When I was making these, my corn tortillas just were not working, so I started over with flour. Flour tortilla really crisps up and gives the illusion of being fried when they are not.
I also used a prepared enchilada sauce. If you read this blog, you know that I usually make everything from scratch. But the reality is I am a busy mom with 5 people to feed each night. Sometimes I need to take help when I can. If I am using a prepared product, I try to buy the best quality that I can find and without a lot of ingredients that I do not want my family to eat. I really like this Green Enchilada Sauce from Rick Bayless’s Frontera Foods line. I got mine at Whole Foods, but you can order it from his website if you like.
1 bar cream cheese
1/2 cup green enchilada sauce
2 Tablespoons lime juice
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon oregano
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
salt and pepper
2 cloves minced garlic
1/3 cup chopped cilantro
4 green onions, sliced (greens and whites)
3 cups shredded cooked chicken
2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese or a mix of Mexican cheeses
1 large package flour tortillas
In a large bowl, mash together the cream cheese, enchilada sauce, lime juice, spices, garlic, and green onions.
Mix it together. Season with salt and pepper.
Add the cheese, cilantro, and shredded chicken.
Warm up your tortillas so that they are more pliable. Put a few Tablespoons of the filling in the tortilla and roll up.
Line a baking sheet with tin foil, spray it with cooking spray. Place the taquitos seam side down. Spray the top with cooking spray.
Bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for about 10 minutes or until the tortillas are brown and crispy.
Look at all that gooey cheese.
I like to serve mine with the leftover enchilada sauce. And alongside some tortilla soup. It is pretty much heaven.
Chicken and Cheese Taquitos
Ingredients
- 1 bar cream cheese
- 1/2 cup green enchilada sauce
- 2 Tablespoons lime juice
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- salt and pepper
- 2 cloves minced garlic
- 1/3 cup chopped cilantro
- 4 green onions, sliced (greens and whites)
- 3 cups shredded cooked chicken
- 2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese or a mix of Mexican cheeses
- 1 large package flour tortillas
Instructions
- In a large bowl, mash together the cream cheese, enchilada sauce, lime juice, spices, garlic, and green onions.
- Mix it together. Season with salt and pepper.
- Add the cheese, cilantro, and shredded chicken.
- Warm up your tortillas so that they are more pliable. Put a few Tablespoons of the filling in the tortilla and roll up.
- Line a baking sheet with tin foil, spray it with cooking spray. Place the taquitos seam side down. Spray the top with cooking spray.
- Bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for about 10 minutes or until the tortillas are brown and crispy.
I read about this recipe, or one very similar to it recently online. The poster said that you could/should double or triple the quantity and make a TON. Then you freeze them on the baking sheet, once frozen, wrap them individually and toss them in the freezer. You can bake them straight from frozen so it makes a quick, easy freezer meal that can be easily customized for however many you need to feed!
that is a great idea!! Thanks for sharing that.
I’ve made something like this in the past and it is so good! I love the lusciousness of the cream cheese and all the spices and cilantro. I think they are better than just the rolled meat ones at the restaurants. Looks very yummy and makes me want to throw some together tonight!
I prefer these much more than the restaurant kind. They taste fresh. Plus I love that they are not fried.
I love Mexican food. We do eat it a lot at our house too. Looking forward to trying this one!
Hope that you love it like we do. It is so easy to make. And to eat.
That looks delicious. And I love your pictures by the way, very nice!
thank you Karin!
You mention using the “leftover” enchilada sauce for dipping the taquitos in, but what is the sauce leftover from? I don’t see that it is part of the actual taquito.
I fixed it, it goes in with the cream cheese mixture.
This looks great! Does the green enchilada sauce go in the first bowl with the cream cheese?
Yes, I’ll back and fix that if I left that out. Thanks for letting me know.
That’s what I’m trying to figure out. It must though, otherwise it couldn’t be leftover. Oh well, I’ll find out tonight, since I’m making it for supper. Although since the only thing that was actually labeled “green enchilada sauce” at my grocery said, in spanish beneath that “salsa verde por enchiladas” and was a huge container, I opted instead for my favorite salsa verde.
Any sort of sauce would work, you just need a sauce to flavor and bind.
hey! I can’t control the water of my mouth. It’s looking very…. ymmm.. 😉
it is very yum. 🙂
I’ve been having a major craving for Mexican lately….I think I’ve just found the perfect solution. These look fantastic!
hope that you like these as much as we do!
I love the idea of baked taquitos! So much healthier than fried!
Not only are they healthier, they are much faster to make. You do not have to clean up the whole frying mess.
They look sooo yummy! Will surely try them! Thanks for posting!
they are yummy. you will love them too.
I will need to try my enchilada recipe with some cream cheese. I bet it will be fantastic!
please let me know how it turns out. that sounds amazing!!
Hi Bree! My family loved these! We made them Friday night and my 4YO daughter helped mix/assemble them. They were awesome and reminded me of the southwestern eggrolls from Chili’s. I cooked the chicken in Rotel tomatoes (like I do for green chicken enchiladas). Next time I may add black beans and make a double batch. I told my husband we had enough to freeze and he said, “Why freeze them? They are so good, we won’t have any left.” I’m enjoying a few for lunch at work today and will definitely make more soon!
Great! I love that you can use whatever you have around.
How did you cook your chicken? was it rotisserie? looks like it has spices & i’m still learning the best way to cook chicken.
I roast it in the oven. https://bakedbree.com/roasted-chicken
made these last night..loved them. The flavor is just right, just outstanding.
good to hear, thanks Cherity!
Just added this to our meal plan for next week. Going to try it with pinto or black beans for a vegetarian version. My family loves Mexican food so I know this will be a hit…thanks!
Let me know how it turns out. I love a vegetarian version of just about anything.
Hi Bree,
I made this a couple weeks ago and finally posted it on my blog- they are just so delicious and easy- a big hit! Next time I will try adding black beans too!
Thanks for sharing! 🙂
-Marissa
thanks Marissa! I’ll check it out.
I made the vegetarian version of this using pinto beans (I was worried black beans might turn the mixture gray) and it was wonderful. I would definitely recommend it if you are looking for a good supper for Meatless Monday.
thank you for telling me! I will try a bean version next.
we have a gluten allergy in our house, would these be any good made with corn tortillas instead?
corn tortillas are harder to work with because they crack when rolled. Use a really soft variety.
I made these last week and LOVED them! I posted on my blog: http://kendallandkeith.blogspot.com/2012/10/chicken-and-cheese-taquitos.html
Thanks for sharing such a great dish!
I am so glad!
These were incredible! I subbed light cream cheese (which I usually do unless it’s for frosting or icing) and used two cans of green chiles since I didn’t have green enchilada sauce in the pantry. After shredding the chicken, I stirred 3T of lime juice with 3T of honey to kind of spike the chicken with the honey/lime I love so much. Baking the tortillas is a perfect idea–I love it! I used Mama Lupe’s low carb tortillas (only 60 calories!) and they were fantastic! Thanks for the recipe!
Sounds good! Glad that you liked them.
Hi there, not sure if I’m missing something glaringly obvious, but this recipe is posted under your ” vegetarian” section.
Because there is an option to make it “vegetarian”.
Howdy! So I was curious how many this makes…? We have nine in my household so I’m very used to tripling things, just don’t want to make too many!! It took me all day to find this recipe lol
Thank you!!! ~
Triple sounds about right. And they freeze well, so if you have extras you can wrap them and keep them for a snack.
WHAT IS THE SIZE OF CREAM CHEESE BAR YOU ARE USING? IT COMES IN 3OZ OR 8OZ?
8 ounces. Just like in the pictures.
Is it 3oz or 8 oz of cream cheese? Looks delish! Want to try this week. Thx:)
8.
I have made these for gatherings and had many people request them over and over. Even had people plan their days around when I’m making these. They are always the first to go at potlucks. I’ve used rotisserie but think I’ll do like you and bake the chickens. I have found that cutting them in half before baking works better. May try spreading a little cream cheese on the tortilla edge to keep it wrapped. I turn them over half way through baking. Thanks so much for this remarkable recipe.
I should have said, I cut the taquitos in half before baking.
I am so glad that you like it so much! That’s a good tip, the cream cheese should make it stick.