Jalapeno Popper Chicken Flautas

Baked Jalapeno Popper Chicken Flautas, made with shredded chicken, jalapeno, cheese, spices and uncooked tortillas are easy to make and full of flavor! 

This fun finger food is similar in flavor to my Bacon Wrapped Jalapeno Popper Chicken, except this recipe uses pre-cooked chicken and can be made for a crowd.

For this recipe, I wanted to merge two of my favorite game time recipes - jalapeno poppers and chicken flautas - to create one ultimate game time appetizer.

This was a raging success! Not only was this recipe insanely easy to make, my husband deemed it one of his top 5 favorite things I've ever made.

These flautas couldn't have been easier to prepare.

• The key to having this recipe not only be outrageously delicious, but easy to make, is in the tortillas. I use uncooked tortillas because they will bake in the oven. I find their flavor very pleasing and the flautas taste very fresh.
• Because the tortillas aren't yet cooked, they roll up very well. No breaking or tearing here. Only a tight little flauta.
• I bought pre-cooked chicken breasts. Of course, you can use leftover rotisserie chicken or even cook the breasts on your own. I even cheated a little and used pre-shredded cheese.

Baked or fried?

Traditional flautas are fried, but I chose to bake them for several reasons.

1. This recipe makes quite a few large flautas. Enough to feed a crowd. By baking them, I could cook them all at the same time whereas if they were fried, I would have had to cook them in smaller batches.
2. The clean up was easier. That's always a factor for me.
3. Because they were sprayed with oil prior to cooking, they were deliciously crisp and crunchy without having to deep fry them.

I used a canola oil spray on the baking sheet as well as on the tops of the tortillas and they browned up to lovely perfection. You'll also know when they're done because the jalapeno cheesy middle will want to start bubbling and oozing out. Oh yes.

You can't tell me that you wouldn't love sinking your teeth into one, two, or seven of these crispy and flavorful treats while your favorite team is dominating the scoreboard.

Flautas or taquitos?

You know, I debated whether I should call these taquitos or flautas and the trusty internet told me that taquitos are typically made with corn tortillas and that flautas are typically made with flour. Otherwise there really isn't a difference.

Before this recipe, the only taquitos I had ever had were bought frozen from the store and the only flautas I had eaten were from a restaurant.

Because these are so easy to make, you can enjoy freshly baked flautas at home!

Jalapeno Popper Chicken Flautas

Baked Jalapeno Popper Chicken Flautas, made with shredded chicken, jalapeno, cheese, spices and uncooked tortillas are easy to make and full of flavor!

4.88 from 8 votes

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Course: Appetizer

Cuisine: Mexican

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Hover to scale: 16 flautas

Chef: Krissy Allori

Ingredients

• ▢ 4 chicken breasts (cooked and shredded)
• ▢ 8 ounces cream cheese (softened)
• ▢ 4 jalapenos (stems and seeds removed, finely chopped)
• ▢ 1 teaspoon salt
• ▢ 1 teaspoon cumin
• ▢ ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• ▢ 2 cups Mexican blend shredded cheese (cheddar, jack, etc.)
• ▢ 16 uncooked flour tortillas
• ▢ oil spray

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
• In a medium sized bowl, combine chicken, cream cheese, jalapenos, salt, cumin, garlic powder, and shredded cheese.
• Divide the chicken mixture evenly between the 16 tortillas and roll tightly.
• Generously spray baking sheet with cooking spray and place rolled flautas in a single layer with the seam side down on greased pan. Spray tops of flautas with more cooking spray.
• Bake until cheese is melty and tortillas begin to turn golden brown, about 10-15 minutes.
• Serve warm on their own or with guacamole or fresh toppings like cilantro or additional jalapeno, if desired.

Notes

• Makes 16 flautas, nutritional info based on one flauta
• Depending on the spice level of the jalapeno, you may want to add small amounts, taste, and then add more until the spice level is to your liking
• You can use the meat from an entire rotisserie chicken if you don't want to use chicken breasts

NUTRITION INFORMATION

Calories: 255kcal | Carbohydrates: 16g | Protein: 18g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Cholesterol: 65mg | Sodium: 559mg | Potassium: 297mg | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 335IU | Vitamin C: 4.9mg | Calcium: 142mg | Iron: 1.4mg

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This post was originally written in January 2016 and has been updated for your viewing pleasure.