These Chicken Flautas are a great dinner if you don’t have a lot of time but still want a family-pleasing meal. I love dipping these in sour cream or salsa!
Easy Chicken Flautas
Chicken Flautas are surprisingly filling and one batch goes a long way. It can feed a family for dinner or you can freeze/refrigerate for snacks throughout the week. Little kids will only eat one for a snack after school, but teenagers will eat a lot more! It’s a much better after school snack than if my kids went for something loaded with sugar. With all the cheese and chicken inside, these are loaded with protein. We love dipping Chicken Flautas in sour cream, salsa, guacamole, and/or ranch dressing.
Chicken Flautas are also a great game day food. They’re a great utensil-free food, but you won’t need a bunch of napkins to clean your hands afterward. I like this recipe for using up leftover chicken. It can also be made up even quicker with canned chicken. Check out the video below to see how easy these are to make!
Homemade vs. Store Bought
This recipe reminds me of the Chicken Flautas you can buy pre-packaged at Costco. While these 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. These Easy Chicken Flautas are baked, not fried. You can also use a variety of tortillas if you are trying to cut back on calories or have a gluten allergy. Corn tortillas, whole wheat tortillas, and low carb tortillas can all be used in this recipe. Second, making your own at home is more economical. The last time I looked at my area Costco, a package of 16 flautas cost $9.49. You can make a lot of flautas at home for that amount!
More Easy Mexican Recipes
We have some other EASY Mexican recipes that I would 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 Carne Asada Burritos and our Honey Lime Chicken Enchiladas.
How to make Easy Chicken Flautas
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 c. chicken shredded, feel free to use leftover chicken or even canned chicken
- 6 oz. cream cheese
- 1 c. Monterey Jack cheese shredded
- 1/3 c. salsa
- salt and pepper to taste
- 8 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 (or use a silpat).
- Place rolled up tortillas evenly spaced on the cookie sheet (seam side down) and spray cooking spray generously over the top.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes or until tortillas become golden-brown.
Brittany C. says
December 17, 2012 at 3:54 pmYum. I’m making these for dinner tonight.
Melissa D. in TX says
December 18, 2012 at 3:43 pmI 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!
Katie G says
December 19, 2012 at 6:38 amI 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.
Meggan says
December 28, 2012 at 4:42 pmMade 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!
teresa g says
January 15, 2013 at 5:27 pmMade these tonight and they will certainly be going into our rotation for dinners. They went together real quick and tasted oh so good.
Colin L says
August 1, 2013 at 10:34 amim going to try get my ex gf back by making these on saturday night. wish me luck
Emily says
August 1, 2013 at 8:24 pmGood luck!!! Maybe make a good dessert too. 🙂
Kat P says
October 21, 2015 at 12:31 pmHow did it go?! I was thinking about going with a similar plan for my ex boyfriend!
Britney says
October 26, 2013 at 6:45 pmDoes the oven cook the chicken? Or do you boil it or something first?
Erica says
October 27, 2013 at 7:59 pmDefinitely 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!
Meg says
April 18, 2017 at 5:59 amI’m cooking my chicken in the crock pot with a tsp of cumin and will shred it myself later.
Erica says
April 18, 2017 at 1:00 pmYum! Sounds delicious!
Jennifer Cortez says
January 8, 2014 at 4:56 pmThis was delicious! Thank you so much!
Amy Wong says
May 22, 2014 at 8:34 amCan I use Pita bread instead of tortilla wrap. If not hopefully u can post a recipe using Pita bread.
Erica says
May 22, 2014 at 9:02 pmI 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
Felipe says
June 2, 2014 at 7:14 pmOMG sounds delicious, I know most versions of flautas with chicken or beef
Chelsea B says
July 2, 2014 at 10:50 amI’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
Echo says
July 3, 2014 at 10:36 pmGreat idea! I’m glad you like the recipe!
Sara B says
September 15, 2014 at 8:33 amI 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!
Tatjana says
November 24, 2015 at 7:22 pmHi Sarah! Did you freeze final product or mix?
KMo says
May 9, 2017 at 4:54 pmDo you freeze them after already wrapped up in the tortillas? Or just as the prepared chicken mixture?
edna says
October 7, 2014 at 11:43 amWill Corn tortillas work just as well?
Erica says
October 9, 2014 at 9:32 amYOu can use corn tortillas and fry them.. but that would make them a taquito 🙂 Yes, they are very delicious that way!
Becs says
August 17, 2015 at 4:13 pmWould you use all the ingredients as above if I use corn and fry them?
Thx
Erica says
August 19, 2015 at 9:12 amYes, you could make them the same with corn tortillas and fry them
tori says
October 26, 2014 at 1:34 pmVery yummy!! Cheap and quick to make. I’m eating them now while typing this
Meghan @ Freezer Friendly Moms says
December 6, 2014 at 9:10 amLove 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!
Tatjana says
November 24, 2015 at 7:21 pmHi! Did yoy freeze mixture or final product? Thanks! This is great to know they’re a hit w my baby girl!
olivia says
June 8, 2015 at 11:20 amI am hispanic, when you say flautas, I think corn torillas, flour tortillas to me are for eating, and burritos. Ty for sharing .
Rozzy says
December 9, 2015 at 4:30 pmThese 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!
Erica says
December 9, 2015 at 9:04 pmSo glad I finally get some back-up on this 😉 Thanks!
Crystal says
September 7, 2015 at 7:00 pmCan you make these without the cream cheese?
Erica says
September 8, 2015 at 9:55 amSure, I just can’t promise they will taste the same!
JERICA says
January 8, 2016 at 8:33 pmDoes anyone know what the calorie count is?
HappyForks.com says
January 10, 2016 at 5:04 pmOur Recipe Analyzer knows it 😉 Here are estimated values:
whole recipe = 3188 kcal
100 g of recipe = 262 kcal
1 oz of recipe = 74 kcal
Christy says
March 23, 2016 at 4:21 pmCan you substitute sour cream for the cream cheese? I’m trying to avoid a trip to the grocery store! ????
Emily says
March 25, 2016 at 8:50 pmthat should work, the flavor will be different though.
Carol says
May 29, 2016 at 5:45 pmWhat is the ‘sauce’ you dip these in?
Erica says
May 30, 2016 at 8:50 amWe usually dip it in salsa and/or sour cream. What you see pictured is salsa 🙂 Hope this helps!
Elizabeth M Cyr says
July 10, 2016 at 8:26 amI would like to know if these are best frozen before they are baked?
Should you bake these first before freezing? I am making approximately 60 to 70 for our church children’s summer camp.
Thank you
Beth
Erica says
July 10, 2016 at 7:19 pmYou can definitely freeze them before baking.. but if it were me, I would probably bake them first unless you can flash freeze them (so they don’t get soggy). Either way would probably work fine. 🙂 Hope this helps!
Barry Hugg says
September 13, 2016 at 2:44 pmFor us ‘eaters’ here in Oz, tell me what Monterey Jack cheese is?
Erica says
September 14, 2016 at 7:37 pmIt is a white cheese similar to texture as mozzarella but typically used in Mexican dishes. Do you have pepper Jack cheese there? It is pepper Jack without the peppers!
Terri says
November 5, 2016 at 9:13 pmWould cheddar cheese work instead of Monterey Jack
Echo says
November 7, 2016 at 11:15 amAbsolutely! Cheddar cheese would be every bit as good. Thanks for asking!
Karen I says
March 4, 2018 at 1:43 pmWow, these look SO good. Our local takeout Mexican food place offers 3 chicken flautas for $4.95 and by the time I get home they are nearly cold. Watched the video and realize I can make them at home. Cannot wait to try these at home. Thank you so much for posting.
Favorite Family Recipes says
March 7, 2018 at 8:49 amHi Karen! So excited for you to try them! We almost never buy them anymore because they are just SO easy to make AND you can make them healthier because they are baked instead of fried. Let us know what you think when you try them!
Melinda says
October 4, 2018 at 7:26 pmI just made the tonight. My picky husband loved them. My grandson also. So easy to make..thank you
Favorite Family Recipes says
October 9, 2018 at 4:42 pmSo glad you liked them! If both your husband AND your grandson liked them, I definitely consider that a WIN! 😀
Danielle says
October 8, 2018 at 2:09 pmThese are not flautas.
Favorite Family Recipes says
October 15, 2018 at 6:20 pmWhat would you constitute as a flauta?
Samantha says
May 2, 2019 at 6:01 pmI would like to make these for our Cinco de Mayo potluck on Sunday at church. If I baked them ahead of time, do you think putting them in a warm oven for about 3 hours would work alright?
Erica says
May 3, 2019 at 3:07 pmYeah I think that should be fine!