Chicken Flautas

5 from 27 votes
68 Comments

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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. 

Three chicken flautas on a plate.
Featured with this recipe
  1. Ingredient in Chicken Flautas
  2. Difference Between Flautas and Taquitos
  3. Homemade vs. Store Bought
  4. Best Chicken for Chicken Flautas
  5. What Our Readers are Saying About Our Chicken Flautas
  6. What to Serve with Chicken Flautas
  7. More Easy Mexican Recipes
  8. Chicken Flautas 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.

Chicken flautas rolled up on a baking sheet.


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.

A chicken flauta being dipped in salsa.

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.”

What are 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.

What is inside a flauta?

Shredded meat (usually chicken or beef), melted cheese, and a flavorful sauce.

Why are they called flautas?

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.

Three chicken flautas on a plate with sour cream and salsa

Chicken Flautas

5 from 27 votes
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. 
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes
Course Lunch, Snack
Cuisine Mexican/Spanish
Servings 6 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.
    Chicken, cheese, salsa, and sour cream in a bowl
  • Evenly distribute chicken mixture over each tortilla, making a line down the middle of each tortilla and then rolling them up tight.
    Flauta filling on a tortilla
  • 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.
    Chicken flautas rolled up on a baking sheet
  • Bake for 10-15 minutes or until tortillas become golden-brown.
    Three chicken flautas on a plate

Nutrition Information

Serving: 1gCalories: 320kcalCarbohydrates: 18gProtein: 18gFat: 20gSaturated Fat: 10gCholesterol: 74mgSodium: 526mgPotassium: 222mgFiber: 1gSugar: 3gVitamin A: 609IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 209mgIron: 2mg

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About the author

Erica Walker

Erica lives in Boise, Idaho with her husband, Jared, an attorney, and her three beautiful girls. Beyond the world of recipes, she loves adventuring with everything from kayaking, to cruising, to snowboarding and taking the family along for the thrill ride.

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5 from 27 votes (9 ratings without comment)

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Comments

    1. We usually dip it in salsa and/or sour cream. What you see pictured is salsa 🙂 Hope this helps!

  1. Can you substitute sour cream for the cream cheese? I’m trying to avoid a trip to the grocery store! ????

    1. 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

  2. I am hispanic, when you say flautas, I think corn torillas, flour tortillas to me are for eating, and burritos. Ty for sharing .

    1. 5 stars
      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!

  3. 5 stars
    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!

    1. YOu can use corn tortillas and fry them.. but that would make them a taquito 🙂 Yes, they are very delicious that way!

  4. 5 stars
    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!

    1. Do you freeze them after already wrapped up in the tortillas? Or just as the prepared chicken mixture?

  5. 5 stars
    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

  6. Can I use Pita bread instead of tortilla wrap. If not hopefully u can post a recipe using Pita bread.

    1. 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

    1. 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!

  7. 5 stars
    Made these tonight and they will certainly be going into our rotation for dinners. They went together real quick and tasted oh so good.

  8. 5 stars
    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!

  9. 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.

  10. 5 stars
    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!