When I am hungry for something delicious and homemade at lunch time I turn to my freezer for my pre-made Crispy Homemade Chicken Taquitos with cream cheese, Cilantro and Pepper Jack cheese. Creamy and satisfying are the words I would use to describe these. In fact this freezer chicken taquitos recipe is so good I find myself wanting to eat like 10 of them at once. My body says I am full after about 4 but my mind wants more. That’s just how good these are.
Have you tried the Taquitos from the store? I do not like them at all. They have the taste of cardboard and the only way I can choke them down is with sour cream. I don’t know what it inside of them, but they taste nothing like homemade so I am guessing they are full of weird ingredients. Making your own freezer chicken taquitos can be more work but the taste and knowing what is in them is worth it. Once you make this recipe you will never want to go back to store bought ones again!
I make this chicken taquitos recipe as part of my freezer meals. I just make them up as I would directed below, but before I bake them I flash freeze them instead. This way I can pull out just a few and 15 minutes later I am ready to savor a perfect lunch. We have eaten this recipe for dinner too. Hope you try this recipe out and let me know what you think!
Chicken Taquitos with Cream Cheese, Cilantro and Pepper-Jack recipe
Ingredients:
3 Cups roasted shredded chicken breast (or roast beef is great too)
8 oz. Cream Cheese
4 Tablespoons chopped Cilantro
2 Tablespoons Lime juice
1 (6 oz.) can Green Chilis (or ½ cup green salsa verde if you have that on hand)
3/4 teaspoon Cumin
1 ½ teaspoon Chili Powder
1 teaspoon Onion Powder
1/4 teaspoon Garlic Powder
1 ½ Cups shredded Pepper-jack cheese
small corn or flour tortillas (approximately 30 depending on how full you stuff them!)
fine sea salt
cooking spray
Method:
Melt your cream cheese until it’s soft and melty. Add all spices, cilantro, lime juice, green chilis, chicken and cheese to a large bowl. Mix until well blended.
Heat your tortillas so they are soft and won’t break as much when you roll them. Add a little bit (about 2 tablespoons) of chicken mixture to each tortilla, roll and place seam side down on parchment or foil lined cookie sheet. Spray with a little olive oil spray and sprinkle with a little bit of salt. Bake in 425 degree oven for 15 minutes.
To freeze: As you roll your chicken Taquitos, place them on a parchment lined cookie sheet without touching. Then place cookie sheet in freezer. When taquitos are frozen remove them from the cookie sheet and add them all to a freezer safe gallon sized bag. Label and add back to freezer. When you are ready to eat just take a few or a lot of the taquitos, place on a foil or parchment lined cookie sheet. Spray lightly with olive oil and sprinkle with a little salt. Bake in 425 degree oven for 15-20 minutes or until crispy.
Like I mentioned before you can use corn or flour tortillas – they are both equally good. And I use whatever tortillas I have around.
I love making 50 freezer meals in a day all at once so I don’t have to cook every day of the year. It’s a real time saver. If you are new to freezer meals see this post here.
Here is the printable version of this recipe if you would like:
Crispy Homemade Chicken Taquitos with Cilantro and Pepper-Jack Cheese
Ingredients
- 3 cups roasted shredded chicken breast or roast beef is great too
- 8 oz Cream Cheese
- 4 tbsp chopped Cilantro
- 2 tbsp Lime juice
- 4 oz Green Chilis, canned ½ cup green salsa verde if you have that on hand
- 3/4 tsp Cumin
- 1-1/2 tsp Chili Powder
- 1 tsp Onion Powder
- 1/4 tsp Garlic Powder
- 1-1/2 cups shredded Pepper-jack cheese
- 30 small corn or flour tortillas
- fine sea salt
- cooking spray
Instructions
- Melt your cream cheese until it’s soft and melty. Add all spices, cilantro, lime juice, green chilis, chicken and cheese to a large bowl. Mix until well blended.
- Heat your tortillas so they are soft and won’t break as much when you roll them. Add a little bit (about 2 tablespoons) of chicken mixture to each tortilla, roll and place seam side down on parchment or foil lined cookie sheet. Spray with a little olive oil spray and sprinkle with a little bit of salt. Bake in 425 degree oven for 15 minutes.
- To freeze: As you roll your chicken Taquitos, place them on a parchment lined cookie sheet without touching. Then place cookie sheet in freezer. When Taquitos are frozen remove them from the cookie sheet and add them all to a freezer safe gallon sized bag. Label and add back to freezer. When you are ready to eat just take a few or a lot of the taquitos, place on a foil or parchment lined cookie sheet. Spray lightly with olive oil and sprinkle with a little salt. Bake in 425 degree oven for 15-20 minutes or until crispy.
Nutrition
Loved this recipe?
Make sure to follow on Instagram @happymoneysaver and on Pinterest @happymoneysaver for more money savin' recipes!
I really hope you enjoy these as much as I do!
WANNA SEE MORE RECIPES?
- Creamy Chicken Taquitos With Cilantro & PepperJack Cheese
- Chicken Burrito Bowls
- Adobo Chicken with Pineapple
- Easy Burrito Pie
- Chicken Enchiladas (Freezer Meal)
- Teriyaki Beef and Broccoli Freezer Meal
–> See all of my freezer meal recipes here.
About Karrie
Food is my love language. But so is saving money. So I like to combine the two a lot and make thrifty make ahead and freeze meals to save time. Because life is busy, and freezer meals can come to the rescue for all of us. And yes, they actually CAN taste good. Read more...
Comments & Reviews
Marie says
Had these taquitos for dinner then froze the rest. My whole family loved them. I had cooked a bunch of chicken thighs in a crock pot with Mexican seasonings so the chicken was very tender and shredded easily. After that, the mixing & rolling went quickly. The addition of fresh cilantro was the best part !!
Tina says
Aaaaamazing! Thank you so much for this recipe!
That is all.
Cindy says
My family and I love these! I just started counted my calories again 🙁 How many calories would you say are in these?
Amanda J says
Hi Karrie! I love this recipe!! I don’t know if I’m not following the directions right but I can only make 18 taquitos with the recipe. I don’t measure out 2 tablespoons, but I use a large spoon which I would think is about a tablespoon. How do you measure out how much you put in the shells? Also, do you use the taco sized shells?
I love love LOVE this recipe though.. we eat these at least twice a week!
Happy.MoneySaver says
I used the 6-inch flour tortilla shells and honestly I just spoon the filling in and it usually makes about 40 small taquitos. If you are using bigger tortilla shells then you will use more filling. I am so glad you like this recipe! It is very popular in my house too!
Jessica says
So i have found the trick to not having corn tortillas break is to fry the corn tortillas in about a half inch of hot oil over medium-high heat for about 5-10 seconds on each side before putting filling in and rolling them up. It also helps the tortillas to not dry out in the oven. I know, not as healthy, but it makes them so much easier and better. This is a great recipe btw. My husband really liked them.
April says
Hubby and I just tried this recipe for the first time. We’re sold. These were delicious. I used flour tortillas and they rolled perfectly.
THERESA says
WAS WONDERING IF YOU HAVE AN EASY RECIPE FOR BEEF AND BEEN TAQUITOS….
Chris says
Love your web site. This is the best taquito recipe I have found so far.Everyone loves it. Thanks for posting.
Happy.MoneySaver says
You are welcome! I am so glad you like it!
Deborah says
These look so good! When you say small tortillas do you mean the six inch ones?
Happy.MoneySaver says
I did use the six inch flour tortillas but feel free to use any size you want. The nice thing about the small tortillas is they are easy to stuff into a freezer ziploc bag! But any size would work! These are also great if you are making the 50 Freezer Meals in a Day! 🙂
Barb says
I made these a few weeks ago and my family LOVED them. They were so good!
I ran out of small tortillas before I ran out of filling, so I made some with medium sized tortillas and I called them chimichangas. I served them with enchilada sauce and the kids loved that, too.
Thanks for the recipe!
Karrie says
You are welcome, so glad you liked this recipe!
Emily says
Hi! Was wondering how many this recipe makes? Trying to figure out if I want to double the recipe, and how many tortillas I need to buy.
Thanks! 🙂
Karrie says
Hello Emily, if you double this recipe you will need probably around 90 small flour or corn tortillas. I usually use around 40 -50 small tortillas with the one recipe.
bay says
I’m making these tomorrow, but I was planning to make my tortillas. I didn’t know i needed so many. I’m going to be making tortillas all day. LOL
Sophie says
Made these this past weekend and they are amazing!! So much better than store bought. I went through some trial and error with the corn tortillas. I found that getting them hot, as in steaming, and then covering them with a clean kitchen towel once rolled prevented them from cracking. As long as they weren’t exposed to air so they could dry out, they didnt crack. I put them in the freezer covered as well for about 30 minutes and then took the towel off and let them finish freezing.
Meryl says
Can I ask Sophie how you steamed the corn tortillas? This recipe sounds fabulous! I MUST try and I agree, store bought– yuck! Thank you Karrie and Sophie!
Victoria B says
I just made these for the first time and at first, the corn tortillas were cracking as I rolled them because I didn’t get them warm enough. This is what worked for me: put 4-6 corn tortillas between 2 damp paper towels, microwave for 40-45 seconds. They should come out hot and steamy. Leave them between the paper towels and take them out one by one to roll to keep them as warm and damp as possible. I also brushed them generously with olive oil before baking. This worked great for me. Delicious recipe! Thank you so much!
Karrie says
Great tip Victoria! Thanks!
Patty Mc says
Hello! Thank you so much for the recipe. They look great!
I have a question. If you are going to freeze them, do you cook them first then freeze or roll them up an freeze then when you’re ready, bake them?
Karrie says
I don’t cook them before I freeze them. As soon as they are rolled I flash freeze! 🙂
Krissy says
have a quick question – i used homemade corn tortillas and rolled and flash froze them… and when the time came to cook them, i put them in frozen and they were all unrolled when they came out… i wonder if its because they were homemade… or what i could do different…
Happy.MoneySaver says
Homemade corn tortillas are fickle! 🙂 It really depends on the recipe. Some suggestions I have found is to make sure to store them in a plastic bag in the freezer and if needed warm them in the microwave with a damp paper towel for a minute to get some moisture back in them and then bake them. When they get dry they crack and they fall apart. Hope your next batch turns out better!
Ava says
Another great recipe! Thanks, I made these recently and my family loved them…
Karrie says
Wonderful! So glad you liked my recipe!
Bette D says
Made them yesterday. DELICIOUS!!!
Ashley says
I made these last night and they were delicious with a side of homemade guacamole and cilantro lime rice! I simply shredded some chicken from a store bought rotisserie. I used corn tortillas, which I might switch to flour next time due to them wanting to crack on the side despite being warmed. Although I did get the corn tortillas really cheap from Aldis at the last minute so maybe it was just the quality of the tortillas? Or maybe I just suck at rolling them up? Lol either way, pretty or not, we devoured them! Thanks for the recipe!
Becky @Connect The Dots Ginger says
I made these last week too! They are super yummy but my corn tortillas kept breaking too! I buy super fresh ones at the Mex store in town and they just wouldn’t stay wrapped without breaking on both sides (didn’t matter how much stuff I put in the middle they just wanted to break). I am going to try flour ones next time.
CASEY says
If you warm your tortillas in the microwave a few at a time before rolling they won’t break.
janea says
I warmed mine a few at a time…they all still split when cooking in oven….very irritating.
Felecia Cofield says
Hi Karrie! These taquitos sound delicious! I want to get the ingredients now and make them! Great idea for teenage sons for after school snack! Thanks for sharing! Have a great week! Blessings from Bama!
Melissa says
Just yesterday I was home alone with my twin toddlers, realized i was starving and quickly reheated some store bought ones, you’ve made me see the light! I WILL be making these, thank you!
Melissa says
LOVE LOVE LOVE taquitos! I have another recipe that is very similar I found on the online. Will have to give yours a whirl next time. I can totally over indulge myself on them too – Mexican is my favorite type of food and I could eat it every single day.
Heather says
OHMYWORD those look fabulous! I can’t wait to try them…I agree those store bought ones are a nightmare for the mouth! Ewww…might as well go bite on a fence post. LOL! 🙂 Thanks for the recipe!
penny grant says
I can’t wait to make some of these for my 3 HUNGRY tween/teens – perfect for winter break and after school snacks. Love the recipes, keep them coming:) Thanks Kerri!
Karrie says
I know what you mean about those hungry teens – I have 2 of them myself and yeah, they can sure eat!
Janelle W says
Hi I was wondering if you have a suggestion for freezing them but still being able to put them in your child’s lunch when they obviously can’t cook them prior? Thank you
Karrie says
Hi Janelle, you’d have to cook them up, and then put into kids lunch. It would probably be cold unless you can somehow put a half of one into a hot thermos.
Karrie says
Ha – yes, fence post! So true..LOL