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?
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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
Tiffany J says
I feel so late to the party here but just wanted to give you a HUGE thank you! My husband can be such a picky eater but he loves these taquitos and it makes our weeks so much simpler to have a batch in the freezer for him to eat! We’ve done some pre-cooked and some straight frozen. He prefers the latter but it’s so awesome to have something that will work both ways!
Happy.MoneySaver says
So glad he likes them! 🙂
Jason says
I decided to embark on a freezer meal journey and chose this as my first step.
As some have recommended, I used a steamer to steam my corn tortillas before rolling them, and that prevented cracking.
Overall, this was easy to make and it tasted good too.
I plan on making your easy lasagna recipe next, probably this evening.
Tandiya says
Would it be bad if I cooked the taquitos then freeze them for my husband to take to work? I would just flash freeze them if I was going to make them for at home. But since he needs something quick he can grab and just heat up when it is lunch time at work. I was thinking I could fully cook them, flash freeze them, then package them and freeze for him to take to work.
That would work just fine wouldn’t it?
Happy.MoneySaver says
It would be great! If you want some more ideas for lunches look here! https://happymoneysaver.com/make-ahead-freeze-lunches/ The taquitos are also on here!
Nicole says
Can these be microwaved instead of put in the oven? I am looking for lunches for my hubby to take to work where he wouldn’t have access to an oven.
Thanks so much!
Happy.MoneySaver says
They can be but the outside may not be as crispy! 🙂 Still really yummy though and perfect for a quick lunch!
Mandy says
I love these! I’m not a fan of cilantro, so I kept it out. I also switched the pepper-jack for cheddar cheese. This is one of the best freezer meals I’ve had!
Raquel says
These look delicious! How would it work out to cook the taquitos first then freeze them they’ve cooled down? I’m thinking p them on the microwave for super quick meals.
Happy.MoneySaver says
I think it would work pretty good. They may be a little softer in the microwave but they would work as a great lunch!
Tish says
Has anyone tried these the traditional way using corn tortillas? Since these are made with flour tortillas, they are actually flautas. The recipe looks amazing! Can’t wait to try it!
Mary says
These are awesome ! I keep my (away at college) son’s freezer full of homemade frozen meals so he is not tempted to buy preservative- laden foods. These are the one thing he requests. He can pop them in the microwave morning noon or night. Thank you for all of your freezer recipes. I keep our home freezer full as well, so we always have something planned for after work. Freezer meals (and planning ) really works for our family.
Fern says
These were yummy! I made them for a 9th-12th grade small group. I didn’t have cilantro, limes, and seasonings. I used Taco Bell’s green chili sauce instead and Aldi’s taco seasoning in place of spices. These tasted better than store bought. Yum! I’m making again for our family supper.
Nancy says
I was planning on buying all the ingredients for this recipe, but then remembered I had a can of Rotel Lime and Cilantro on the shelf. I substituted it for the lime, cilantro, garlic, etc. and it turned out great. Since the Rotel is slightly on the spicy side, I used regular shredded cheddar in place of the Pepper Jack. Just a suggestion for yet another time saver. Thanks for the recipe. I’ll definitely use it again!
Jody says
I absolutely LOVE / LOVED this recipe! I made the chicken mixture up the other night and made a few of them for dinner, then put the filling in a tupperware container and finished making them ( to freeze) tonight!
I’ve had a couple of back surgeries and have another one looming over my head for the near future. There are many, many nights where I’m simply not up to cooking , let alone the mess in the kitchen afterwards! Meals like this are such a lifesaver for me!! My kids are all grown and i’ve had a handful of freezer meals that i’ve always had as ” go to’s ” so to speak, but this one and ones like it are way different than the old stand by’s of my day!! My kids have been “Hinting loudly” that they sure would like some of these…..so i’ve given them your link!! LOL ( yeah they arent getting the already made taquitos!! LOL ) hahahahaha!! Thank you so much for Sharing!!!!! Its so nice to not have to cook every night!! 🙂
Happy.MoneySaver says
So glad that you like them!
kathleen says
can you cook these then freeze them so they can be microwaved later for school lunches
Happy.MoneySaver says
They may not be as crispy but they would still taste great!
bon says
I now have a freezer full. My family adores these. Now, I don’t worry about ingredients and these are far tastier than store-bought. After I made the first batch I went right away and bought groceries for a triple batch.
bon says
6 stars!
Happy.MoneySaver says
So glad you liked it!
Marah Aylor says
Hi I don’t like green chilies or green salsa I also can’t have good that’s to spice so what can I substitute?
Happy.MoneySaver says
You try a red salsa or another sauce base that you like. These are very versatile.
Scaryclowngirl says
I made these taquitos today half chicken & half ground beef. I made my homemade corn & flour tortillas and salsa to go along with them. And the end result was absolutely delicious!!! My whole family loved them. Thanks for the recipe… 🙂
Happy.MoneySaver says
So glad you liked them!
Maggi says
I can’t find anywhere on the post – about how many do you get from this recipe? I look forward to trying it!!
Laura Killgo says
I made these tonight and boy they were good. I bought a few different tortillas to “experiment” with and I found that the ones that rolled up best were Mission flour/corn tortillas. I was especially pleased because I got the best of both worlds the corn flavor (which my husband insists on) and the workability of flour tortillas. This was my first time even seeing this kind of tortilla available, but I’m hooked. On both those and this recipe!! Thank you 🙂
Misty Hylkema says
Getting ready to participate in my first freezer-meal swap. I would LOVE to make this recipe…my mouth waters and I want it NOW! haha As a group, we are committing to making five meals to swap that each feed 4-6 people. I am not patient to read through the comments right now LOL, can you tell me from this recipe…how many taquitos would you suggest as a serving size? This will let me know how many times to make this recipe to fulfill my five meals. Thanks 🙂
Karrie says
I would try to fill a gallon sized ziploc bag with taquitos for a family swap. Usually I eat about 2-3 large taquitos myself for a meal. Hope that helps!
Michaela says
Yummy! These are now in my freezer!
Carla says
Made these yesterday… Wonderful !!!! Super easy recipe – I just added a Fresh chopped Jalapeno- we like it a little spicier. And it was so good. Even My hubby Liked them and he doesnt normally like chicken. This recipe is a keeper – Thank you so much !!!!
Happy.MoneySaver says
So glad you like it!