Chicken Taquitos

I had some pretty darn good chunky taquitos in California this fall and wanted to recreate them as soon as I got home. This recipe can be made with shredded chicken leftovers from my whole roasted chicken recipe (included below) or a store-bought rotisserie chicken. I highly recommend marinating the whole chicken the night before roasting it. You can enjoy the chicken as your first meal but set aside 3.5 cups worth of shredded chicken for your taquitos.

You can make these with flour tortillas or corn tortillas. I fried and baked them - both variations were delicious. I would have totally air-fried them too if I could.

Ingredients:

Roasted Chicken (or rotisserie chicken)

• 1 whole chicken

• 2 tbsp ranch dressing

• 1 tbsp lemon herb aioli

• 1 Sazon packet

• ½ tsp lemon pepper

• 1 tsp salt

• ½ tsp cumin

• ½ tsp coriander

• ½ tsp Montreal chicken seasoning

• Juice from 1 lemon

• 1 tsp crushed garlic

• 2 tbsp olive oil

• Paprika for dusting

• Avocado oil or olive oil for drizzling

Sauce

• ½ cup sour cream

• ½ chipotle lime mayo (or adobo sauce mixed with plain mayo)

• 2-3 tablespoons Cholula hot sauce

• Lime juice from one lime

• Water to thin it down

Taquito Filling

• 3.5 cups shredded chicken

• 4 oz softened cream cheese

• 1.5 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

• 1.5 cup shredded Oaxaca cheese

• 1 mini can of roasted green chilis

• 2 tsp taco seasoning

• ¼ - ½ tsp cayenne pepper (to taste)

• ¼ cup adobo sauce (from can)

• ½ cup tomato salsa (jar, can, or home-made)

• Salt and pepper to taste

Other

• Flour or corn tortillas (I liked the flour tortillas best)

• Chopped fresh cilantro for garnish

• Vegetable oil if frying

• Vegetable oil spray if baking

Directions:

Roasted Chicken (requires marination overnight)

1. Prep the chicken: mix all the marinade ingredients (ranch, aioli, garlic, Sazon, coriander, cumin, lemon pepper, salt, Montreal seasoning, olive oil, lemon juice). Rub the chicken (including under the skin). Cover and marinate overnight in the fridge.

2. Roast chicken: Dust chicken’s skin with paprika then drizzle with oil. Bake @375 for 25 min uncovered, another hour covered, then broil till skin is golden.

3. Shred leftover chicken and pour chicken juices over it before storing in the fridge. This allows the chicken to soak up more flavor. This is ideal to do the night before you plan on making the taquitos, but you can skip this step if you want to make them the same day.

Sauce

1. Prep sauce the night before or at least 30 minutes before prepping the taquitos. Mix the sour cream, chipotle mayo, hot sauce, and lime juice then thin is out with water until you reach your desired consistency. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

2. For a nice presentation, add the sauce to a squirt bottle.

Taquitos

1. Mix shredded chicken with taquito stuffing ingredients. Taste and adjust seasoning to your liking. If it tastes good before you stuff them, then it'll taste good afterwards.

2. Spread some stuffing on one edge of a round tortilla then roll it up tightly like a cigar. Lay them flap side down on a baking sheet while you roll the rest.

3. To fry: fill a cast iron skillet halfway up (about 1.5 inches) with vegetable oil and heat to 350F. Gently put filled taquitos in the oil flap side down. Use your tongs to hold them down for a few second to ensure the tortilla doesn’t unravel. Flour tortillas have a tendency to do that more than corn tortillas. Flip when golden then let it rest on a wire rack before serving. To bake: spray parchment paper with vegetable oil. Place taquitos flap side down then spray the tops. Bake at 400F until crisp from the bottom then flip. About 5-7 minutes on each side.

4. Drizzle with sauce and garnish with freshly chopped cilantro.