Chicken Taquitos
One of my most favorite foods ever, in the history of food are chicken taquitos… but not those gross ones made with paste from the freezer section of your fave grocery store. A good, homemade, shredded chicken taquito that has been fried perfectly golden. For weeks I’ve been telling the mister “I want to make taquitos.” And for weeks we’ve either been too busy or too tired. Today I was both, but dang it I wanted taquitos. They were supposed to happen last night for Taco Tuesday (which also happened to be a busy Halloween) but it didn’t happen. So this afternoon I cooked some chicken and threw together some pico de gallo and got everything going early for dinner. The mister worked late, and I forgot we had some friends popping over in the middle of the early evening, so we ended up eating way late. But dang it, it was 100% worth it – cuz mama got her taquitos!
I wanted to do step by step photos but was in kind of a hurry to get these made and on plates (and in my belly), so you’re not getting step by step photos this time. (I sowwy!)
Cook your chicken
To make the shredded chicken filling I put two 10 oz chicken breasts in my Instant Pot with 1.5 Cups of chicken broth. (You can use chicken bouillon, too.) I sprinkled the breasts with some onion powder, garlic powder, black pepper, and a bit of cumin. Then I set the IP on High Pressure for 23 minutes and walked away. My chicken was slightly frozen so if yours is completely thawed you could probably do less time. Because I had a lot going on this afternoon I let the chicken finish cooking, fully natural de pressurize (you should always let meat fully release the pressure naturally to prevent tough meat), and let it sit on “keep warm” for about an hour. OH MY GOSH… they were the most tender and juicy chicken breasts and they shredded beautifully.
Make your roasted salsa verde
While your chicken is cooking, make the roasted salsa verde. In a hot, nonstick skillet heat about 2 teaspoons of oil. Place veggies cut side down and place the whole garlic cloves on the outside edge of the pan. Cook for several minutes until the bottoms begin to brown, then turn everything over and cover with a lid and cook until everything is tender and soft. Once everything is cooked, caramelized, and soft put all the veggies and all the juices from the pan into a blender, add salt, pepper, cilantro, and lime juice. Pulse until smooth. Taste and adjust salt + pepper as needed. Set aside.
Roll and fry your taquitos!
It can be a little tricky to roll the taquitos if your corn tortillas are a little dry and cold. You can make it easier to roll them by softening them: Heat the corn tortillas in the microwave, wrapped in a damp paper towel for just a few seconds to soften them -OR- heat the corn tortillas in hot oil… Just quickly dunk them long enough to heat them, like 2 seconds, drain the oil and place on a large baking sheet. I prefer dipping them in the hot oil for a couple seconds because it makes them super duper soft and rollable.
Place a small amount of chicken on the edge of the softened corn tortilla, press the chicken together and roll up the tortilla. Place a toothpick through the rolled taquito with the outside rolled edge of the tortilla facing up. Leave the long part of the toothpick sticking out on the side with the outside rolled edge. * Do not make your taquitos too thick. The chicken should only be about 3/4″ thick, max.
Roll another taquito and then place it with the outside rolled edge facing the outside rolled edge of the taquito on the toothpick and push onto the toothpick. You should have two taquitos on one toothpick with the outside rolled edges facing each other. This will help them not unroll while frying in the oil. You can see in the first pic below what I mean by the outside rolled edges facing each other on a toothpick and in the second pic you can see how they stick together and don’t unroll in the oil.
Fry your taquito pairs in hot oil (about 350 -375*) a few minutes on each side until they are perfectly golden brown, drain on paper towels on a baking sheet.
ENJOY!
Place your taquitos on a plate, top with the salsa verde, lettuce, pico de gallo, and crumbled queso fresco. You can also top with guacamole and drizzle with some crema or top with sour cream. Serve with a side of your favorite Mexican rice, cilantro lime rice, or refried beans. The possibilities are endless!
Now go make some taquitos and dig in and enjoy!
Chicken Taquitos
Ingredients
Shredded Chicken Filling
- 2 large Chicken breasts (about 20 oz)
- 1 Cup Chicken broth
- 1/2 tsp Garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp Onion powder
- 1/4 tsp Black pepper
- 1/2 tsp Cumin
- Corn tortilla shells
- Neutral oil for frying
Roasted Salsa Verde
- 1 large Jalapeno cut in half and de-seeded. Use 2 jalapenos if they are smaller than 3-4" long
- 1/2 medium Onion the whole half, leave intact
- 3-4 large Garlic cloves
- 7 large Tomatillos, halved
- 3/4 – 1 Cup Cilantro washed
- 1/2 large Lime
- 1 pinch Black pepper
- 1 pinch Kosher salt
Toppings
- Queso Fresco crumbled
- Shredded lettuce
- Pico de Gallo
Instructions
Shredded Chicken Filling
- Clean chicken breasts up and place into Instant Pot.
- Add chicken broth and all the spices.
- Close lid, close vent, cook on High Pressure for 22 minutes. Let it depressurize naturally 100%. Open lid and let rest for about 10 mins before shredding.
- Shred with forks (or your hands if cool enough), and set aside.
Roasted Salsa Verde
- While the chicken is cooking prep the salsa:
- In a hot, nonstick skillet heat about 2 teaspoons of oil. Place the tomatillos, jalapenos, and onion cut side down, place the whole garlic cloves on the outside edge of the pan. Cook for several minutes until the bottoms begin to brown, then turn everything over and cover with a lid and cook until everything is tender and soft. You may need to flip them over a couple of times to keep them from burning.
- Place the cooked veggies and all the juices from the pan into a blender, add salt, pepper, cilantro, and lime juice. Pulse until smooth. Taste and adjust salt + pepper as needed. Set aside.
Roll the Taquitos
- Start heating your oil , about 1/2" deep, in a cast iron skillet. Don't over heat… heat on medium heat until about 350 – 375*.
- Heat the corn tortillas in the microwave, wrapped in a damp paper towel for just a few seconds to soften them -OR- heat the corn tortillas in hot oil… Just quickly dunk them long enough to heat them, like 2 seconds, drain the oil and place on a large baking sheet.
- Place a small amount of chicken on the edge of the softened corn tortilla, press the chicken together and roll up the tortilla. Place a toothpick through the rolled taquito with the outside rolled edge of the tortilla facing up. leave the long part of the toothpick sticking out on the side with the outside rolled edge. * Do not make your taquitos too thick. The chicken should only be about 3/4" thick, max. (Otherwise you're making flautas.) – Roll another taquito and then place it with the outside rolled edge facing the outside rolled edge of the taquito on the toothpick and push onto the toothpick. – You should have two taquitos on one toothpick with the outside rolled edges facing each other. This will help them not unroll while frying in the oil.
- Repeat making taquitos with two on a toothpick until you've used up all your chicken.
Fry the Taquitos
- Place the taquitos (2 per toothpick) into the hot oil and fry for just a few minutes on each side until they are your desired golden-ness. In my 10" skillet I can do 3 pairs of taquitos, 6 total.
- Place on a cookie sheet lined with paper towels to drain. Repeat frying process until you've fried all your taquitos.
Serving
- Place your taquitos on a plate, top with the salsa verde, lettuce, pico de gallo, and crumbled queso fresco. You can also top with guacamole and drizzle with some crema or top with sour cream. The possibilities are endless!
- Serve with your favorite Mexican rice and/or refried beans.