This baked chicken flautas recipe has a bit of heat from the jalapeño but the honey glaze balances things out nicely; when paired with crumbly cotija cheese and the chunky guacamole this dish is pretty much my version of heaven. This great, filling meal takes a bit longer to cook, but the results are well worth the effort.
Who doesn’t want to eat bread filled with delicious chicken and cheese and then dip it into guacamole? My mouth is salivating just thinking about eating these!
What are Flautas?
Flautas are a type of Mexican dish that is typically made with a flour tortilla (this recipe uses corn) and stuffed with shredded chicken, beef or pork and then rolled and deep-fried. They are often served with toppings such as sour cream, guacamole, and salsa.
Difference Between Flautas and Taquitos
The terms “Flautas” and “taquitos” are often used interchangeably and the differences often depend on who and where you ask. The term flauta is more commonly used in central Mexico, while taquito is more commonly used in the northern regions of Mexico and in the United States.
A distinction some make; flautas are made with flour tortillas where taquitos may use the corn variety instead. Our flauta recipe uses corn tortillas because the texture is better than with flour, but feel free to experiment with either variety.
Since they are traditionally made with different tortillas another distinction is shape. Flautas are often longer and folded instead of rolled. Taquitos are often shorter and more rounded since they are rolled.
Why You’ll Love These Baked Chicken Flautas
- Baked: By baking these flautas you get all the crispy deliciousness of traditional flautas without the deep-fried mess.
- Healthy: We already mentioned these flautas aren’t deep fried and this recipe also features skinless chicken breasts and pico de gallo for a healthy Mexican dish.
- Versatile: Flautas can be served as an appetizer, snack, or entrée and served with a variety of your favorite toppings.
How To Make Chicken Flautas in the Oven
Add all the fillings to the Crock Pot and waiting for it to finish means much of the process is hands-off…until the chicken is done. Once you reach that stage it’s just a matter of removing the chicken, shredding it, and adding the honey-jalapeno glaze. Then you put the flautas together, brushing them with a touch of grapeseed oil or olive oil, and placing under the broiler for a few minutes to get nice and brown.
Then whip up the pico de gallo and guacamole and you’ve got yourself a seriously impressive dish that really didn’t require a ton of effort in spite of the longer cooking time.
And that’s an important factor when considering this dish–if you are in a hurry you might be tempted to skip the pico or the guacamole, but you should DEFINITELY reconsider! These extras make this dish incredible.
Try substituting the pico de gallo with this authentic salsa verde recipe.
(Scroll down to the bottom for the printable recipe card with exact measurements and instructions.)
Chicken Flautas Variations
- Rolling: Rolling your flautas tightly helps them stay together. But some of these might be stubborn, and if the visual aesthetics are important in your presentation (and you’re not feeding a bunch of really hungry people who don’t care how it looks) you can keep the flautas from opening by using toothpicks. It’s helpful to put the toothpicks in the same place for all flautas, making them easy to find and remove.
- Vegetarian: Making this dish vegetarian-friendly is a lot easier than it used to be, thanks to the wider availability of plant-based chicken strips and other options. If you want to substitute the chicken in this recipe for plant-based alternatives, it may be best to get a chicken alternative that comes already shredded or in strips that you can shred yourself. As with any vegan or vegetarian alternative, it’s smart to experiment with the replacement ingredients prior to having to serve the dish to a group–you’ll want to know in advance how it’s going to turn out!
- Preserving Guacamole: And finally, at the bottom of the instructions below you’ll find a simple guacamole recipe using ingredients in the To Serve category. To keep your avocados and guacamole from turning brown, give them both a good spray of lime juice to coat the surface of the avocados or dip. This will delay “browning” significantly.
These guys keep incredibly well in the fridge! And while they are pretty good chilled, once warm they are like an explosion of flavor in your mouth.
Baked Chicken Flautas Recipe
Yield: 10-12
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 4 hours 30 minutes
Total Time: 4 hours 45 minutes
This baked chicken flautas recipe has a bit of heat from the jalapeño but the honey glaze balances things out nicely.
Ingredients
Chicken
- 3 chicken breasts, boneless, skinless
- 2 7oz cans chipotle peppers
- 2 jalapeños, deseeded
- 2 tbs crushed pineapple
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 tsp salt
- ¼ cup chicken broth
Glaze
- ½ cup honey
- ½ jalapeño chopped
Pico De Gallo
- 3 tomatoes
- 3 garlic cloves
- Juice of 2 limes
- ½ white onion
- ½ head of cilantro
- 1 tsp salt
To Serve
- 16 oz can refried beans
- 2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded
- 2 avocados
- 10-12 corn tortillas
- Cacique cheese
- 2 limes
- 1 head lettuce
Instructions
- In a slow cooker, add all of the ingredients for the chicken and cook on low for about 3-4 hours.
- Once the chicken is cooked through and tender, remove from the excess broth and place on a parchment lined baking sheet.
- Pre-heat the oven to Broil (I used the Low setting)
- Using two forks, shred the chicken.
- Once finished, pour the honey on top of the chicken along with the jalapeño and toss together until well combined.
- Place in the oven to cook for about 5-6 minutes or until the honey thickens and the chicken begins to turn golden brown. Remove from the oven and set aside.
- To form the flautas, place a few of the tortillas in a damp paper towel and heat in the microwave for 30 seconds.
- Remove from the microwave and cover with towel to keep warm.
- Take one tortilla out at a time and spread thinly with the refried beans, then add about 2 tbs. of the shredded chicken and another tbs. of the shredded cheese.
- Roll into a tube and place on another baking sheet with the fold-side down.
- Repeat with the remaining tortillas.
- Once finished, coat with a drizzle of olive oil (I used a basting brush) and place in the oven on broil and cook until the outsides have turned a golden brown.
- To make the pico de gallo, simply add the ingredients to a food processor (I like to help things along by quartering the tomatoes, mincing the garlic and halving the onion). And pulse together about 6-8 times (should still be chunky in texture).
- To make the guacamole, simply mash the avocado (after removing the flesh, of course) and add a few tbs. of the pico de gallo. Mix together and finish with a dash of salt and a squeeze of lime.
- To serve, top with chopped lettuce, and cacique cheese.
Try these Mexican dishes next or serve them all at your next fiesta!
- Mexican Sopes (vegan)
- Mexican Street Fries
- Loaded Enchiladas
- Sofritas Tostada
- BBQ Chilaquiles
