I was craving some Tex-Mex recently and had some leftover chicken in my fridge. These Shredded Chicken Flautas were just a few steps away and SO delicious. This easy Tex-Mex dinner is a great recipe to add to your cooking list. You can use any leftover chicken you might have OR use a rotisserie chicken and shred that up for the filling.
If you have the supplies, it might be worth it to make a 1.5-2x batch of these chicken flautas as they keep really well in the fridge and reheat beautifully in the oven.
What are Flautas?
Flautas are similar to enchiladas but instead of baking the filled and rolled tortillas in sauce, you fry them lightly in a skillet and then serve the crispy filled tortillas with lots of dipping sauces. The good news: You can fill these with almost anything once you get the method down!
- Want to try another traditional Mexican dish? Try this traditional mole sauce!
My Favorite Easy Flauta Filling
I kept the filling very simple for these. It’s oil, onions, and chicken, plus dried spices that you probably have on hand.
This is a great base, but feel free to jazz it up. If you have some fresh jalapeno, that would be beautiful, or you could add in a can of beans if you wanted to stretch the filling to make more flautas.
I definitely wasn’t going to the store for anything specific so I just used what I had on hand. It’s a flexible enough recipe that you can do the same!
Cook the filling in olive oil for a few minutes just to soften the onions. The chicken is already cooked so you just want to cook the onions and mingle the flavors.
What Kind of Tortillas to Use for Flautas?
Personally, I like to use flour tortillas for these. Corn tortillas are more of an enchilada thing for me and flour tortillas have a great texture when filled and fried like this.
That said, again, use what you have. If you have corn tortillas they will work great! Just be sure to soften them by wrapping them in a moist paper towel and microwaving them briefly before rolling them.
Rolling the Flautas
You can use small or medium tortillas for these. I add a few tablespoons of chicken filling and a small handful of cheese to the middle of the tortilla and roll it up. Pretty easy!
As you roll these flautas you can fry them in batches in a little oil. You do not need to deep fry them. A shallow fry works best and you can flip the flautas half-way through.
You could bake these flautas if you want, but I think frying is worth the work here. They get SO crispy and delicious.
Fry the chicken flautas seam-side down first to seal the flautas and they will need about two minutes per side.
- Interested in trying homemade tortillas? See if homemade tortillas are worth the work!
When the flautas are done, let them drain and cool on a few paper towels until you are ready to eat!
How to Serve the Flautas
I like to serve these flautas with avocado, cilantro, salsa, and sour cream. No reason to overthink the toppings here! About 3-4 flautas is a great portion for an adult meal and you can chop up one flauta for a little kid.
Reheating the Flautas
I did not try to freeze these, but I expect they would freeze great. They do store well in the fridge for a few days though and reheat beautifully in the oven. I wouldn’t microwave them as they will get really soggy.
Make some flautas and enjoy a good meal!
Shredded Chicken Flautas Recipe
Shredded Chicken Flautas
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- ½ red onion, diced
- 3 cups shredded chicken
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 6 ounces cheddar or colby jack cheese, grated
- 12 flour tortillas, 8-inch
- 2 cups oil, for frying
- Avocado, garnish
- Cilantro, garnish
- Sour cream, for serving
- Salsa, for serving
Instructions
- Shred or chop cooked chicken (I like to use a rotisserie chicken) until you have about three cups of chicken.
- In a medium skillet, add olive oil, onion, and chicken. Cook until onions soften, 3-4 minutes. Then add seasonings and remove from heat.
- Heat fry oil in a high-walled skillet over medium heat. Working with one flour tortilla at a time, fill with a about 1/4 cup of filling and a small handful of grated cheese. Roll the tortilla into a tight cylinder. Place the rolled flauta in the hot oil, seam-side down so it seels.
- Continue to roll the flautas as you fry the flautas until you run out of filling. Fry the flautas for about 2 minutes per side until they are golden brown.
- Remove flautas from the hot oil and let drain on a few paper towels.
- Serve flautas with avocado, cilantro, sour cream, and salsa.
- Leftover flautas keep great in the fridge for a few days. Reheat in a 300˚F oven for a few minutes until warmed through and crispy.
Sheebani
Great idea! We live on quesadillas around here so I think I’ll give these a try this week (perhaps with black beans) to switch things up just a bit.
Nuria
I make mine with corn tortillas, but will try flour. When I make mine I shred a lot of chicken and roll as many flautas as I can. They freeze great before frying. When I’m ready, I go from freezer to frying with no need to thaw since the chicken is already cooked and I just need to get the flautas crispy.
Deb
Ah man, I tried something very similar, but using corn tortillas. It was good, but it did seem like something was amiss. After reading the article, I am surely gonna give it a try with flour tortillas.
Nicole
These look absolutely perfect. Going to make them for dinner soon.
Jenni
These looks amazing i have never heard of them before bit will be trying them asap thanks for the inspiration
jan
I live in Australia and am so envious of the Tex Mex food in the US. I’m definitely going to try making these and my tastebuds might even transport me there. I’m a great believer in taste buds inspiring travel.
Katy Galloway
These look incredible! I’ve been trying lots of new recipes in lockdown and these are next on the list!
David
FLAUTAS are MEXICAN! Not a “Tex-Mex favorite” for fucks sake!