Chicken Taquitos with Guacamole Recipe

By
Nick Kindelsperger
Nick Kindelsperger is a contributing writer at Serious Eats.
Nick Kindelsperger is a food critic at the Chicago Tribune.  His food writing appears in The Washington Post, Newsweek, Epicurious, Baltimore Sun, Serious Eats, Grub Street, New York Magazine, and Tasting Table, among others.
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Updated April 01, 2021
Nick Kindelsperger

I love taquitos: a soft and spicy filling housed in a crisp but still pliant tortilla shell, with fresh ingredients on top to balance everything out. I also appreciate that you can make them with leftovers, especially roast chicken. Just shred the chicken, mix it up with salsa, wrap it up in tortillas, and fry away.

The straightforward salsa I picked requires few ingredients, but a couple cooking techniques give it some serious character. First, before they are blended up with the tomatoes and jalapeño, the thickly sliced onions and a whole clove of garlic are sautéed in a large pan until browned and caramelized. Second, the blended salsa is poured back into that hot pan where it bubbles furiously for a few minutes and reduces down to a concentrated and flavorful base. Only then is the shredded chicken added in. It's slightly spicy, a little sweet, with a wonderful roasted flavor from the sauté.

Now you're ready to fry. Once again, a couple tricks make the process easier. Though it may seem strange, briefly frying each tortilla before adding the filling will soften them up and make them more pliable. If you skip this step, the tortillas are apt to break during the rolling process. Once fried and filled, you then need to secure each one with a toothpick to keep the tortilla from opening up and spilling the contents into the pan. I found that threading the toothpick through the flap, while holding it parallel to the rolled tortilla, works the best. But that's just me.

What's great about this recipe is that you can adapt it to whatever you happen to have in the fridge. Pork works well, as would beef. Honestly, even mashed potatoes work. But this is a great place to start.

Recipe Details

Chicken Taquitos with Guacamole Recipe

Active 30 mins
Total 45 mins
Serves 4 servings
Cook Mode (Keep screen awake)

Ingredients

For the Guacamole:

  • 2 avocados, cut in half, pits removed, flesh scooped out and chopped (about 1 1/2 cups)

  • 1/4 small white onion, diced, rinsed under water, and drained (about 1/4 cup)

  • 1/2 jalapeño, stemmed, seeded, and minced (about 2 teaspoons)

  • 1 medium garlic clove, minced (about 1 teaspoon)

  • Small handful fresh cilantro, stems removed, roughly chopped

  • 1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lime juice from 1 to 2 limes

  • Kosher salt

For the Taquitos:

  • 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon canola oil, divided

  • 1/2 small white onion, cut into 1/2-inch thick slices

  • 1 medium garlic clove, peeled

  • One 15-ounce can tomatoes, drained

  • 1 jalapeño, stemmed, seeded, and diced

  • 1 1/2 pounds cooked chicken, shredded

  • 12 corn tortillas

  • 1/2 head romaine lettuce, thinly sliced

  • 8 small radishes, ends trimmed, thinly sliced

  • Mexican crema or sour cream

Directions

  1. For the guacamole: Combine the avocados, white onion, jalapeño, garlic, cilantro, and lime juice in a large bowl. Use a spoon, and stir until everything is creamy, but there are still some chunks of the avocado. Season with salt to taste. Set aside.

  2. For the Taquitos: Heat one tablespoon oil in a Dutch oven over medium high-heat until shimmering. Add onion and garlic clove and cook, stirring often, until the onion and garlic are beginning to brow, about 7 minutes. Turn off the heat and remove, leaving as much of the oil as possible behind. Transfer to a blender along with the tomatoes, jalapeños, and salt. Blend until mixed, but still with some texture.

  3. Add another tablespoon oil to Dutch oven and heat until shimmering. Add contents of blender. Stir well, and cook until the sauce has reduced into a thick sauce-like consistency, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from heat, add the shredded chicken, and stir well. Taste and add more salt if needed.

  4. Heat 1/4 cup oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add one tortilla and let it bubble in the oil until soft, two to three seconds. Flip and give it another couple seconds, and then remove and drain on paper towels. Repeat process with remaining tortillas.

  5. Working one tortilla at a time, spoon 2 tablespoons chicken mixture down center, then up like a cigar. Secure each rolled tortilla with a toothpick. Make sure the toothpick runs parallel to the tortilla. Repeat with remaining tortillas.

  6. Heat remaining oil in skillet over medium high heat until shimmering. Add as many of the rolled up tortillas as fit in one layer. Cook, flipping occasionally, until each is browned on top and bottom, three to five minutes. When done, drain on paper towel-lined plate and season immediately with salt. Repeat with remaining tortillas.

  7. Divide the taquitos between four plates. Top each with a lettuce, radishes, and a drizzle of crema. Add a quarter of the guacamole to each plate. Serve.

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
945Calories
56gFat
67gCarbs
50gProtein
×
Nutrition Facts
Servings: 4
Amount per serving
Calories945
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 56g71%
Saturated Fat 11g57%
Cholesterol 173mg58%
Sodium 690mg30%
Total Carbohydrate 67g24%
Dietary Fiber 14g50%
Total Sugars 15g
Protein 50g
Vitamin C 69mg344%
Calcium 200mg15%
Iron 6mg33%
Potassium 1373mg29%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

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