Flavor-Bursting Chicken Verde Taquitos

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TAquitos? (Pronouced taaaaqqquiiiiiiiiiiiitoes)

I was low on supplies last week and realized, first, I have only 3 chickens, salsa verde, 1/4 block of cheese, and about 40 white corn tortillas. That’s when it hit me— TAQUITOS!! It took me a couple of times to get the technique down, but once I did, magic happened!

They are so savory and crunchy then BURST with the juicy chicken wrapped in tangy salsa and cheese. Uuuggghhh, I can’t get enough of these!

So, you know that bittersweet moment when you’re low on groceries and gosh-darn-it, say, I don’t want to go back–so you figure out something? Ha! I remember the moment that John started driving, ahhhhh 🙌! So —when I would forget something it would go like this, “JOHNNNN! What are you doing right now?”

John, “Nothing.”

Me, “Great! Put down the homework, take a break, will you go grab me some green onions?”

John, “What are green onions?”

Me. “Here are the keys, I’ll send a picture. Thanks hunny!!”

Now?? He acts like he can’t hear me. 🫥😳 I can’t blame him.

So, nonetheless, taquitos came out of a not-havin’-nothin’-night. Those are the best meals sometimes…until you realize…it only makes enough for half the family 😅.

Chicken Verde Taquitos

I’m sure you may have seen (or at least as a child) these in the freezer section of the store. Well, don’t waste your time. Doing it at home is so worth it! These taquitos are WARM, CRUNCHY, and BURSTING WITH SAVORY/TANGY CHICKEN VERDE flavor. Once you make these at home, things will change in you. You’ll never buy that ugly frozen box of taquitos! In fact, the kids started grabbing at them and eating them before they could even be put on the table. They are addicting! (this was not cute, I didn’t have enough for everyone 🫣)

It did take me a couple of times to nail down the technique, and from there, SUPER EASY! Let me tell you what I learned 🤗.

How you make them…

The supplies you need:

• cast iron pan or (one of my favorite) All-Clad pan
• 1/2 cup of vegetable oil or any “light” oil (for every 10 you make)
• tongs (for grabbing and flipping)
• cup of water
• 3 chicken breasts
• Verde salsa jarred (or check out the BEST TOMATILLO SALSA, or heck, just my Farmer Franny Salsa)
• white cheddar cheese
• paper towels or (my favorite way to do things) a cooling rack with a sheet pan underneath
• dipping sauce (sour cream + avocados +cilantro + lime) or (sour cream + salsa)

What I learned…

The first time I did this, a couple of problems happened.

1. I had too much oil. Really, you just need about 1/2 to 1 cup of oil to make it deep-ish in the pan. Too greasy is no good. You want to just COAT the pan to about 1/4th inch high.

2. I used toothpicks. They are COMPLETELY UNECESSARY. In fact, toothpicks made out to be much harder to flip side to side.

3. Cook one side completely, then go to the next side. DON’T FLIP UNTIL THE TORTILLA IS HARD. Which leads me to the next lesson.

4. Always lay the FOLDED side DOWN.

You can bake them. Not as good as a pan fry but I am totally down for being a bit healthier. Here is how you bake them.

Baked Taquitos.

If you are interested in baking them, here is what I would suggest. Have your microwaved tortilla, stuff them thinner than a hot dog. Then fold them and lay them on a sheet rack with the FOLD DOWN. If the stuffing comes out, stuff it right back in. Spray with Pam or vegetable oil spray and bake at 375 for 10-15 minutes on each side. This technique may call for a toothpick through the middle if you have trouble with them staying together. Essentially, the tortilla isn’t hard enough to “keep it together”. Therefore, cook longer on that side

Getting Started.

1. Make the chicken. If you have ROTISSERIE chicken left over—that’s perfect!
2. Once you grill the chicken (or use leftovers) let it rest for a couple of minutes. DON’T CUT THE CHICKEN UNTIL THERE ALL THE STEAM IS GONE. This is important because it will affect the moisture in the chicken. No one likes chewy, hard chicken 😳.
3. Add your jar or homemade salsa and sprinkle in some cheese—VOILA! Your stuffing is done 🙌.

1. Get your clean pan (or new pan) fired up on medium high. Put enough oil to coat the bottom and a little more. About a cup. Let it get hot enough that when you splash the pan with water it will sizzle.
2. While the pan is getting warm, throw the tortillas in the microwave (about 15) at a time for 1 minute on each side. This makes the tortilla pliable so they DON’T break as your trying to stuff them.
3. Stuffing time! This puts the tortilla to the ultimate challenge. If it breaks, grab a more sturdy one. You can try using a toothpick but that really made turning it in the pan almost impossible without the filling coming out. You want the filling to be LESS THAN the size of a HOT DOG. Then TIGHLY WRAP that bad-boy. Show it who’s boss 😆.

1. MY TRICK HERE is to take your TIGHTLY folded taquito and place it FOLD DOWN in the oil. Then once the tortilla gets firm, the filling stays and you can flip to the back (where filling doesn’t want to come out).
2. Fry the front side until hard (about a minute) and or light gold. Then flip to the back for another minute.
3. Place about 5 in the pan (don’t crowd). And drain the oil off onto your cooling (sheet)rack.

1. Let them cool for about 3-5 minutes and wipe off any excess oil.
2. Make an avocado dipping sauce or a salsa sour cream dipping dressing 😘.

Enjoy!! My family LITERALLY ate these before they made it to the table. Therefore, a quick night at the dinner table happened 😂.

The Recipe

Dinner, lunch, or snack!

This was such a fun dinner for us, I would honestly do it ANYTIME of the day—-oh!! Breakfast taquitos!! Yessssss. I know what I’m doing this weekend 🙌🏼.

This taquito has so much flavor and crunchiness. You have to try it!!

Love to you all!

-Farmer Fran-sies 😘

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