This post may contain Affiliate Links. Please see my Disclaimer for more details.
This mesmerizing Chicken Flautas recipe is made with crispy fried tortillas filled with juicy chicken and red enchilada sauce, then topped with homemade avocado crema. Garnish with fresh cilantro and queso fresco for the ultimate appetizer!
Here are some delicious dishes to serve with these flautas: Poblano Sauce, Mexican Red Rice, Blueberry Mint Margarita, Tamarind Margarita, and Chipotle Churros.
Latest Recipe Video:
Jump to:
If you’re looking for an easy and delicious appetizer or main course that guarantees to impress your friends and family, this is the one to try! These tasty chicken flautas will instantly transport you to Mexico without having to leave the kitchen. To this day, it never ceases to amaze me how easy this dish is to make when you consider how great it tastes.
This incredible flautas recipe is made with basic ingredients like flour tortillas, chicken, avocados, and fresh cilantro. You save tons of time by using store-bought enchilada sauce and cooked rotisserie chicken. Once you prep your flautas, you only need to fry them for about a minute each before they’re ready to enjoy.
I love serving this dish with a homemade avocado crema made with fresh cilantro and lime juice. The savory flavors and crispy texture of the flautas pair beautifully with the crema’s bright flavors and creamy texture. OK, I may or may not be salivating just a little bit while typing this up. Whether you’re hosting a game day party or looking to whip up something fun over the weekend, these chicken flautas will not disappoint.
Chicken Flautas Key Ingredients
Let’s break down the ingredients you’ll need to make these Mexican chicken flautas.
- Flour Tortillas: I love getting fresh flour tortillas from my local Latin grocery store because I’ve found that they yield the best-tasting flautas. However, any fresh flour tortillas you have will work well.
- Rotisserie Chicken: To make this dish super quick and easy, I typically just grab a whole rotisserie chicken at the store and shred it up at home. Alternatively, you could cook and shred chicken breasts in the Instant Pot.
- Red Enchilada Sauce: Using your favorite store-bought enchilada sauce saves tons of time that you would otherwise spend roasting or boiling tomatoes for homemade sauce.
- Mexican Oregano: Trust me, this is the crème de la crème of oregano. Italian oregano works fine in a pinch, but this variety will yield the best flavor.
- Avocado: This gives our crema a bright green color and makes it extra creamy.
- Mexican Crema: This is basically the Mexican version of sour cream. It’s thicker and creamier than traditional sour cream, which makes it the perfect base for our avocado crema. El Salvadoran crema is my personal favorite!
How to Make the Best Chicken Flautas
Ready to learn how to make homemade chicken flautas? All you have to do is follow the easy steps below.
Step 1: Make Avocado Crema: In a food blender, combine the crema, cilantro, avocado, garlic, salt, pepper and water. Blitz on high for 30 seconds until smooth. Place inside an airtight container and set aside.
Step 2: Make Flautas Filling: In a food blender combine enchilada sauce, onion, garlic, bay leaf, salt, pepper, and oregano. Blitz on high for 30 seconds until smooth.
Step 3: Turn the heat to medium in a small skillet, add sauce and cook for 5 minutes until reduced and thick. Reserve ½ cup to the side, pour the remaining sauce over the chicken and toss until the chicken is evenly coated.
Step 4: Fry the Flautas: Preheat the oven to 200°F. In a small bowl combine flour and water until smooth. Add your desired amount of chicken on the edge of the tortilla closest to you, then smear ¼ teaspoon of the flour paste on the top half of the tortilla, roll the flauta up like a cigar, and press to seal the edges. Set aside on a baking sheet.
Step 5: Turn the heat to medium-high in a medium skillet and heat the oil to 350°F. Once the oil is hot, fry 3-4 tortillas for 1 minute on each side, and drain on a paper towel-lined baking sheet. Then, keep the cooked flautas warm in the oven.
Step 6: Serve and Enjoy: To serve, add 3 chicken flautas to a plate, then pour 1 tablespoon of enchilada sauce over the flautas. Add a small handful of shredded lettuce, add a few tablespoons of avocado crema, some queso fresco, tomatoes, and cilantro. Enjoy hot.
How to Store Leftovers
Once they have cooled completely, you can store cooked chicken flautas in the fridge for up to 3 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Before freezing them, spread the flautas on a baking sheet and place them in the freezer for 30 minutes to prevent sticking. Then, toss them into an airtight container or freezer-safe storage bag. To thaw, simply put them in the fridge for 24 hours before using them and reheat in the oven until warm.
Chicken Flautas Recipe Tips and Tricks
Here are some of my top tips and tricks to help you make the best chicken flautas:
- If you want a little kick, feel free to top your chicken flautas with sliced jalapenos or garnish with a few shakes of your favorite hot sauce.
- While I usually keep my flautas simple, you are more than welcome to add to the chicken flautas filling recipe. You could incorporate finely chopped onions, diced green chiles, shredded cheese, or extra seasonings.
- Don’t want to fry your flautas? You can make baked chicken flautas in the oven by adding them to a greased wire rack and spraying them with cooking spray. Bake at 425°F for 15-20 minutes until crispy and serve with avocado crema.
- Don’t skimp on the toppings! Fantastic toppings for flautas include queso fresco, lime juice, cilantro, salsa, guacamole, sour cream, chopped lettuce, green onions, and diced tomatoes.
- You can make gluten-free flautas by making sure to use gluten-free tortillas.
Frequently Asked Questions
You asked I answered! Here are the answers to some of the most popular questions about Mexican chicken flautas.
What is the difference between chicken taquitos and chicken flautas?
Some people argue that taquitos are meant to be smaller than flautas, but that really just varies from recipe to recipe. The only real difference between chicken taquitos and chicken flautas is that taquitos are made with corn tortillas, while flautas are made with flour tortillas.
What to serve with chicken flautas?
You can serve this dish as a main course by serving it with rice and beans or grilled vegetables. If you’re serving these easy flautas as an appetizer, I recommend pairing them with other Mexican-inspired dishes like Mexican rice, street corn salad, margaritas, and guacamole.
What is usually in flautas?
Flautas are typically made with a filling that consists of shredded beef, chicken, or pork stewed in a tomato-based sauce, sometimes with cheese, potatoes, and onions. The dish is then deep-fried or baked and often paired with a dipping sauce. In this recipe, I chose to use homemade avocado crema.
More Delicious Mexican Inspired Recipes
If you liked this easy flautas recipe, try these next:
- Tequila Lime Chicken Bowl
- Blueberry Mint Margaritas
- Steak, Egg and Cheese Tacos
- Mexican Elotes
- Grilled Shrimp Chile Rellenos
So, next time you want to whip up something tasty for Cinco De Mayo or Mexican-themed that will have everyone asking for seconds (and thirds), try this chicken flautas recipe. It’s easy, delicious, and sure to impress your guests. Let me know how it turns out by rating the recipe and leaving a comment below.
Click here to subscribe to MY Weekly Recipes for easy and free recipes right into your inbox!
To pin this recipe and save it for later, you can use the Pin button on the recipe card, the sharing buttons above or below this post, or any of the photos above.
Tag me @kennethtemple_ and use #LezEat on Instagram to share your remakes with me, and don't forget to leave a star rating and comment below.
📖 Recipe
Chicken Flautas
Ingredients
Avocado Crema:
- ½ cup Crema
- 6 sprigs cilantro
- 1 large avocado
- 1 garlic clove smashed
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 5 tablespoons water
Chicken Flautas:
- 15 oz. red enchilada sauce
- 1 small onion chopped
- 4 garlic cloves smashed
- 1 bay leaf
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon Mexican oregano
- ¾ cups oil
- 1 rotisserie chicken meat removed and shredded
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons water
- 15 flour tortillas
- 8 oz. shredded iceberg lettuce
- ¼ cup queso fresco garnish
- 2 roma tomatoes chopped small, garnish
- ¼ cup chopped cilantro
Instructions
Avocado Crema:
- In a food blender combine crema, cilantro, avocado, garlic, salt, pepper and water. Blitz on high for 30 seconds until smooth. Place inside an airtight container.
Flautas Filling:
- In a food blender combine enchilada sauce, onion, garlic, bay leaf, salt, pepper, and oregano. Blitz on high for 30 seconds until smooth.
- Turn the heat to medium, in a small skillet, add sauce and cook for 5 minutes until reduced and thick. Reserve ½ cup to the side, pour remaining sauce over chicken and toss until chicken is coated evenly.
Flautas:
- Preheat the oven to 200°F. In a small bowl combine flour and water until smooth. Add chicken on edge of tortilla closes to you (how much are little is up to you) smear ¼ teaspoon of flour paste on the top half of tortilla, roll flauta up like a cigar and press to seal edges. Set aside on a baking sheet.
- Turn the heat to medium-high, in a medium skillet, heat oil. Once oil is 350°F degrees, fry 3-4 tortillas for 1 minute on each side. Drain on paper towels lined baking sheet. Keep cooked flautas warm in the oven.
- To serve add 3 chicken flautas, pour 1 tablespoon of enchilada sauce over flautas, add a small handful of shredded lettuce, add a few tablespoons of avocado crema, some queso fresco, tomatoes and cilantro. Enjoy hot.
Notes
- If you want a little kick, feel free to top your chicken flautas with sliced jalapenos or garnish with a few shakes of your favorite hot sauce.
- While I usually keep my flautas simple, you are more than welcome to add to the chicken flautas filling recipe. You could incorporate finely chopped onions, diced green chiles, shredded cheese, or extra seasonings.
- Don’t want to fry your flautas? You can make baked chicken flautas in the oven by adding them to a greased wire rack and spraying them with cooking spray. Bake at 425°F for 15-20 minutes until crispy and serve with avocado crema.
- Don’t skimp on the toppings! Fantastic toppings for flautas include queso fresco, lime juice, cilantro, salsa, guacamole, sour cream, chopped lettuce, green onions, and diced tomatoes.
- You can make gluten-free flautas by making sure to use gluten-free tortillas.
Sharon says
Must try the recipe for my family. Will update Chef on how it turns out.