Inspiration: We have a great place in town that makes fresh tortillas and tortilla chips, and I really like buying their products because they’re local and they taste far better than other tortillas that I’ve bought from the store.  Their white corn tortillas come in pretty big packages, though, so I’ve had some stored away in the freezer for a few weeks now that I wanted to use. With some extra salsa in the fridge and a chicken breast that needed to be used, these taquitos were perfect.

What we Loved: I’m really pleased with how these came out. The shells got very crispy and crunchy in the oven,  they held together perfectly, and there’s nothing like the taste of a corn tortilla when you’re eating a Mexican meal. The chicken filling was really flavorful, and the salsa that we used as a dipping sauce was our favorite part. We used a roasted garlic chipotle salsa that we bought at Trader Joe’s (highly recommended!), and it was really just the perfect garlicy flavor to compliment the rest of the flavors in the taquitos.  These were crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside, spicy and garlicy from the salsa, and just the perfect combination of flavors and textures.

Helpful Hints: Make sure that you heat up the tortillas in the microwave between moist paper towels before attempting to make the taquitos. I heated three tortillas at a time for one minute, so the tortillas were very hot and pliable. If you don’t do this, your tortillas will crumble, they won’t roll, and they won’t hold together. I also thought that these would be great with some guacamole as a second dipping sauce.

Baked Shredded Chicken Taquitos
Source: Original Recipe, with inspiration from For the Love of Cooking

1 boneless, skinless chicken breast
Chili powder
Cumin
Salt and pepper
1/2 vidalia onion, very finely diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 4 oz can mild green chiles
3-4 tablespoons Greek yogurt, more if necessary
12 white corn tortillas
Extra virgin olive oil
Salsa for dipping

1. Sprinkle each side of the chicken breast with salt and pepper, then generously coat it with chili powder and cumin. Use your figures to rub the spices into the chicken to create a crust.

2. Grill the chicken until cooked through. We used a George Foreman grill and cooked the chicken for 8 minutes. When the chicken is done and has cooled, very finely shred it and place it in a bowl.

3. Heat a drizzle of olive oil in a saute pan, and saute the onions until they are starting to brown. Add the garlic, and saute for an additional 30 seconds.

4. Add the onion mixture to the chicken. Add the green chiles and the Greek yogurt, and stir very well to combine and to further break down the chicken. Depending on the size of your chicken breast, you may need to use more yogurt to get a moist consistency.

5. Heat 3 tortillas at a time in the microwave between moist papertowels for 1 minute. Fill each tortilla with about a tablespoon of the chicken mixture, and roll the tortilla as tightly as you can. Place on a greased baking sheet, seam side down. Continue until all of the taquitos are made.

6. Brush the top of each taquito with olive oil, and bake at 400 degrees for approximately 10 minutes.

7. Serve with salsa and/or guacamole for dipping.