Recipe – Creamy Chicken Taquitos

Taquitos are on a biweekly rotation in our home now because they are just SO damn tasty.  They’re fairly easy to put together, do not take long to bake, and do not use a lot of ingredients, which always means a good meal for me :)  The hardest part of creating the dish is cooking the chicken and shredding it!  They are also not too bad calorie-wise and I’m pretty full after having only 2.

The recipe is adapted from Annie’s Eats, though I took out a lot of the ingredients she uses.  Like with other recipes, I tend to always omit onions and cilantro since we’re not fans of them.  I think these are still very flavorful as I add the Wildtree taco seasoning to the chicken mix.  I cut down on the cream cheese and shredded cheese and instead use Trader Joe’s Queso Cheese Dip.  This dip definitely tastes different compared to “normal” queso.  It’s a little runnier, but has 15 calories and 1.5 grams of fat for 2 tablespoons, so it’s turned into a good substitute.  For the tortillas, we have found great ones the La Tortilla Company makes that are 50 calories a piece.  Trader Joe’s also sells low-carb tortillas that are pretty tasty and the same amount of calories.  The biggest change to the recipe is that I add a layer of fat-free refried beans to the tortilla before adding in the chicken mixture – I think this makes a huge difference in the creaminess.

Here’s my version of Creamy Chicken Taquitos:

Ingredients:

• 2 oz. reduced fat/light cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup salsa
• 3 tablespoons Trader Joe’s Queso Cheese Dip
• 1 tbsp Wildtree taco seasoning
• 1 tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 2 cups shredded cooked chicken
• 1/2 cup shredded reduced-fat Mexican cheese
• 15 oz can fat-free refried beans (you may not need the entire can, so you can heat up the extras as a side dish)
• 9-10 6-inch reduced-carb tortillas Cooking spray
• Parchment paper and a large baking sheet
  

 

Let’s Get Cooking!

• Preheat the oven to 425˚ F.  Line a baking sheet with a parchment paper.
• In a medium mixing bowl, combine the cream cheese, salsa, queso, lime juice, spices, chicken and shredded cheese.  Mix well until chicken is evenly coated.
• Microwave the tortillas for about 20 seconds each so they are slightly heated and easier to roll.  Place a tortilla on a cutting board or flat plate. 
• Using the back of a small spoon, spread a thin layer of refried beans (about 2 tablespoons) onto the tortilla. 
• Spoon 2-3 tablespoons of the chicken mixture on one side of the tortilla (I have found that placing the mixture in the middle of the tortilla does not make it easy to roll).  Then roll the tortilla up tightly. 
• Place tortilla so the seam is face-down on the baking sheet.  Repeat steps to fill remaining tortillas.  There should be enough mixture to fill 9 or 10 tortillas.  Space the tortillas evenly on the baking sheet. 
• Spray the tops lightly with cooking spray.  Bake for 15-20 minutes until the tops are crisy and slightly browned. 

They are best served with sour cream and any extra refried beans you may have left over.   Just a warning – if you are not patient enough to let them cool a little, some salsa liquid may escape from the open bottom of the tortilla and it will be HOT :)

Sharing at: