A Gilt Nutmeg

I don’t like to lie to you, my dear readers, so I will neither confirm, nor deny, that the only real experience I had with taquitos before making this recipe was from the 7-11 gas station in Georgia.

I will also put out there that I prefer baking to cooking (I’m sure that’s clear to most of you, by now, though) because too often you put the time, money and effort into making a nice dinner and then it’s…you know…good but would have been better if you’d just ordered it at a restaurant where they use 4 times as much butter and you wouldn’t have to clean up the grease splattered kitchen afterwards.

I can safely say that this dinner does not play out like the scene I just described.  No, these taquitos hit the spot in every way possible:  easy to make, easy to clean, filling, delicious, and absolutely satisfying in all manners of the word.  It’s even baked instead of fried like restaurant taquitos so you’ve kicked up the health factor a notch and it’s a great new fun alternative to the typical taco night (not that I would EVER turn down a taco).

Now the only question we were trying to figure out was…do you eat these with a knife and fork or pick them up with your fingers?

Creamy Chicken Taquitos
Makes 12-14, depending on how generous you are with the filling
Adapted from Annie’s Eats, originally from Our Best Bites

• 3 oz. cream cheese, softened
• ¼ cup salsa
• 4 oz can of diced green chiles
• freshly squeezed lime juice from 1/2 lime
• 1 tsp. chili powder
• ½ tsp. cumin
• ½ tsp. onion powder
• 3 cloves garlic, minced or garlic pressed
• 3 tbsp. chopped cilantro
• 2-3 green onions, chopped
• 2 cups shredded cooked chicken (I just grabbed an already roasted chicken from the grocery deli and shredded it at home)
• 1 cup shredded Mexican cheese

• 10-14 flour tortillas - size 6″ (packages at my market came in either 10 or 16)
• Cooking spray
• Kosher salt

1. Heat oven to 425 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper
2. Be sure to soften the cream cheese prior to starting the rest of the recipe-30 seconds or so in the microwave did the trick for me.
3. In a large bowl, mix all of the ingredients, except for the tortillas, spray and salt, and stir until they’re all thoroughly combined.
4. Heat the stack of tortillas you’re going to use for 30 seconds in the microwave so that they’re soft and pliable (if you find you’re one short and need to heat an extra tortilla, don’t do it by itself for a full 30 seconds!  I killed a tortilla that way, just do it for maybe 10 seconds).
5. Lay the tortilla flat and spoon 2-3 tablespoons of filling in a straight line on the tortilla-most people say to do it down the center, but I did it a bit closer to the edge I was rolling up so that I could roll the tortilla very tightly.
6. Once it’s rolled up, place the filled tortilla on the prepared baking sheet with the edge of the tortilla hidden on the bottom so that it doesn’t unroll.  Press gently to flatten it just enough so that it doesn’t roll around on the baking sheet.  You can arrange these pretty close together-I did mine about an inch apart so I could fit all of them on my oversized cookie sheet but still have enough room for air to circulate around them.
7. Once all of the tortillas are rolled up and placed on the baking sheet, lightly spray them with cooking spray and sprinkle kosher salt over the tops of them.
8. Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown on the edges.
9. These are great for freezing for future meals!  Annie notes: “To freeze before baking, transfer the baking sheet to the freezer and chill the assembled taquitos 30-60 minutes.  Transfer to a freezer-safe container or plastic bag.  To bake from the freezer, simply add a few additional minutes to the original baking time, until the filling is warmed through.“
10. Serve hot from the oven with extra salsa, hot sauce, and sour cream.  Enjoy!