FLAUTAS WITH CANNED CHICKEN
I always love having several super simple recipes for busy nights. These meals are not completely homemade but rather they use easy ingredients that are pantry staples.
These chicken flautas use canned chicken. Yes, canned chicken 🙂 Through out years of cooking dinner I have found that canned chicken is actually a good quick & easy thing to use for recipes.
I would never serve it plain as is from the can, but when you add other stuff to it, it is actually good and honestly no one can even tell the difference. The canned chicken is what makes this recipe so quick and easy to make.
This 7 can chicken taco soup is another favorite recipe that uses canned chicken.
Flautas are traditionally a rolled up tortilla with filling inside them. Kind of like a taquito but flautas use flour tortillas. Which makes this recipe kid-friendly because I have never met a kid that does not like flour tortillas.
Spraying the tops of the flautas before baking with cooking spray, helps them to get super crispy and browned. It really is the secret step so don't forget it.
HOW TO MAKE BAKED CHICKEN FLAUTAS
- Add chicken, cream cheese, salsa, cheese, cumin, and garlic powder into a mixing bowl. Mix together until completely combined.
- Spread about 3 tablespoons of chicken mixture onto a tortilla and then roll up tightly. Place seam side down on a cookie sheet and repeat with remaining tortillas.
- Cook for 15-20 minutes depending on desired crispiness and color.
MY TIPS FOR MAKING THIS RECIPE
- Use a good quality salsa for this recipe. I have found that the fresh salsa in the refrigerated section of the produce area are the best to use.
- I use the 8" tortillas and get about 12 flautas. You can use smaller tortillas and get several more flautas out of the recipe. You won't need as much filling if you use smaller tortillas, so just adjust accordingly.
- The recipe is written for the canned chicken. If you use shredded chicken then you may have to adjust the seasonings according to preference. Canned chicken is already flavorful and salted which is why there is not much seasoning add-ins in the recipe.
- I cook mine for abut 20 minutes because we like them browned and really crispy.
- Not all canned chicken is equal. Hands down, the best canned chicken, is the Kirkland Signature brand from Costco. It's cheap, the cans are big, and it tastes great.
TRY THESE OTHER EASY CHICKEN RECIPES
- Baked Creamy Garlic Parmesan Chicken
- Slow Cooker Creamy Italian Chicken
- Slow Cooker Chicken Enchilada Tacos
- Easy 20 Minute Chicken Piccata
Easy Chicken Flautas
Flautas are a quick & easy dinner recipe that are ready in just 30 minutes! Cheesy salsa canned chicken filling inside flour tortillas and baked to crispy perfection.
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Servings: 12 flautas
Calories: 218kcal
Ingredients
- 2 cans (12.5 oz each) chicken drained & flaked
- 6 oz cream cheese softened
- 1/3 cup salsa
- 1 cup shredded cheese any variety
- ¼ teaspoon cumin
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon onion powder
- ¼ teaspoon chili powder
- 12 8" flour tortillas
Instructions
- Heat oven to 400°.
- Combine drained and flaked chicken, cream cheese, salsa, cheese, cumin, garlic powder, onion powder, and chili powder into a mixing bowl. Stir together until well combined.
- Spread 3 tablespoons (a large spoonful) of chicken mixture onto a tortilla. Roll up tightly and place seam side down on a cookie sheet. Repeat with remaining tortillas. *If you use smaller tortillas then you won't need the full 3 tablespoons of filling, so adjust accordingly.
- Spray the tops of the flautas with cooking spray. Don't soak them but you want them to have a decent coating of cooking spray so they will get really brown and crispy. I also like to sprinkle some kosher salt on top of the sprayed flautas, but this is totally optional.
- Bake for 18-20 minutes or until they reach desired crispness that you want. Let cool for about 5-10 minutes before serving so the filling can cool and come together. Serve with dips of your choice (sour cream, salsa, guacamole).
Notes
Tortillas : I used 8" flour tortillas and got 12 flautas. If you use smaller tortillas then you will have more flautas. It just depends on how big or small you want the flautas to be.
Chicken : Don't be scared of the canned chicken. It's what makes these flautas so quick and easy to make, and you honestly can't even tell.
If you are totally against the canned chicken you can always use about 3 cups of shredded chicken or some rotisserie chicken. But again, this recipe is written for the canned chicken which is already flavored and salted. So you may have to adjust things if not using canned chicken. But try the canned chicken just once! It may just surprise you.
Cream Cheese : 6 oz of cream cheese is almost all of an 8 oz block of cream cheese. I've experimented with using the entire bar of cream cheese, but it's just way too much. So yes, not using it all annoys me too, but 6 oz is the perfect amount. You could also try using flavored cream cheese like the chive & onion or jalapeño cream cheese for some spice.
Cheese : Use any kind you want. I use either Colby Jack or Cheddar cheese. If you want some spice then use Pepper Jack Cheese.
This recipe has been updated in July 2021 with two additions to the recipe. I have been making these for years and found that adding onion powder and chili powder really make them that much better. So the addition of 1/4 teaspoon of chili powder & onion powder is new and I highly recommend it. Omit those two spices if you prefer the original recipe with just the cumin and garlic powder.
Nutrition
Calories: 218kcal | Carbohydrates: 17g | Protein: 11g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Cholesterol: 36mg | Sodium: 463mg | Potassium: 128mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 357IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 119mg | Iron: 1mg
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