Flautas de Pollo (Chicken Flautas Recipe)

Good news: traditional Mexican flautas are easier to recreate at home than you think. This Flautas de Pollo (Chicken Flautas) Recipe delivers crunchy golden tortillas, melty cheese, and juicy chicken -- we're talking rolled tacos fried to absolute perfection. No lost filling. No burnt flautas.

As a Native Texan, I've grown up loving and adoring Mexican-food culture. At The Anthony Kitchen, we take pride in not only replicating but simplifying authentic Mexican recipes for home cooks to easily make and enjoy. Add our Tex-Mex recipes to your recipe line-up!

Why This Recipe Works

Although the ingredients are simple, executing a perfectly cooked flauta can be dicey. Unraveling tortillas in the midst of cooking can prove to be a challenge for home cooks. After all, we most definitely want that filling to stay put. Luckily, we have some hacks for keeping those tortillas from cracking during the rolling process and making sure your filling doesn't budge.

Oil temperature and getting it just right for a crispy (not burnt) exterior can also be a bit tricky when recreating flautas de pollo at home. The tips below will help you gauge your oil temp so that your chicken flautas' end result is absolute perfection.

You'll find this Mexican chicken flautas recipe isn't overcomplicated with a long ingredient list. It's simple and easy to execute. Even a novice cook can make these successfully the first go-'round! If you love easy and fast delicious recipes check out our 30-minute meal recipes!

Ingredients

Chicken | This flautas de pollo recipe calls for shredded chicken. You can use homemade baked chicken breasts and shred them yourself, or you can buy rotisserie chicken at the grocery store and shred it.

Cheese | Monterey Jack is our go-to cheese for this recipe. It adds flavor and a creamy texture to the filling. Shredded mozzarella, cheddar, or even Colby Jack are also great cheeses to use.

Tortillas | Flautas are made with flour tortillas. We like to get ours from the grocery store bakery for quality and freshness. If you don't have a good option for fresh tortillas, choose a good-quality tortilla. Corn tortillas can be difficult to work with in a recipe like this. If you need to use corn tortillas due to dietary restrictions, see the FAQs below.

Oil | Use a flavorless, high-smoke-point oil like canola, avocado, or vegetable oil.

Toppings & Sides | Top off your chicken flautas with pico de gallo, sour cream, shredded lettuce, Mexican crema, fresh cilantro, and more.

How to Make Flautas de Pollo

Heat the Oil | Bring the oil to temperature in a large skillet over medium-high heat. To know if your oil is hot enough, use an instant-read (or better yet, an infrared) thermometer. You want the oil to be between 350°-375°F.

Mix It Up | Next, mix the shredded chicken and cheese in a large bowl and set aside until ready to use. For a little extra flavor, feel free to add a squeeze of fresh lime juice to the filling.

Warm the Tortillas | Wrap a stack of 3-5 flour tortillas at a time in damp paper towels and place them on a microwavable-safe plate. Microwave them in 30-second intervals, just until the tortillas are soft and pliable.

Fill the Tortillas & Roll | Add about 2 tablespoons of filling to each tortilla and roll tightly. Once you have 3 to 4 assembled, add them to the oil 1 at a time.

Fry | Be sure to add the flautas de pollo to the oil seam-side down. To keep the tortillas from unraveling and the filling in place. Then, use a pair of tongs to hold the flauta in place for about 15 seconds. If needed, a toothpick works fine here to hold it together. Fry for about 30-45 seconds on each side, just until the flauta is golden brown in color. 

Cool | When the tortilla is golden brown in color, using the tongs, place it on a cooling rack over a paper-towel-lined baking sheet. We don't recommend transferring directly to the baking sheet because the bottoms of the flautas won't get air flow and can become soggy.

Serve | Load up your chicken flautas with delicious toppings and enjoy!

Chicken Flauta Variations

Flautas don't have to just be for chicken. Use this recipe as a starting point, and sub in different cheeses, types of chicken or other proteins, or even veggies! This is a great baseline recipe for using up meaty Mexican leftovers.

Chicken | Juicy, shredded tinga de pollo, zero-effort crockpot chicken fajitas, or shredded chicken tacos in a delicious Mexican red sauce make incredible choices for poultry-based flauta fillings.

Beef | For your beef filling options, flank steak from tacos al carbon with its cilantro-lime marinade works great for a flautas filling. Simple homemade ground taco meat and the spruced-up charred beef from carne asada would take any flauta recipe to the next level!

Pork | Full-flavored, bite-sized carnitas or the filling from our pulled pork quesadillas are a way to go as a pork filling sub for chicken flautas.

Vegetarian | Fajita veggies and charro beans make for a Tex-Mex flauta masterpiece! (Be sure to drain the bean juice!)

How to Store Chicken Flautas

Make-Ahead | The chicken can be prepared up to 2 days in advance. You can shred the cheese up to 4 days in advance.

Refrigerate | Allow the flautas to cool, then transfer to a storage-safe container, where it can be refrigerated for up to 3-4 days.

Freeze | Allow to cool completely, then transfer to an airtight, freezer-safe container with little headspace. You can also use a freezer-safe Ziplock bag. Freeze for 2-3 months. To reheat from frozen, cook in the air fryer at 400°F for 10 minutes or in the oven at 400°F for 15-20 minutes.

Reheat | We like to use the air fryer to quickly bring back the crunch. Reheat in the air fryer at 400°F for 6-8 minutes or in oven at 400°F for 10-12 minutes. Warm in the microwave for 1 minute, check, then 30-second intervals beyond that. If you're flautas de pollo have been frozen, you'll likely need to add an additional 2-3 minutes to the cooking time.

Frequently Asked Questions

Sources: The Spruce Eats | Is it a Flauta or Taquito?, Dallas Observer | On the Range: Flautas & Taquitos