Baked Chicken Flautas {Gluten Free}

These easy baked chicken flautas will totally satisfy your Mexican craving with less calories! 

Baked chicken flautas are fun to make at home and fun to eat- dip them in salsa, guacamole or sour cream- yum!

Hi friends! We had a nice, relaxing weekend recovering from Easter and spring break in San Antonio. I was thrilled that our kids have a later spring break and that it fell right after Easter so we could enjoy the holiday without having to rush back on Sunday. Unfortunately I had a cold/sinus infection so I didn’t get much work done….headache and drainage for days. I did get a lot of relaxing done though- no alarm set all week!

One thing I did satisfy was my San Antonio food cravings. Greek food, Mexican food and more Mexican food.

Typically when I go out to eat, I order the same 1 or 2 dishes of the menu. Once I like something it’s hard to branch out! So this particular Mexican restaurant back home in San Antonio has my favorite flautas, not something I’d usually order but somehow I did and it stuck. The plate comes with beans, rice and a small bowl of tortilla soup. I love it.

The ones I order are filled with shredded chicken so really they are quite simple. I discovered making them in the oven, instead of deep frying them like they do at the restaurants, works quite well. You really get the same general flavor and experience without the added grease. You can make the chicken filling using your slow cooker during your weekend meal prep and then when it’s time to make your flautas, it’s a quick assembly.

Baking the flautas turns this into a simple weeknight meal. My kids love them and we even devour the leftovers cold!

One corn tortilla only has around 50-60 calories, 7 grams of carbs, no fat or sodium. Add your lean crock pot shredded chicken breasts full of protein and brush that tortilla with oil to replicate a crisp Mexican restaurant style flauta, oven baked.

Then comes the dipping sauces- a good guacamole and salsa and you are all set.

Mexican food is my favorite and growing up in San Antonio there was no shortage of places to chose from, but I do make my own at home because most of it is pretty easy to figure out and a lot healthier typically.

Have a great week!

Baked Chicken Flautas

 

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Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

20 mins

Total time

30 mins

 

Author: Melanie F. | Nutritious Eats

Serves: 18

Ingredients

• For shredded chicken:
• 2 chicken breasts, boneless, skinless
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• ½ cup chicken broth
• For Flautas:
• corn tortillas
• shredded chicken (the amount in the recipe makes ~18 flautas)
• shredded cheddar or Mexican shredded cheese
• 2-3 tablespoons oil depending on how many you're making (olive oil is good)

Instructions

1. Start by making your chicken filling. Place chicken breasts, spices and broth in a slow cooker and let it cook on high for ~3 hours or until tender and easy to shred. One it's shredded, store to use in a variety of recipes.
2. To assemble flautas, preheat oven to 400 degrees. Drizzle a little oil over the non stick baking tray (~2-3 teaspoons) and use your hands or a brush to spread around.
3. Microwave 3 tortillas at a time, for ~15-20 seconds or until soft and pliable. Fill each tortilla with 1-2 tablespoons of shredded chicken, then top with 1 tablespoon of shredded cheese and roll very tightly, placing seam side down on the foil. If they don't want to stay put you might need to stick a toothpick in them. I also find it helps to lay a clean dish towel over the flautas while you are working on rolling the remaining. Continue the process until you have made desired number of flautas. Brush them generously all over with oil.
4. Bake for ~15-17 minute or until crisp. Using a spatula, flip them at the last 5 minutes to ensure even crispness.

Notes

I have found that they flautas actually stick less when not using foil, although if you really rather easy clean up, just know they will be harder to flip.

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