When I was little, in the days before widespread drive thru restaurants, there was a little taco stand in our town called Hi-Chic that served taquitos. I loved going there with my dad where he’d order me two taquitos and a side of their very cold, probably had been frozen, guacamole. It is a precious memory.
For the last few months, I’ve been experimenting with making my own taquitos at home. This past week, I think we found a winner. This is a great recipe because you can make a ton of beef taquitos, store them in the freezer, and then bake them up when you’re ready for a quick, easy, and delicious lunch or dinner.
Since I was bulk cooking enchiladas, shredded beef, and taquitos all at one time, it’s difficult to give you an exact amount on how much filling you’ll need. I can say that 7.5 pounds of chuck roast produced about 12 cups of shredded beef filling which I then stretched into 2 dozen enchiladas, 2 dozen taquitos, and 2 pounds of beef filling for sandwiches and tacos. My educated guess is that you’ll want at least 2 cups of beef filling for these taquitos. Having extra won’t hurt. Make more taquitos or freeze the extra beef for another meal.
Beef Taquitos
Equipment
- toothpicks
Ingredients
- 2 dozen corn tortillas
- oil for frying the tortillas
- 2 cup shredded beef filling
- 1 4-ounce can green chiles (chopped)
- 2 green onion finely chopped
Instructions
- In medium skillet, heat oil until shimmering. Using tongs, fry tortillas in hot oil until softened. Drain on paper toweling. Combine shredded beef with green chiles and green onions. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Assemble taquitos by rolling about 1-2 Tablespoons of filling tightly into each tortilla. Secure with a toothpick and set on a tray.
- If freezing, flash freeze until firm, but not so firm that you can't remove the toothpick. If the toothpick gets stuck, that's fine, but you won't be able to store them as compactly in your freezer container. Once frozen, pack into freezer containers and store in the freezer.
- If baking right away, leave the toothpicks in, and pop into a preheated 475° oven. Bake for about 10-20 minutes, turning at least once.
- If baking from frozen, place taquitos seam side down on tray and bake at 475° for up to 25 minutes. Check for crispness.
- Remove toothpicks. Serve with sour cream, salsa, and guacamole.
Dennise
Has anyone microwaved these from frozen? Should I bake them first then freeze?
I’ve been buying frozen ones for my son to heat and eat for snacks. I doubt he will want to wait the 25+min needed to heat oven and bake ?
Lisa Jennings
So much for the perfect “in memory” meal for our daughter who passed away unexpectedly 6 years ago 3 weeks before her due date. After how the rest of today has gone with one disaster after another I should have known dinner would turn out the same. Baking these from frozen was a complete fail. We have an oven thermometer so I know it was not the oven getting too hot.I checked at the 10 minute mark and several had unrolled. All of them were quite dark and the meat was not fully heated through in some. Going to salvage what we can and hubby is heating more at a lower temp. They too are coming unrolled even though they are seam side down.
Jessica Fisher
Lisa, I’m so sorry they didn’t work out for you. Usually, I can’t get the toothpick out once frozen, so I often bake with the toothpicks in.
More importantly, I’m sorry for your loss. I lost three babies. It’s very hard. I hope that the evening ends better after what sounds like a very hard day.
Holly
Have you ever made these with chicken and flour tortillas? That’s our preference, and I’d love to make them homemade!
Jessica
@Holly, yes, you can do that. Just watch the baking time in case they brown more quickly than corn.
Kelly
Well, I didn’t follow your recipe, but I did follow the method! I used ground turkey seasoned with my taco seasoning inside. They turned out just crispy enough! They taste so much like the taquitos we got out of the freezer case as a kid, but I actually know what’s in them and can make them as healthy as I want! I’m going to try freezing them next time I make a batch!
Jessica
@Kelly, so glad you enjoyed them, even if your filling was different.
Nicole
I made these for dinner last night & froze some too. They were a hit w/ all but a certain 7 yr old. Yummy!
Kristen
ok, thanks! always like to use olive oil for health benefits, but haven’t ever fried in it.
Kristen
hi there…love this recipe! just wondering what kind of oil you used to fry the corn torillas? thanks!
Jessica
I use whatever I have: peanut, olive, or canola.
Malisa
Hi Jessica,
I was wondering how to prevent the corn tortillas from breaking apart? I followed your recipe for the crockpot shredded beef and then this recipe for the inside of the taquitos, when I started rolling the tortillas, they crumbled. I didn’t think I had to fry them…was this the problem? Thank you in advance for your help! I love both of your sites.
Jessica
Yes, you have to soften them in hot oil. Corn tortillas are very unforgiving.
Brad
You microwave them just like flour tortillas. Try a minute for a dozen.
Sharon @ UnfinishedMom
Finally! Yeah. I’ve been waiting for your taquito recipe for a long time. I’m so glad you’ve finally perfected it. Thank you. I can’t wait till chuck roast goes on sale again and I can make some.
Debbi Does Dinner Healthy
Oh, these are so cute! They are SO fattening in restaurants or in the frozen food aisle but these look SO much better! Thanks!
AllieZirkle
Yay! The taquito post I’ve been waiting for!!! We regularly have corn tortillas on hand that go to waste. I’m looking forward to trying this out. I always warmed the tortillas on the grill, but I never thought to fry them. Perfect!
Emily
I was just looking on your site for a taquito recipe the other day and was disappointed not to find one, so thanks for posting! can’t wait to try them! 🙂
Mary @ Giving Up on Perfect
I don’t have a special taquito memory. Actually, they usually seem too bland to me. That’s why I love that you added green chilies to yours! I may have to try this out! Thank you for sharing!!
Tracy Martin
Ever since you posted about your geezers cooking I’ve been dreaming of taquitos! Thanks for the recipe!
Tracy Martin
Haha, “geezers cooking” funny typo!!! Freezer cooking!!!
Jessica
well, I didn’t catch that one! That’s what you get for typing with a toddler on your lap.
Nancy
My youngest daughter loves taquitos. She would always request them while we were shopping the frozen aisle. Very, very rarely did I buy them but she had a friend whose mother always had them in the freezer. Can you guess what the meal of choice was when she was at their house? Anyway, I eventually found a recipe I liked for homemade taquitos. Now that is the variety she prefers! Like you, I make a big batch and freeze them. They’re great for an easy lunch or a quick dinner when she’s on her own.
Jessica
I would love to see your recipe!
Nancy
i’ll email it to you later this week.
Cindy
@Jessica,
I’d like to see your recipe too! I love taquitos!
Susan
This is going on next week’s meal plan – thanks!