Kristin Maxwell
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How to Make Homemade Taquitos
Homemade taquitos (or rolled tacos as we call them) are so much easier to make than you might think. In just a few easy steps you will have delicious, crispy tacos that are so much better than frozen store bought.
Taquitos can be served as an appetizer, snack, lunch, or dinner. For a main meal, we serve taquitos traditionally with Authentic Mexican Rice and Refried Beans. My taquito recipe is so easy, you’ll wonder why you never tried them at home before!
How to Make Authentic Mexican Food
When I was just out of high school, maybe 19 or 20 or so, I was quite close with my cousin who lives in Southern Arizona and I would visit often. Her husband was from San Luis, Mexico and she was always cooking fantastic Mexican dishes. She taught me a lot of them, like how to make Sopes, Mexican Rice, Pozole and these fantastic Rolled Tacos (or taquitos or flautas depending on where you live). Her taquito recipe quickly became my go-to for potlucks, and I was constantly being asked to make them for parties.
Homemade Taquitos Recipe
We would usually make them with canned roast beef, because it was easier, but I have since added the extra step of cooking the meat in a slow cooker to create an amazing flavor to the meat. The great thing is this taquito recipe is versatile so you can use any type of meat – beef taquitos, chicken taquitos or pork – as long as it shreds easily.
Slow Cooker Beef or Chicken Filling
- For the beef, I place a 2-3 pound chuck roast in my slow cook and pour a cup or 2 of jarred salsa and sprinkle in a couple teaspoons of salt. This makes the most tender and flavorful roast!
- Cook it on high for several hours and you’ve got perfect Mexican shredded beef that can be used for tacos, burritos or yes, rolled tacos!
- Add a couple spoonfuls of the juice to the meat as you shred it, and if you have leftovers, spoon a little bit of the juice in the container to help keep the meat moist. This meat is great for tacos too!
- You can cook chicken or pork the same way. To save time with chicken, you can use rotisserie or shredded chicken you have on hand and add tomato sauce and seasonings instead of salsa (I’ll share both recipes/methods below).
How to Make Taquitos
- To make the rolled tacos, start with warm corn tortillas. To make them pliable, wrap a stack of up to 2 dozen corn tortillas in a kitchen towel (not paper towels as they tend to get damp from the steam) and microwave on high for a couple of minutes, flipping once from the middle. Keep them wrapped in the towel as you work to hold in the warmth.
- Start heating some corn oil in a deep pan while your tortillas are warming. You’ll want a good 2-3 inches of oil so it’s deep enough to cover the tacos each time.
- Using a large cutting board as your surface, work quickly spooning about 2 tablespoons of the meat mixture onto a tortilla, off to the side, not in the middle. Fold the filled side over and continue rolling. Stick a toothpick through the tortilla to hold it into place. It took me a while to get just the right method for this, but once you’ve got the hang of it it’s super easy. If one toothpick isn’t working, use two. Continue this method until you’ve either made your desired amount of tacos or your meat is gone. If you have leftover meat it keeps quite well in the freezer.
- Your oil should be nice and hot at this point, and your taquitos should sizzle immediately when you put them in.
- Fry the tacos for about 5-7 minutes or until they are starting to look browned and feel crispy. Remember that they will continue to crisp as they sit. Place them on a paper towel lined surface to drain, and sprinkle with a pinch of salt.
- Serve with salsa, sour cream or guacamole.
Top Tips and Questions
- Can you bake them instead of frying them? Absolutely! If you aren’t sure about the frying or just want to save the calories for the guacamole and sour cream, you can bake your rolled tacos! Heat the oven to 425 degrees F. Spray the tops of the tacos with cooking spray (I recommend avocado oil) and bake for about 15-20 minutes or until they’re golden and th shells are crispy.
- How to freeze and reheat leftovers: Homemade taquitos freeze quite nicely for up to 4 months. Store them in a freezer bag and thaw them in the refrigerator, then heat them as described above. To reheat leftover taquitos, place them in a hot skillet with a little bit of corn oil and turn often. You can actually brush them with the oil if you like. This is the best method I have found to reheat taquitos and it works quite well. The oven is another option, but it takes awhile to heat them completely through, and the microwave will just make them soggy.
- What are the best tortillas to use? In my experience, Mission tortillas have more of a tendency to crack than Guerrero. However, there can be a variety of reasons for cracking. Make sure your tortillas have been warmed to make them nice and soft. If they cool down, reheat them again.
- To shred your meat, use two forks, or put the meat in a large mixing bowl and use beaters for a quicker method.
If you loved my homemade taquito recipe, and for more delicious Mexican style recipes, try these:
- Mexican Sopes
- Oven Baked Tostadas
- One Pan Mexican Chicken & Rice
- Loaded Chicken Nachos Recipe
- Slow Cooker Chicken Tacos
- Slow Cooker Mexican Beans
- Mexican Chocolate Tres Leches Cake
For all main course recipes, go HERE and for all recipes, go HERE.
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Rolled Tacos/Taquitos
Homemade taquitos are so much easier to make than you might think. In just a few easy steps you will have delicious, crispy tacos that are so much better than frozen store bought.
Prep Time 20 mins
Cook Time 20 mins
Total Time 40 mins
Ingredients
Slow Cooker Beef or Pork
- 2-3 pound beef chuck roast or pork butt/shoulder
- 2 cups jarred salsa
- 2 teaspoons salt
Canned or Pre-Cooked Meat Method
- 3 cups shredded cooked chicken OR 3-12 ounce cans Roast Beef, drained and shredded
- 8 ounces canned tomato sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt
- 1/2 teaspoon lemon pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
Rolled Tacos
- 4 cups Shredded meat mixture of choice
- 36 Corn Tortillas
- 48 ounces bottle of corn oil or other oil with a high smoke point
- Toothpicks
Instructions
Slow Cooker Beef or Pork
- Trim any excess fat from the meat and cut into large chunks. Sprinkle with salt and pour salsa to coat the meat. Cook on high for 5-7 hours, or until meat is cooked through and shreds easily.
Canned or Pre-Cooked Meat Method
- Shred ingredients in a bowl using two forks, or in your stand mixer. Gently mix in other ingredients.
Rolled Tacos
- Pour about 2-3 inches of oil into a large, deep pan and heat over medium-high heat.
- Wrap tortillas in a kitchen towel and heat in the microwave for 1-2 minutes, until they are soft enough to roll easily. Keep them wrapped as you work.
- Place about 1-2 tablespoons of the meat mixture on one side of a tortilla and roll it tightly into a tube-like shape. Secure with 1 or 2 toothpicks.
- Continue this method until you've either made your desired amount of tacos or your meat is gone. (If you have leftover meat it keeps quite well in the freezer).
- Once the oil is hot, fry the tacos for about 5-7 minutes or until they are starting to look browned and feel crispy. Remember that they will continue to crisp as they sit. Place them on a paper towel lined surface to drain, and sprinkle with a pinch of salt.
- Serve hot with salsa, sour cream or guacamole.
Notes
- These can also be baked in a 425 degree oven for about 15 minutes.
- To reheat leftover tacos, place them in a hot skillet with a little bit of corn oil and turn often or reheat in the oven at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.Â
- Nutritional information is approximate and based on using the slow cooker beef.
Nutrition
Calories: 230kcalCarbohydrates: 6gProtein: 23gFat: 13gSaturated Fat: 6gCholesterol: 78mgSodium: 1571mgPotassium: 656mgFiber: 2gSugar: 4gVitamin A: 449IUVitamin C: 3mgCalcium: 42mgIron: 3mg
Have you ever been to San Diego Kevin? I’m a native, I grew up 5 minutes from the Mexico border. Rolled tacos are hugely popular there, and quite different from flautas.
Hi Kristin, how many rolled tacos can you get out of a 2lb roast?
You should be able to get at least about 2-3 dozen. It’s hard to say because it depends on the type of roast and how much fat is on it, and also how much filing you use. You put about 1-2 tablespoons in each tortilla, so each cup of shredded beef should give you roughly 4-6 tacos per cup of meat. Hope that helps!
They are not called rolled “taquitos” they’re called “flautas”. The proper name of the Mexican food.
Actually the term is “rolled tacos” and yes that’s a thing. So are taquitos and so are flautas. While “flauta” and “taquito” are sometimes used interchangeably, flautas are often made with a larger flour tortilla, making them more of a meal while taquitos are made with small corn tortillas, more sizable for an appetizer.
I also love to make taquitos with left over mashed potatoes seasoned well or I buy the premade mashed potatoes with bacon, my family loves them more then the meat filled ones. I also made a crockpot birria using beef the leftover meat made the best ever beef taquitos.
That sounds amazing!!
Would like to save this but not sure how.
Plus I’d like to have it without the ads.
Hi Mary, you can print the recipe from the recipe card in the post or save it to Pinterest. Unfortunately, the ads are necessary to keep this site running with free content that you can view, along with helpful tips, reader comments and suggestions. It costs a lot of money to run a website, and ads are the only way we can provide that free to you, the reader. Enjoy the recipe.
Do you fry them with the toothpicks still in?
Yes the toothpicks stay in to hold the taquitos together.
Love , your recipes have learned a great deal and my family has most enjoyed the delicious recipes thank you
You are so welcome Ginger! Thanks for stopping by.
I’m confused. The comment regarding baking the taquitos has 425 for 15-20 minutes, but the recipe note indicates baking at 375 for 15 minutes. Which is the correct guidance?
I updated the post a while ago with new information. Upon testing again I found that I preferred the higher temperature. I didn’t catch the temp listed in the notes. Sorry for the confusion. The higher temp of 425 produces a much crispier result.
Just made these for the first time. My dad grew up in South Texas and San Diego, so he ate lots of Mexican food and wanted us to make something familiar. For a Midwesterner who isn’t used to making Mexican foods, this was a great recipe! I baked them (and apparently put in too much filling). For some reason the tortillas kinda split in baking (I might try spraying them with Pam first next time) I plan to try frying them too. Really good flavor though (And I usually don’t like corn tortillas).
That’s so awesome Sarah! Thank you so much for sharing your positive experience.
Will these do well rolling them up the night before?
Yes you can roll them the night before. I will caution you though because the corn tortillas can tear when chilled. You will want to let them sit out to come to room temperature so that they don’t split when you place them in the hot oil.
Great food photos. It looks so good.
As soon as I read the term “rolled tacos” I had to go to your website. If your cousins husband is from San Luis then I knew you would be familiar with Yuma!! Right? I graduated from Kofa High School many many years ago. Now living in Utah a good rolled taco is hard to come by! I made them many years ago in Yuma but am excited to try your recipe. Thank you for sharing this. There is nothing like a good rolled taco!! Nancy
Nancy – YES! That’s where my family is from!! I am obsessed with Mr. G’s Rolled Tacos, and anytime they visit they bring a whole bunch. My cousins went to Kofa as well…I’d have to ask when they graduated, but in the 80s for sure. Such a small world!
visiting from tater tots linky…I was taught how to roll taquitos many years ago after tons of failures…and it is all in just that first simple step of ..place meat in middle and fold one side over and roll! I got perfect at it soon! But.. I always used that canned roast beef as you mention but being so expensive…I want to try your pork/beef in the crock pot. I want to make many and freeze them and the canned is to expensive! You say you used pork butt/shoulder…but what kind of beef cut? I ask as I prefer beef. Thanks!
Cheri
http://www.fabricandmemories.blogspot(dot)com
They are so simple once you get the hang of it! I use chuck roast, but really, any roast will do in the crockpot because it gets pretty tender and can be shredded.
Hi Kristen,
Your recipe looks pretty easy and delish. I am going to make these for my gang…Thanks for sharing.
Yummy! I’m going to have to try these. I really liked your recipe for Sopes last year, so I’m sure these will be just as awesome. 🙂
WOW!! As a young teen, we lived in Portland, Or. Every summer, the four of us kids drove with our mom to visit friends in Somerton, Az. which is just minutes from the border town of San Luis, Mexico. No freeways then; just lots of stops for fresh orange juice, watermelon and dates and those burma shave road signs. We were lucky enough to happen upon a little restaurant there that served “real deal, authentic” Mexican food. That began a love affair with rolled tacos; the likes of which I haven’t tasted in 40 plus years. Hence, my interest when I read this comment about rolled tacos in San Luis. I’ve tried over the years to reproduce aun-believeably yummy. I add onions and cheese to mine and they’re close but finding this recipe is like striking gold. I can’t wait to make them. Thank you!!!
My cousin’s husband’s family lives in Somerton, and they are from San Luis!