Gluten Free Chicken Taquitos

Back when I used to eat gluten and lived a slightly unhealthy lifestyle, I loved buying the super sized boxes of taquitos from the grocery store. I loved that they were so convenient and delicious and simple to warm up! My love mentioned to me the other week that he wanted some taquitos. Well, he kept saying empanadas, but when he described it as taquitos. Um ya. Anyways. We decided to make them because we had tortillas and leftover grilled chicken, which is really all you need!

This recipe can be adapted to exactly how much you want to make. Here's the recipe:

Gluten-Free Chicken Taquitos

shredded baked or grilled chicken (I used 1 1/2 cups chicken)

corn tortillas (I used 18)

canola/veggie oil for frying

1 cookie sheet

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place enough oil in a small saute pan(think egg pan size) to be able to fry 1 tortilla, so about 1/2 inch deep, on med-hi heat. Test the oil to be sure it's hot enough by tearing off a little piece of a tortillas(dime size) and putting it in the oil. When it starts to sizzle, the oil is hot enough. When the oil is hot enough, place one tortilla in the pan and let fry for about 30 seconds, then flip over and fry the other side for 30 more seconds. You want the tortilla to get a little crispy, but not too crispy because you need to be able to roll it without breaking. When done frying, place on a paper towel to soak up the excess oil. While frying the other tortillas, start added a tablespoon or two of chicken across the fried tortillas. When you have as much chicken as you want on the tortilla, roll it up and place on a cookie sheet. I put a tooth pick through the rolled tortillas to keep them from unrolling. Continue filling the tortillas until you are out of ingredients. Once all the food is on the baking sheet, place in the oven for 15-20 minutes, or until the tortillas are light brown and crispy!

I love this recipe because most of the time is spent baking the taquitos, not prepping! I didn't even mind prepping because I listened to the book Annie on My Mind on CD at the same time. I just looked it up so I could link info for it and was shocked to see that it was written in 1982! I would never have guessed that it was written then. It's really a great book, though, so go get it from your library!

Anyways, my favorite foods are things that are crispy, so it's great that the taquitos get nice and crispy in the oven. Vince topped his taquitos with sour cream, while I chose not too. We ate them with a side a black beans, spanish garlic rice(thanks to V) and some sautéed bell pepper.

There was enough leftover that I got to take some to work the next day, and they tasted just as good as they did fresh! Next time I make these, I'm going to make double so that I can freeze them for quick meals.