{Tasty Tuesdays: Chicken Taquitos}

What's Better than Store-Bought?

Pretty much ANYTHING homemade is better than store-bought. 

I mean, store-bought brownie mix is usually better than homemade brownies, but that's about it. 

I found this Chicken Taquito recipe via Pinterest and thought it looked yummy, but the thought of taquitos just reminds me of those totally overrated frozen taquitos from the grocery store that everyone seems to buy, but they're never anything to write home about (or blog about?). 

However, I decided to give this recipe a try.  I thought that maybe it will be one of those recipes that are sooo delicious when homemade.  And yes, I was correct.  Delicioso!  I did deep fry them, so not exactly a P90X friendly diet, but very yummy. 

So here is what you'll need:

1 (15 oz) can tomato sauce
½ cup water
1 T chili powder
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp salt

Oil for frying

1lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts
8 oz shredded Monterey Jack cheese
Small corn tortillas

1.   In a deep sauce pan, add the tomato sauce, water, chili powder, cumin, garlic powder and salt.  Heat and stir.

2.  Add the chicken and bring to a boil.  Cover and cook for approximately 20 minutes.  I cut the chicken into quarters so that it wouldn't take as long for it to cook.

3. When the chicken is completely cooked through, shred it.  You can either do this with two forks, or if you're lazy like me, put it in your KitchenAid mixer for about a minute.  Gosh I love this thing.

4.  Add the chicken back to the sauce and mix together. 

You can also add chopped cilantro to this step if you want, I didn't have any, but I'm sure it would taste delicious with it.

5.  Now it is time to assemble!  Place a little bit of your chicken mixture in the middle of the tortilla and sprinkle some cheese on top.

 

Note:  Make sure your tortillas are warm before you assemble.  I microwaved about 3 at a time for 30 seconds each.  If they are not warm, they will break when you roll them...

6.  Roll the tortilla and use a toothpick to hold it in place.  

Notice the tortilla on the left, that one was not warm enough when I assembled it.  Oops!

7.  Heat about an inch of oil in a frying pan and place a couple of the taquitos in the oil.

Unfortunately, cooking with hot oil made me nervous and I had a really hard time flipping them.  BUT, just in the nic of time, the love of my life walked in the door and saved the day!  Or at least dinner...

So I put an apron on him and husband to the rescue!  He's actually very graceful in the kitchen.

8.  The next step is to flip the taquito over.  You'll want to cook each side for about 2 minutes.  Corn tortillas are super fragile, so Bart used a super skilled technique with a spatula and tongs to flip them.  He said that it was easiest to go with the roll of the tortilla.

Oh and the oil got really messy after I broke a few of the taquitos.  So there was cheese, chicken and sauce everywhere.

9.  Place the cooked taquitos on a paper towel to dry.  

Notice the broken ones on the right and the pretty ones on the left.

After I started to get help from Bart, I realized that I had forgotten to start the sides.  But thanks to my mother-in-law, we now have a rice cooker that cooks brown rice twice as fast as on the stove.  

And of course we had to have chips and salsa...

My clever husband also made some tortilla chips with the broken tortillas.  They looked a little funky but tasted amazing!

We also heated up some black beans to have on the side to complete our meal.  Add whatever toppings you desire and get ready to never be able to buy store-bought taquitos again.

Since I didn't have cilantro, I topped it with sour cream and green onions.  I also would have loved guacamole, but we didn't have any of that either.  That always seems to go quickly in our house...

Ooh and salsa.  Because not only is it delicious but it looks pretty, too.  

MMMmmmmMMMmmm!!  They were tasty.  And I want to do it again.

And not break any tortillas this time.  

And maybe do it all by myself...

...although I love it when my husband helps.  

I love my husband.

Over and out.

{What did you make this week?}