Mexican Flautas are crispy fried foods served with Mexican cream, hot salsa sauce and cheese. I am sure this will be your new favorite lunch. There are many recipes for flautas with different fillings. In this flautas recipe I will show you how to make three different fillings.
Why You’ll Love These Mexican Flautas
Fried and fast food are very popular, but sometimes worrying because there are additional unhealthy ingredients such as artificial colors and preservatives, So, the alternative is to make your own fried food at home. One of the delicious fried foods is Mexican flautas, this will be a favorite lunch for many people including you.
There are many Mexican foods that are my favorites, and flautas are one of the unforgettable ones. Its advantages lie in its crispy texture, and its extraordinary fillings and toppings are unmatched.
Why is a Flauta called a Flauta?
This rolled taco is called a Flauta because it is shaped like a flute, which in Spanish is called “flauta”. This seems very fitting because when eating it, it is also held like someone holding a flute.
In some areas of Mexico, these Tacos are made with thin and oval corn tortillas. Then fried using pork fat, but I don’t eat pork, so I just fry it with vegetable oil. Mexican Flautas made with tortillas vary greatly depending on the region, but the best in my opinion is the one I’ve eaten in Toluca.
For those of you who live in the Chicago, Texas, California area, you can try the most delicious tortillas at the tortilla factory called Tortilleries. The Mexican flautas recipe that we share uses regular tortillas as is widely used to make flautas.
Flautas are delicious tacos made and prepared using ingredients that are easy to find. The filling that is often used as a filling is potatoes.
FAQs
There are some frequently asked questions related to flautas. Please pay attention, sometimes you also have the same question and hopefully this can be the answer.
Flautas vs Taquitos – What is the difference?
The size is a very obvious difference between flautas and taquitos, but many people call them interchangeably so that many cannot distinguish between the two. You need to know that Flautas are longer and thicker than Taquitos.
Flautas are made using oval-shaped tortillas that are specifically prepared for flautas. This is generally the case with flautas or tacos made in restaurants or street food stalls. It’s different from the homemade version.
How do you store leftover flautas?
Flautas are made by frying them, so this is not a food that can last long. However, if you have leftovers, you can store them in an airtight container and store them in the refrigerator, Mexican Flautas stored in the refrigerator will last 3 days.
When you want to eat it again, just heat it using the oven or microwave for a while until it is hot.
What is the difference between Flautas and a Tostada?
Tostada is a flat tortilla and is served open, fried or grilled. Flautas are also fried but served rolled.
Ingredients for Mexican Flautas
These are just general ingredients, to find out the detailed ingredients usage please scroll down to the recipe card.
Making Mexican flautas uses the best ingredients and spices in Mexican tradition.
Tortillas
- Corn Tortillas
- Vegetable Oil
- Toothpicks (to tie the tortilla)
Beef filling
- Flank steak or skirt
- Onion
- Bay leaf
- Garlic cloves
- Water
- Salt
Chicken filling
- Chicken breast
- Onion
- Garlic clove
- Salt
Potato filling
- Potatoes, and
- Salt
Instructions
To make it easier for you to follow the steps of making flautas, we will share them in several parts.
Cooking different types of fillings
1. To make shredded beef flautas:
- Cook the beef with the onion, garlic, salt, bay leaves, and water in a medium saucepan
- Simmer covered for about 40-45 minutes or until tender, shred and cool the meat, using a large bowl.
2. To make shredded chicken flautas:
- Place the chicken, onion, garlic, salt, and water in a saucepan and simmer covered for 30 minutes or until tender.
- Let cool, shred the chicken, season with garlic powder, and onion powder, pepper, and salt. This mixture will be the filling for your flautas.
Note: For this filling you can use leftover rotisserie chicken, and that can be used as the filling for your Mexican Flautas.
3. For Potato Filling:
- Peel and cook large potatoes, cook in salted water until tender, but do not overcook.
- Drain and mash the potatoes, taste sometimes you need to add salt.
4. Black Bean Filling:
- Take 2 tablespoons of chopped onion and fry in 1 tablespoon of oil, add 1.5 cups of drained black beans.
- Mash with mashed potatoes and cook for about 7-8 minutes until the dough is done.
Prepare the Tortillas
- Heat the tortilla on a flat pan, this is useful so that you can easily roll it.
- Add filling and roll
- Place some shredded beef close to the edge of the tortilla.
- Roll from the end with the filling to the other end tightly, do not put too much filling so that it does not tear when fried. And pierce with a toothpick or tortilla together and does not come off.
- Roll the other tortilla with the prepared filling and secure with a toothpick, you can use one long toothpick to secure several tortillas at once.
- While you are rolling the tacos, heat the oil in a large pan over medium to high heat.
Fry the Flautas
- Take the flautas that have been formed one by one and put them in the heated oil. Cook until golden brown and the texture is crispy. Flip once so that it is cooked perfectly.
- Remove and drain the excess oil, you can also use tissue paper to absorb the oil.
- Before serving the Mexican flautas, it is good to let it cool first because the filling is very hot.
Recommendation:
Flautas Toppings and Side Dishes
Note: When serving the flautas, remove the toothpicks and prepare the toppings. When talking about vegetables, I often add vegetables such as tomatoes, onions and lettuce, and add Mexican cream on top of the vegetables and some crumbled cheese. You can use cotija cheese or Queso Fresco.
For fruit lovers, you can add some avocado slices, this will add texture to your flautas. Another option is to serve it with pickled carrots, guacamole and others.
Ingredients
Tortillas
- Corn Tortillas
- Vegetable Oil
- Toothpicks (to tie the tortilla)
Beef filling
- Flank steak or skirt
- Onion
- Bay leaf
- Garlic cloves
- Water
- Salt
Chicken filling
- Chicken breast
- Onion
- Garlic clove
- Salt
Potato filling
- Potatoes, and
- Salt
Instructions
1. To make shredded beef flautas:
- Cook the beef with the onion, garlic, salt, bay leaves, and water in a medium saucepan
- Simmer covered for about 40-45 minutes or until tender, shred and cool the meat, using a large bowl.
2. To make shredded chicken flautas:
- Place the chicken, onion, garlic, salt, and water in a saucepan and simmer covered for 30 minutes or until tender.
- Let cool, shred the chicken, season with garlic powder, and onion powder, pepper, and salt. This mixture will be the filling for your flautas.
3. For Potato Filling:
- Peel and cook large potatoes, cook in salted water until tender, but do not overcook.
- Drain and mash the potatoes, taste sometimes you need to add salt.
4. Black Bean Filling:
- Take 2 tablespoons of chopped onion and fry in 1 tablespoon of oil, add 1.5 cups of drained black beans.
- Mash with mashed potatoes and cook for about 7-8 minutes until the dough is done.
Prepare the Tortillas
- Heat the tortilla on a flat pan, this is useful so that you can easily roll it.
- Add filling and roll
- Place some shredded beef close to the edge of the tortilla.
- Roll from the end with the filling to the other end tightly, do not put too much filling so that it does not tear when fried. And pierce with a toothpick or tortilla together and does not come off.
- Roll the other tortilla with the prepared filling and secure with a toothpick, you can use one long toothpick to secure several tortillas at once.
- While you are rolling the tacos, heat the oil in a large pan over medium to high heat.
Fry the Flautas
- Take the flautas that have been formed one by one and put them in the heated oil. Cook until golden brown and the texture is crispy. Flip once so that it is cooked perfectly.
- Remove and drain the excess oil, you can also use tissue paper to absorb the oil.
- Before serving the Mexican flautas, it is good to let it cool first because the filling is very hot.
