These Instant Pot chicken taquitos are easy to make and perfect for a quick weeknight dinner or a last minute party snack! They are crispy, chewy, cheesy, and filled with juicy, shredded chicken. Sooo good!
For as long as I can remember us dating, Kyong has found every occasion to profess his love for taquitos. Especially the ones you can find in the frozen aisle...cuz ya know, childhood, lol. 😆 But since I'm supposed to be the diet moderator, I have to play the bad cop and deny him frozen taquitos. I know. What a tough job...
And so, we finally made a truce that he can have taquitos only if we make them. Guess what? They were pretty darn good. I don't think the frozen ones can beat it. Plus they're really easy and quick to make. We hope you like these as much as we do!
What are taquitos?
Taquitos are also known as rolled tacos, flautas, and taco dorados. You'd usually find taquitos to be filled with beef, chicken, or just cheese and deep fried until crispy and topped with guacamole and sour cream.
For our quick and easy, chicken taquitos, or should I say cheesy chicken taquitos, we filled them with pressure cooked chicken thighs and pepper jack cheese, rolled up in flour tortillas. And rather than fried, we baked them until crispy for a healthier alternative.
Cheese for this chicken taquito recipe
This recipe calls for pepper jack cheese because we feel that pepper jack adds a nice flavor and kick to the taquitos. However, do feel free to substitute it for the cheese of your choice. Our favorite substitute for pepper jack cheese is mozzarella because we get the bonus of having that extra stretchy cheese pull! If you want, you can also do a combination of difference cheese as well, or even substitute block cheese for shredded cheese.
Why Instant Pot chicken taquitos?
We recommend using an Instant Pot or a pressure cooker for chicken taquitos recipe because it saves so much time and the chicken stays juicy! It's perfect for when you need to make an easy dinner quickly. However, if you prefer, you can cook the chicken, the same way, but in a slow cooker or on the stove top until the chicken is tender and shreddable.
How long does it take to cook chicken thighs in the pressure cooker?
For boneless chicken thighs, pressure cook on HIGH for 10 minutes and then natural release for 5 minutes and quick release the rest of the pressure.
If you're making this chicken with boned-in chicken thighs, pressure cook on HIGH for 15 minutes, natural release for 5, and quick release the rest.
The taquito sauce
Taquitos can be eaten with sour cream, guacamole, pico de gallo, refried beans, you name it. Because we had the tasty leftover cooking liquid from the chicken, we thought, why not make a sauce?! And so, this simple easy sauce from the cooking liquid was made. Simply blend the sauce if you want smoothness, add some tomato sauce to it, and simmer it until thickened or slightly syrupy. It's a very complementing sauce.
How to roll taquitos:
- Place 2 to 3 Tablespoons of the shredded chicken in the middle of a 6-8 inch tortilla. Spread the chicken cross the middle in a straight line, about 1 inch wide. Top it with a stick of cheese and tightly roll it up.
- Make sure to roll the taquito tightly by tucking the filling towards you.
- Place the taquitos seams down on parchment lined sheet pan.
If you're looking for more snacks, you may like these:
- Korean Fried Chicken Wing Gyoza
- Okonomiyaki (Japanese Savory Cabbage Pancake)
- Korean Cream Cheese Garlic Bread
- Korean Sausage Bread
Cook with love!
Mei ❤️
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Instant Pot Chicken Taquitos
Ingredients
- 1 pound chicken thigh , boneless & skinless (about 4 pieces)
- 1 cup orange juice (we love HomeMaker's brand)
- 1 cup white onion , diced (about ½ of a medium onion)
- 2 cloves garlic , crushed
- 1 Tablespoon lime juice (about ½ lime)
- 1 teaspoon ground paprika
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt (or to taste)
- Cracked black pepper (just a few cracks)
- Pinch of cayenne (optional)
- 8 ounce pepper jack cheese , block (or mozzarella)
- 12 soft taco tortillas (medium size flour tortillas)
- ¼ cup tomato sauce
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425°F and prepare a sheet pan lined with parchment paper.
- Combine the boneless, skinless chicken thighs, orange and lime juice, diced onion, garlic cloves, spices, and salt and pepper into your pressure cooker.Cover and twist lid into lock position and make sure the valve is on SEALED. Set the pressure cooker to PRESSURE COOK on HIGH for 10 minutes then let it naturally release for 5 minutes.
- While waiting for the chicken to cook in the pressure cooker, prepare the pepper jack cheese by cutting it into 12 even sticks, long ways. Set aside until needed.
- Once the chicken is cooked and 5 minute natural release time is up, QUICK RELEASE the remaining pressure by turning the valve to VENTING. *DO be careful when releasing the pressure. The steam will be very hot!*When the float valve drops, you can open the lid.
- Transfer the chicken thighs into a bowl and shred them with forks. Using an immersion blender, blend the cooking liquid from the chicken until smooth. This is optional and can be done in a regular blender as well.Add about ⅓ to ½ cup of the cooking liquid to the shredded chicken and toss to distribute.
- Working with one tortilla at a time, spoon on to it about 2 to 3 Tablespoons of the shredded chicken. Spread the chicken across the middle of the tortilla in a line, about 1 inch wide, and place a stick of the pepper jack cheese on top of it.
- Tightly roll up the tortilla and place the rolled taquitos seam side down onto the parchment lined sheet pan. Repeat with rest and place each taquitos about ½ to 1 inch apart.Bake the taquitos for about 10-15 minutes or until the tortillas are crispy and starts to brown.
- While the taquitos are baking, transfer the remaining cooking liquid from the chicken into a saucepan. Add the tomato sauce and bring everything to a high simmer. Let the sauce reduce about ½ way or until it becomes thicker and looks a little syrupy, about 5 minutes.
- Enjoy the chicken taquitos drizzled with sauce or dipped in sauce! You can also serve them some sour cream, guacamole, and pico de gallo.
Notes
- If using boned-in chicken thighs, remove the skin and increase the pressure cook time to 15 minutes but keep the natural release time at 5 minutes.
- Feel free to use mozzarella instead of pepper jack. We just love the extra flavor and kick pepper jack added.
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