Flautas Recipe

Start by making Pico de Gallo if you're making yours fresh vs store bought. Let it sit in the refrigerator until it is time to serve the flautas

Make Avocado Sauce: In a blender, add 12 ounces of salsa verde (homemade or store bought), 2 small peeled and pitted avocados, 2 teaspoons of roasted chicken better than bouillon, and 1/2 cup water. Blend for 30-60 seconds until it makes a cohesive sauce. Taste the sauce and see if you want to add any salt, pepper, heat (jalapeno), or lime. Blend again. Check the consistency. If you like it really thick like a dip, then it's probably done. I like mine more of a dressing consistency, so I added another 1/2 cup of water (so 1 cup total)

Chicken Filling: Chop the onion very finely and crush and mince 4 cloves of garlic. Heat the tablespoon of oil in a skillet until it starts to shimmer. Add the onion and sauté for about 5-8 minutes or until translucent. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds or until fragrant. Add the shredded chicken> Rotisserie chicken often has seasonings added, but test a bite and see if you want to add any salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder (or any other seasonings you like) to taste. When the chicken is warm, remove from heat

Prep tortillas: Grab a small bowl and a small plate. Pour 2 tablespoons of oil into the bowl. Set out your tortillas, then dip your fingers on one hand into the oil and rub the oil all over both sides of the tortilla. It doesn't need to get super wet, but make sure both sides glisten with the sheen of oil. Set the tortilla on the plate, and continue with the remaining tortillas. Cover the tortillas with a damp paper towel and microwave for one minute. Pull them out and check one. You want them to be pliable enough that they don't crack when rolled. If they are still a bit stiff, keep heating in the microwave in 20 second increments until soft but not too hot they start to fall apart

Tortilla Glue: Instead of messing with toothpicks (which you can totally do if you prefer!), get ready to glue your flautas shut. In a small bowl, add 1/4 cup of cornstarch of all purpose flour. Add 2 tablespoons of water and stir. It will be hard at first! Keep adding in small amounts of water until you get an Elmer's glue consistency

Prep oil: Using a high sided skillet, add enough frying oil that when you add the flautas the oil will reach about half way up their sides, about 1/2 inch. I used a 10 inch skillet and about 2 cups of oil. Set the burner to medium low

Assemble Flautas: Take one tortilla at a time (keep the rest covered!) and place a large spoonful, about 2 tablespoons, of the chicken on the quarter of the tortilla closest to you. Tuck the edge of the tortilla around the filling, then roll tightly away from you to make a neat cylinder, leaving about 1/2" -1" of tortilla at the end. Using a pastry brush or a spoon, carefully brush or spread some of the cornstarch or flour paste onto the tortilla. Finish the roll, then place the flauta seam side down on a baking sheet. Fill and roll the remaining tortillas. Because they're covered in oil they shouldn't dry out, but if you're worried about it you can cover the finished flautas with plastic wrap, adding each newly rolled one underneath until you're finished

Fry: Once you're ready to fry, use an instant read thermometer to check the temperature of your oil. You want it to be about 175 degrees to start with, so adjust your burner to get the heat where you need it. Place a cooling rack on a baking sheet in the oven and set your oven to its lowest setting (mine is 170 degrees). Carefully add the flautas to the hot oil a few at a time, seam side down and fry for 1-2 minutes until golden. Flip the flautas with tongs and cook for another 1-2 minutes until golden on the other side. Set the finished flautas on the cooling rack set over the baking sheet. The oven will keep the flautas warm and crisp until it's time to serve

Serve: On a plate, add several flautas. Drizzle the Mexican Crema and the avocado sauce as liberally as you like all of the top of them. Add pico de gallo, shredded lettuce if desired, and crumbled cotija cheese. I like to shove these in my face til I'm completely full, but these would also be great served with some Mexican Rice and Tejano Beans on the side!!

Store: Add cooled leftovers covered in the fridge for up to 3 days. Reheat in an air fryer, the oven, or a toaster oven. To freeze, freeze uncooked OR cooled, fried flautas in a single layer on a baking sheet for 30 minutes. Transfer to a ziplock bag and keep in freezer for 2-3 months. Fry frozen flautas as instructed in step 8, adding a few minutes per side