Dairy-Free Chicken Taquitos

One of my husband's favorite frozen meals are those chicken or ground beef taquitos. There's almost always a box in our freezer and a staple for weekend afternoon football watching for him! If I'm being honest, these frozen rolls of tortilla, meat, and cheese have never been all that appetizing to me, nor accessible because of cheese. When I came across this pinterest pin, I jumped at the chance to home make this treat for dinner and treat my man to one of his faves. It was easy enough to modify for Dairy Free living and with just a couple of spice adjustments and my own personal touches, this was one worth sharing!

This recipe makes use of a slow cooker, but if you are short on time, some shredded rotisserie chicken picked up at the grocery store or leftover from another meal in your week, cooked for a bit with the sauce might work out well for you. If you give it a try, let me know how it goes!

I put the ingredients in the crockpot and then stirred every so often. My crockpot's high setting is pretty hot, and I was worried about the sauce burning. By scraping the sides and flipping the chicken over every half hour or so, I didn't have any issues. We had some extra chicken mix leftover which made for great leftovers. Try with dirty rice and black beans, in taco salad, or in nachos.

Corn tortilla's can be difficult to work with and handle. They tend to flake and tear when filled and rolled. But after being heated, they are much more pliable. A bit of cooking spray in a fry/sautee pan and heating on both sides until warmed was all that these needed. The pinterest pin had an awesome suggestion about melting cheese on one side of the tortilla. While heating the tortilla on the second side, sprinkle a generous amount of shredded cheese and when melted remove from pan, add your chicken filling to the cheese side and roll up. This really added to the taquitos, especially if you love cheese flavor!

I played around with the amount of filling in each tortilla. I never ended up with an exact replica of the skinny frozen taquitos, mine were more robust in size. We didn't seem to mind because the filling was tasty! I also brushed the taquitos with melted butter before they went in the oven, but after their cook time, they weren't crisping like I wanted, so I brushed with olive oil and put them back it. That seemed to do the trick. I think next time we will go with just olive oil!

Crockpot Chicken Taquitos

Ingredients

• 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 8-10 ounces of dairy free cream cheese* (we like cheese in our house so we use a little extra)
• 1/3 cup of water 
• 1 ½ teaspoon of chili powder (use 1 teaspoon if you are nervous about spice)
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• ½ teaspoon of cumin
• Salt and pepper to taste

• 2 cups of shredded cheese**
• 12 6-inch corn tortillas 
• Butter*** and olive oil 

• Salsa, sour cream****, guacamole or other dipping/topping sauces

Directions

1. Place boneless skinless chicken breasts side by side in the crockpot
2. Mix cream cheese, water, and spices. Taste for adding the salt and pepper proportions. (I ended up doing ½ teaspoon of pepper and ¾ teaspoon of salt)
3. Pour cream cheese mixture over the chicken breasts and turn the breasts over a few times to ensure coating
4. Cook on high for 4 hours, or low for 8. Make sure chicken is cooked through. If you have a meat thermometer, internal temp should reach 165 degrees Fahrenheit. Turn chicken over periodically throughout cooking process if able and stir sauce
5. When chicken is finished, shred and turn off slow cooker. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.  
6. In a greased sautee pan, warm tortillas. Sprinkle shredded cheese (about ¼ cup) over each tortilla and allow to melt over heat. Once the cheese has melted, place onto paper towel and allow to cool to the point of being able to handle.
7. Place 1-2 heaping spoonsful of shredded chicken mix in a line down the tortilla, slightly off center. Roll the tortilla tightly around mixture into a tube shape. Seal by placing melted butter at the closing point of taquito.
8. Place taquitos in a well buttered casserole dish or 13x9 pan. Brush the taquitos with melted butter or olive oil.
9. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes. Looking for crispy outside and melted cheese.
10. Sprinkle with remaining shredded cheese and enjoy with your favorite sauce!  

Dairy Free Products Used

*I use the Kite Hill brand for Dairy Free cream cheese. So far I’ve only been able to find it at Whole Foods. Keep your label for a coupon! We now prefer this cream cheese over dairy filled stuff

**I used Almond brand cheddar cheese. If you aren’t looking for dairy free, a Mexican blend or Colby Jack works really well. (this is one of the only cheese that I have found that cooks like and tastes like normal cheese)

***I use Earth Balance original dairy-free butter (cooks like real butter, melts like real butter, tastes like butter)

****I use Tofutti sour cream, found at Kroger. Tastes just like the real stuff (even my husband can’t tell)