Buffalo Chicken Taquitos

I love the combination of tangy buffalo sauce and the cool and rich flavor of ranch… Throw in some cheese and wrap it up in a tortilla and you have these buffalo chicken taquitos.

They are definitely a little bigger than a normal taquito, but I wanted to make them more filling so you could have a couple taquitos with a side for your meal and feel full and satisfied.

Cooking for me is so fun and exciting, it’s always experimental and you never know what you’re going to get…

You could end up with something awful that you will never ever do again, and you could end up with something absolutely awesome and delicious.

I love being in the kitchen – possibly a drink in hand – even just prepping dinner, talking about our day while in the process of making a kick ass dinner! It’s a great way to unwind from the day and do something together.

When making these taquitos, I even got my husband to help out and he was loving it! It’s fun to get your family involved, whether it’s your kids, husband/wife or even a group of friends.

Healthy Tip: To keep the calories and fat down, make sure to measure everything out (especially the cheese). I use about 1-2 tbsp in each taquito, but if you eyeball it, it could be a difference of 50 calories up to maybe even 100 calories.

Buffalo Chicken Taquito Ingredients:

For the Taquitos:

1 lb. cooked chicken, shredded
4 oz. 1/3 less fat cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup buffalo sauce
1 cup shredded cheese (I used Mexican four-cheese)
12 small flour tortillas
2-3 green onions, chopped
salt and pepper

cooking spray

For the Ranch Dipping Sauce:

1 cup plain nonfat Greek yogurt
1 tbsp. Hidden Valley ranch dry mix
3-4 tbsp. buffalo sauce

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375°.
2. For the chicken, we cooked ours in a skillet on the stove top with a little bit of buffalo sauce, but you can use rotisserie chicken or cook it how ever you want. Once we cooked the chicken, put into a food processor and pulse until it’s all shredded.
3. Add softened cream cheese and pulse until fully combined.
4. Slowly add the buffalo sauce (you can add as much or as little as you want depending on your tastes). Once it’s all combined, add half the chopped green onions, season with salt and pepper and stir.
5. To make the taquitos, start by taking about 2 rounded tbsp. of the chicken mixture and spread onto the tortilla, top with 1-2 tbsp. cheese and roll into a small taquito. If you have trouble keeping them together you can use a little chicken mixture on the edge of the tortilla to seal it. Repeat until you’ve used all the chicken (makes about 12 taquitos).
6. Place taquitos on a parchment-lined cookie sheet and spray the tops of taquitos with cooking spray.
7. Cook for 15 minutes and flip, then continue to cook for another 8-10 minutes until golden and crispy (optional: add cheese on top and cook until melted). 
8. Optionally top with remaining chopped green onions when ready to serve.
9. While the taquitos are cooking, prep the dipping sauce. In a medium bowl combine Greek yogurt, ranch mix, and buffalo sauce. Stir to combine and place in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
   

Nutritional Information:

Servings: 12 taquitos approx. w/o sauce
Serving Size: 1 taquito approx. w/o sauce

Calories: 200
Fat: 7 g
Carbohydrates: 16 g
Sodium: 700 mg
Cholesterol: 42 mg
Fiber: 1 g
Sugar: 1 g
Protein: 13 g