Slow Cooker Chicken and Cheese Taquitos
Slow cooker chicken and cheese taquitos is a delicious meal that the whole family will love! Be sure to make a double batch for the freezer. Then, you can pull out however many you want and throw them directly in the oven for a quick weeknight dinner.
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There is a short list of meals in my house that pleases all five of us. It seems like everyone has their own aversions and favorites, which can be exhausting sometimes. Can any moms out there relate??
Now, there is an added bonus when you can find a recipe that is easy, made in the slow cooker, AND freezer friendly. This is why I love this recipe! Or, you can make them in the Instant Pot using our Instant Pot Chicken and Cheese Taquitos recipe.
Watch How Chicken and Cheese Taquitos Comes Together
How to Make Chicken and Cheese Taquitos in the Slow Cooker
You are going to LOVE how simple this is. Start by seasoning your chicken with some taco seasoning. Toss it in the slow cooker and add some broth. Water works fine too.
Now here’s the key: Do not overcook your chicken! Based on advice from the FDA, we wrote a whole post about how long to cook chicken in the slow cooker if you want a bit more information but for now, just follow the recipe, got it? Yeah, you got this! 🙂
Once that chicken has cooked, grab two forks and give it a good shred.
After this, rolling up the taquitos and baking them just takes minutes. I also love that I can make these in advance and pop them in the oven right before dinner (fresh or frozen).
How to Freeze Taquitos
As I mentioned above, another beauty of this recipe is that it’s freezer-friendly. Because of this, I almost always double the recipe. Simply follow the cooking instructions right up until baking and then freeze them in a single layer in a freezer bag.
Then, you can pull out however many taquitos you need on a busy week night and bake them directly from frozen using our freezer meal instructions below.
Side Dish Ideas
Avocado Lime Salsa
Mexican Chopped Salad
What to Do with Leftover Tortillas
If you have leftover tortillas, did you know you can freeze them? Here is the best way to freeze tortillas for later.
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This is a delicious meal that the whole family will love! Be sure to make a double batch for the freezer. Then, you can pull out however many you want and throw them directly in the oven for a quick weeknight dinner.
Ingredients
- 1 – 1 1/2 pounds (2 large) boneless, skinless chicken breasts (here’s where we get our organic chicken)
- 1 ounce package of all-natural taco seasoning or 3–4 tablespoons of our homemade taco seasoning recipe
- 3/4 cup water or chicken broth
- 1/4 cup cream cheese (light works fine)
- 1/4 cup mild or medium salsa
- 8 (8-inch) whole grain tortillas
- 1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar or pepper jack cheese (here’s how to easily shred your own to save money)
- Optional toppings: sour cream or plain Greek yogurt, salsa, Guacamole, Avocado Lime Salsa
Instructions
Make It Now:
- Place the chicken breasts in your slow cooker. Rub both sides of the chicken with all of the taco seasoning. Add water or broth.
- Cover and cook on LOW for about 2.5 – 3.5 hours, until it shreds easily. (Note: Chicken should be 165°F internally when done.) Shred the chicken with two forks and stir, so the seasoning is evenly distributed.
- Add cream cheese and salsa to the shredded chicken and stir until cream cheese is melted.
- Arrange tortillas on a flat surface. Top each tortilla with an equal amount of chicken mixture, leaving a little room at the edges so the filling doesn’t spill out. Top chicken mixture with 2-3 tablespoons of shredded cheese. Roll up tortillas tightly. (Freezing instructions begin here.)
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- Place the taquitos on a baking sheet, seam side down. Spray the tops with cooking spray and bake for 15-20 minutes, until cheese melts and they are golden brown on top. (Note: If you have leftover cheese, you can sprinkle it over the top of the taquitos before they bake.)
- Serving suggestion: Top with sour cream or plain Greek yogurt, salsa, Guacamole, or our Avocado Lime Salsa.
Freeze It For Later: Complete the recipe through Step 4. Then, place rolled up tortillas side-by-side in a single later in a gallon-sized freezer bag. Seal tightly and freeze.
Prepare From Frozen: When ready to bake, you have two options:
Method 1 (Thawed): Thaw overnight in the refrigerator or in the microwave using the defrost setting. Bake as directed, beginning with Step 5.
Method 2 (From Frozen): Follow Steps 5-7, but cover the frozen taquitos with foil after spraying them with cooking spray. Then, bake for about 25 minutes or until warmed through. Remove the foil and bake another 5-10 minutes, until golden brown.
Notes
For Instant Pot instructions, try our Instant Pot Chicken and Cheese Taquitos.
Where We Get Our Chicken: We get our chicken from ButcherBox. The chicken is organic and curated from trusted farms. We highly recommend this service to source healthy meat–like uncured bacon, grass-fed beef, and wild salmon–and have used it for years ourselves.
Be sure to try our Instant Pot Chicken and Cheese Taquitos for a faster cooking method.
Want More Easy Freezer Meals?
Be sure to check out our amazing round-up of 70+ Freezer Meals.
Would you mind telling what type of cooking Spray you recommend for these? Olive oil?
Thank you
Tina
Any baking spray will work, but I prefer Avocado Oil. I pour it into my reusable oil spray bottle. Hope that helps!
So simple with just a few ingredients! Love how easy it is to make a few and that you can cook straight from the freezer.
★★★★★
Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment/review, Lisa. Happy to hear it’s a hit in your home.
These are really good, easy to make, so handy, even my very fussy husband liked them, thank you
★★★★★
You’re welcome! Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment and review. 🙂
Hi. These sound so good. Is there a way to bake the chicken instead of using the slow cooker? Thanks!
Definitely. Preheat oven to 400°F. Place chicken in a casserole dish or on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake uncovered for about 20-25 minutes, until done (reaches 165 degrees F internally or no longer has any pink in the middle).
So I made the mistake of subbing locally-made/3-ingredient corn tortillas for the wheat since I needed something GF. They tore and looked horrible UNTIL I microwaved some of the tortillas between a paper towel for about 15 seconds. WORLD of difference! The imperfect ones still tasted great but required a fork and a bib lol. Definitely make the Avocado Lime Salsa!!!
★★★★★
Glad they worked out in the end. Yea, corn tortillas won’t hold up super well!
Amazing! It’s so simple, yet it tasted complex and layered. This was a massive hit in my house! I’m glad I made a pile of them to freeze. This will definitely become a staple meal for us. Thank you for posting! I can’t wait to try other recipes from your blog!
★★★★★
Yay!!! Thanks for letting us know, Allison. Makes us so happy to hear this.
How necessary is the cream cheese?
The cream cheese makes it creamy, of course, but you could leave it out.
Looks delicious! I am wondering how long the chicken would take in the instant pot?
We have found that 1-2 pounds of medium sized chicken breasts in the IP take 7 minutes from fresh. Hope that helps! We have the entire Instant Pot version of this recipe here: https://thrivinghomeblog.com/instant-pot-chicken-and-cheese-taquitos-freezer-meal/
Made these for the first time yesterday, and they came out PERFECT! Very simple and very tasty! I also made the Creamy Avocado Dip, and it was a perfect combo.
★★★★★
Oh yum, I serve these with Creamy Avocado Dip, too. Happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe!
This came out super runny for me. It was tasty but I had to figure out a way to either drain all of the liquid or thicken it up.
★★★★
So yummy, I have made them twice now, going to make a bunch and freeze for when my kids/grandkids are home. I put them in foil and put on the grill on low, then take them out of foil and put them on grill grates for a few minutes until browned and crunchy. So good
★★★★★
Wow, great idea to utilize the grill. I’m so glad your family enjoys these!