Baked Shredded Beef Taquitos Recipe
Baked Chipotle Beef Taquitos Recipe
You deserve better than those frozen taquitos they sell in the supermarket. These shredded beef taquitos are healthier, tastier, and better looking! Plus, they’re not even that hard to make; it should take you no more than 45-minutes to whip up a batch of 12 taquitos.
This recipe is also a great way to use up leftover roast beef! Best of all, you can cook up multiple batches and freeze some for later too! I love having a meal in the freezer that is kid-friendly and can be baked from frozen within 30 minutes.
Ingredients for Beef Taquitos
All of the ingredients for these shredded beef taquitos are pretty standard, the only sort of uncommon ingredient is the chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (read about those below).
I had never used queso fresco before, but it was actually on sale at the time and ended up being the same price or cheaper than the Monterey jack cheese that I was planning to use. Sounds good to me! You could pretty much use whatever cheese you like here.
Chipotle Peppers in Adobo Sauce
Don’t be intimidated by the chipotle peppers in adobo sauce. Seriously. Find it in the Hispanic foods section at the grocery store, not far from the canned green chilies and not expensive either.
Pull out a pepper, rinse the seeds out, and chop it up. Easy. (Do wash your hands thoroughly after handling the peppers though, they have a bit of spice to them.) Plus, you can just blend up the leftovers and freeze it. I’ve listed some more great recipes below that use chipotle peppers in adobo sauce too.
Soften Your Tortillas
Softening the tortillas in the microwave is a crucial step. It helps keep your taquitos from splitting and getting all ugly. (They still taste great either way though!) If you want to, feel free to make homemade tortillas too! Making your own tortillas will save you money and they taste better!
Assemble Your Beef Taquitos, Bake, and Serve (or Freeze)
Once you’ve softened your tortillas you can start to assemble your shredded beef taquitos. After that, it’s time to eat or freeze them (find the in-depth instructions below). Hooray for easy freezer meals!
Serve these baked beef taquitos with sour cream, salsa, and/or guacamole. A salad, a steamed or roasted veggie, or grilled corn would be a great side dish option.
If you haven’t tried the Creamy Chicken Taquitos, they are another really great freezer meal to have on hand. Love them!
More Recipes That Use Chipotle Chile in Adobo Sauce:
- Chipotle Chicken Kebabs with Creamy Cilantro Sauce
- Chipotle Chicken and Rice Soup
- Orange Chipotle Chicken with Cilantro Rice Recipe
- Pork Mango Tacos Recipe
- Slow Cooker Carne Asada Tacos with Chipotle Aioli Recipe
Learn More About Freezer Meal Cooking:
- Why you NEED Freezer Meal Cooking in your life!
- How to start a Freezer Meal Group (Should you?)
- 24 Freezer Meal Hacks you need to learn
- Foods That Don’t Freeze Well
- Freezer Meal eBook
Baked Shredded Beef Taquitos Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 cups cooked shredded beef roast
- 4 ounces chopped green chilies not drained
- ¼ teaspoon minced canned chipotle pepper in adobo sauce
- 3 teaspoons adobo sauce from chipotle peppers
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon coriander
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- ½ teaspoon chili powder
- zest from 1 lime
- juice from 1 lime
- 12 ounces Queso Fresco or Monterey Jack cheese
- 20 white corn 6-inch tortillas
- olive oil or cooking spray
- kosher salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°F/220°C.
- Slice any larger pieces of shredded roast beef across the grain, until all pieces are about 1/2-1″ long. Place in a bowl and set aside.
- To prepare the peppers for the taquitos: pull out a pepper, let extra sauce drip back into the can. Slit the pepper open and gently scrape the seeds out with a small knife.
- Or run a slow, gentle stream of water over the open pepper to wash the seeds out. Then mince the pepper.
- Combine the chilies, chipotle pepper, adobo sauce, garlic, coriander, cumin, chili powder, lime zest, and lime juice in a bowl.
- Then add shredded beef and gently toss to combine.
- Wrap a stack of about 10 tortillas in damp paper towels and microwave for 1 minute to soften.
- Working with 1 tortilla at a time, crumble about 1 tablespoon of queso fresco along the center of the tortilla.
- Top with 1-2 tablespoons shredded beef mixture and roll up the tortilla.
- Place seam-side down on a lightly sprayed baking sheet.
- Repeat with another 10 tortillas, until the filling is used up.
- Over the top of each, lightly brush olive oil or cooking spray.
- Then lightly sprinkle kosher salt on the top of each one.
- Bake at 425°F/220°C for 20-25 minutes or until the edges are golden brown.
- Serve warm with sour cream, salsa, guacamole, etc.
Preparing For the Freezer:
- Before baking and after sprinkling with salt, freeze taquitos in a single layer.
- Once frozen, place taquitos in a resealable freezer bag, remove excess air, seal, and return to freezer.
Prepare after Freezing:
- Preheat oven to 425°F/220°C.
- Place frozen taquitos on a baking sheet in a single layer and bake until edges are golden brown, about 30 minutes.