Taquitos

I’m sure we’ve all seen these in you’re freezer section:

You can basically get chicken & cheese or beef & cheese. Well, last night I was brainstorming my dinner choices and I decided to make these from scratch. Of course I got a bit more creative with ingredients, and so can you.
Here’s what I used:

• Steak
• Chicken
• Mexican blend cheese
• Mushrooms
• Sour cream
• Black beans
• Large tortilla shells

I chose to stay away from peppers and onions simply because I don’t like them, but you can feel free to add those as well. You may notice that I didn’t put amounts….well this was an experiment. Not to mention 4 taquitos were made one way for my husband and then the rest had extra stuff thrown in for my brother and I.  As I go through the instructions I’ll give you estimates of what I used to give you a better idea of things.

To start off you want to cook your meat and shred it. I braised 2 steaks that were approximately 6-8 oz. They weren’t anything fancy. Just something cheap and on sale that was in my fridge. If you don’t know how to braise then google it. Seriously! There are a couple different ways it can be done, so google it, read and choose the one that suits you. ( I browned each side, covered it in water, seasoning and let them simmer on the stove for about an hour or so.) Remove from heat, let cool and then shred. Do the same thing with chicken if you choose to use it. Cook and shred about 2-3 chicken breasts. If you decide to use only chicken or only steak the amounts just given should be plenty for 2-3 people (Approximately 8 overstuffed large taquitos).
While the meat is cooling preheat the oven to 425, and chop up and sauté 1 small container of mushrooms.

For the husband I only used the steak, so in the bowl I dumped the shredded steak, half the sautéed mushrooms, two handfuls of cheese (approx. 1 cup)  and one heaping tablespoon of sour cream. I mixed this all together and voila!

We have filling to fill our shells!

Spray  a cookie sheet liberally with cooking spray. Plop probably about 1/4 cup of filling on the tortilla, roll it up and place it on the baking sheet. Keep in mind the closer the filling gets to the edges, the more likely it is to fall out. Just for reference I filled four like this for the husband, and I had plenty of the filling left over.
To the left over steak mixture I added the chicken, 1 can of drained black beans, one more heaping tablespoon of sour cream, the rest of the mushrooms and 2 more handfuls of cheese. I filled, rolled and placed them on the cookie sheet.
Once they’re all on the cookie sheet spray the tops of the real good with cooking spray. Place in the over at 425 for approximately 12 minutes.

When the edges brown, they’re done!

  

Serve them with queso or salsa if desired. ENJOY!

From the 2 different mixtures I wound up with 14 large over stuffed taquitos. The guys both ate 3-4 each and I only had 2 if that gives you any idea of the size.  Some people might just eat one and be full. 

Labels: recipe