Crispy Chicken Taquitos

Corn tortillas must be warm and pliable or they'll crack when rolling. Secure with toothpicks to prevent unrolling during frying. Fry seam-side down first to seal. Don't overcrowd the pan - temperature will drop and taquitos will be greasy.

Taquitos — small, tightly rolled and fried corn tortillas encasing a simple filling — are one of Mexico's most practical and beloved street foods, developed along the same principles that produced tacos: a corn tortilla as an edible wrapper for a savory filling, easy to hold and eat without utensils. The rolled format, which is deep-fried until crisp, is widely associated with Baja California and is also called taco dorado (golden taco) throughout northern Mexico. The term flautas, meaning "flutes" in Spanish, is used interchangeably in some regions, particularly for the flour tortilla version and in central Mexico, though the exact distinction varies by locality. Corn tortillas are among the oldest continuously prepared foods in the Americas — the process of nixtamalization, in which dried corn is soaked in an alkaline solution to release niacin and improve protein quality, was developed by Mesoamerican peoples approximately 3,500 years ago and remains the foundational step in tortilla production. Chicken taquitos became particularly common in Mexican-American cooking in California, where the influence of Baja California cuisine crossed the border into San Diego and Los Angeles. Commercial frozen taquitos (under the El Charrito and later Delimex brands) made them a mainstream American freezer staple beginning in the 1970s, helping introduce the format to American households outside the Southwest.