Flautas: what they are and how to make golden taquitos

What is it?

Flautas, also called taquitos dorados, are one of the most beloved antojitos of the Mexican table: maize tortillas filled, rolled into an elongated shape and fried until crisp and golden. The most common filling is shredded chicken, although there are also potato, barbacoa, picadillo or requesón ones. They are generally served on a bed of shredded lettuce, drizzled with cream, green or red salsa, fresh cheese and avocado. Unlike the fresh taco, the flauta is eaten with knife and fork when drizzled, or by hand if served dry with salsas on the side. It is a common dish both in eateries and set-menu restaurants and at family celebrations and school fetes throughout the country.

Origin and history

The origin of flautas is placed in the cuisine of centre-western Mexico, particularly in Jalisco, although their Mexico City variant became popular as a market and eatery antojito in the first half of the 20th century. The name flauta (flute) alludes to its elongated shape, similar to the instrument, and it is distinguished from the taquito dorado above all by length: flautas are made with long tortillas or with two tortillas joined together, while taquitos dorados use a single shorter tortilla. The technique of frying the filled tortilla has colonial roots, when pork lard made frying an everyday cooking method. Recipe books of the 19th and 20th centuries, such as those of Vicenta Torres de Rubio and Josefina Velázquez de León, already record flautas as an established dish. In the north and in the Mexican diaspora in the United States, flautas became a bar and Tex-Mex restaurant dish, while the chef-driven version of Pati Jinich has projected the traditional recipe onto the international scene.

Characteristic ingredients

Fresh maize tortilla is essential: if it is too dry it breaks when rolled, so it is briefly heated on the comal or softened with a touch of oil before filling. The classic filling is cooked and shredded chicken, seasoned with onion and sometimes tomato; in the Jalisco version it has chicken alone, simple and well seasoned. Potato flautas are filled with mashed cooked potato with salt, popular for their economy. Other variants include beef barbacoa, picadillo, requesón or mushrooms for vegetarian versions. They are closed with a cocktail stick and fried in hot oil, submerged, until evenly golden. The typical accompaniments are Mexican cream, shredded lettuce or cabbage, crumbled fresh cheese, green tomatillo salsa or red tomato salsa, avocado and, in some regions, a creamy salsa of avocado blended with cream, known as liquid guacamole.

Cultural significance

Flautas form part of the repertoire of table antojitos that in Mexico are served as a main meal accompanied by rice and beans. They are an essential dish at children's parties, parish fetes and Sunday family meals, and represent one of the most popular ways to use up leftover cooked chicken. In Guadalajara and Mexico City there are specialist establishments, the so-called flauterías, that have operated for generations, such as Las Lupitas in Mexico City. Traditional Mexican cuisine, inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in 2010, encompasses this type of nixtamalised-maize preparation. In the United States, flautas became one of the best-selling frozen Mexican products, with brands such as Delimex and José Olé, showing how the antojito crossed borders to become a global comfort food.

Frequently asked questions