Chicken and Sweet Potato Taquitos
Servings: 7
Ingredients
- 30 corn tortillas (6 inch)
- 2 chicken breasts
- 2 sweet potatoes
- 2 cups Monterey jack, cheddar, or Mexican cheese blend
- ½ cup onion (diced)
- ½ cup cilantro (chopped)
- 1 jalapeño (diced)
- 2 cloves garlic (diced)
- 2 ounces lime juice
- 1 tomato (diced)
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1½ teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
Instructions
- Poach the chicken breasts in a medium pot of salted water until they reach an internal temperature of 165°F - approximately 10-14 minutes, but check them at 8 minutes. I like to add some aromatics to the water too, so feel free to add additional garlic, onion, cumin, etc.. Once chicken is cooked, remove and set aside, reserving the water.
- While the chicken is poaching, heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat then add the onion and jalapeño to a skillet with olive oil. Add the garlic a couple minutes later and cook until the onion begins to become translucent.
- Boil the diced sweet potatoes in a the water reserved from poaching the chicken breasts. Simmer until softened - approximately 15 minutes. Drain and return to pot. Add butter, paprika, salt, and cinnamon and mash the sweet potatoes.
- Once the chicken breasts have cooled slightly, use a fork to shred the chicken.
- Cover a few of the tortillas with a damp paper towel and microwave 20-30 seconds to soften. Spread tortillas with the mashed sweet potatoes, sprinkle with cheese and cilantro, add onion, jalapeño, and garlic mixture, add some chicken and top with some of the diced tomato.
- Gently roll the tortilla and be sure not to over stuff. Hold together with a toothpick if necessary. Once a baking sheet is filled, spray with olive oil and bake for 12-15 minutes at 425°F.
Notes
This recipe makes a large portion of taquitos, but they are perfect for freezing. After baking, just lay them out on a baking tray to freeze. Once frozen, wrap individually with cling wrap (Press'n Seal works great) and bag in a large freezer zipper bag.
I've made these two ways, and the other way is the one that is pictured. The corn tortillas tend to flake and fall apart easily. The two things to remedy this are making sure you use a moist paper towel when you microwave the tortillas and the you can also do a brief fry session to brown them in hot oil before baking.
