Baked Taquitos are easy to make and perfect snack or appetizer for parties. This easy taquito recipe has ground beef and cheddar cheese that are rolled up in corn or flour tortillas. They are crispy and delicious – no frying required!
We love Mexican food around here and these baked taquitos are always a fun appetizer or snack, but sometimes we make them for dinner, too! They’re really simple to make with seasoned ground beef, salsa, cheese, and tortillas.
Table of Contents
These Homemade Taquitos: Baked not Fried!
Traditional taquitos are fried in a lot of oil which isn’t my favorite thing to do. It’s messy and all that oil is not so great for you, know what I mean? So, I like to make baked taquitos – they’re hot, crispy and definitely easier to make. You definitely won’t miss the hassle of frying them.
If you’ve never tried them, they’re basically like little crispy rolled tacos. Seasoned meat is rolled up in tortillas with cheese and then baked until crispy. What I love about making taquitos is that you can customize them with different fillings – the version I’m sharing is made with ground beef, but you can ground turkey, pork or shredded chicken. They all work great.
You can also use corn or flour tortillas for this recipe. We’ve made them both ways and they are both delicious!
Serve your baked taquitos with guacamole and salsa on the side for dipping – we can make a meal out of them, but they’re the best party food, too.
Cooking Baked Taquitos
These take about 40 to 45 minutes to make, but none of the steps are complicated.
- Make your seasoning mix by combining salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, chili powder, and cayenne pepper in a bowl.
- Brown the ground beef (or turkey, pork or chicken) in a skillet and sprinkle the seasoning mix over the top. Cook the meat until it’s no longer pink. Drain the excess liquid from the pan.
If you like some spice and heat feel free to add some of your favorite hot sauce to the meat mixture!
- Once you’ve cooked the meat all you have to do is assemble the taquitos. Place your tortillas, seasoned beef, salsa and shredded cheese within arm’s reach so it’s easy to fill and roll.
- Take one tortilla and place some ground beef, a spoonful of salsa and some shredded cheese on one end of the tortillas.
- Roll the tortilla into itself with the filling tucked inside. You will want to roll it fairly tight.
- Once it’s rolled use a toothpick to hold the end of the tortilla.
- Spray the taquito on both sides with cooking spray and place it on a baking sheet. Repeat this process with the rest of the ingredients.
WANT TO SAVE THIS RECIPE?
We'll email a link to this post to you, so you can come back to it later!
How Long to Bake Taquitos in the Oven
Once they are all assembled, bake them in the oven for 10 to 12 minutes at 400°F. Turn them over halfway through the baking time so they are nice and crispy on both sides.
Be sure to keep an eye on them while they are baking. You don’t want them to burn on the bottom, so check on them periodically.
How to Change Up the Filling – Recipe Variations!
We love ground beef taquitos, but you can do a lot of different variations with the filling. Try making baked chicken taquitos with shredded chicken (a rotisserie chicken makes it extra easy!). Or make taquitos with ground turkey if you want to use a leaner meat.
Switch up the cheddar cheese and use Monterey jack, Colby, pepper jack, or a combination of different kinds of cheese.
With so many different kinds of salsa available you could use a different kind to make these and never have them the same way twice!
How to Serve Taquitos
We love to serve taquitos with salsa and guacamole on the side for dipping. This is great if you are serving them as a snack or appetizer.
Sometimes we make them for dinner and top them with shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, cheese, sour cream and guacamole. Just like you would for a burrito, but with taquitos instead!
They are best when they are made – they have a tendency to get soft and chewy when they sit in the refrigerator, so plan to serve them as soon as they come out of the oven.
Make these for game-day, happy hour, or as a fun dinner for Taco Tuesday. We love these crispy baked taquitos and I’m pretty sure you will, too!
Other Dinners You’ll Enjoy
Baked Taquitos Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 12 medium size tortillas flour or corn
- 1 cup cheddar cheese grated
- Salsa
Instructions
- In a small bowl combine dry spices. Put ground beef in a skillet and break into small pieces. Add the spice mix to the ground beef. Cook ground beef over medium heat until it is no longer pink. Drain the liquid from the skillet.
- Build the taquitos by putting ground beef, a spoon full of salsa and cheese on one end of a tortilla. Roll the tortilla fairly tightly. Use a toothpick to hold the tortilla together. Once completed, spray the taquitos with a nonstick cooking spray on both sides.
- Pre-Heat oven to 400°. Place tortillas on a cookie sheet covered with aluminum foil. Spray foil with a vegetable oil spray. Cook for 10-12 minutes turning once. Be careful not to overcook or the bottom of the tortilla will burn.
- Remove toothpicks and serve with salsa and guacamole on the side.
Recipe Notes
– You can substitute ground turkey, chicken or pork as your protein.
– Add in your favorite hot sauce to spice it up a bit.
Recipe Nutrition
Baked Taquitos are so easy to make and are a great spin on your favorite Mexican meal. Simply roll up ground beef and cheddar cheese in a corn or flour tortilla. The best part – no frying needed!