Air Fryer Buffalo Chicken Flautas

These Air Fryer Buffalo Chicken Flautas (or taquitos!) make a quick main dish or appetizer, with crispy outsides and hot, cheesy buffalo chicken on the inside! Use leftover cooked chicken for an easy weeknight Tex-Mex inspired dinner!

I love taquitos. And I love flautas. I grew up eating the frozen El Monterey taquitos like, once a week. These are an incredibly Americanized version of flautas, but still SO delicious.

In my memory, they were quick, easy, crispy out of the oven, and felt like a serious step up from boxed mac and cheese. Both of which I could make myself as a kid. Not trying to brag or anything.

That’s what I’m going for here with this recipe. Just like my basic Air Fryer Chicken Taquitos, this one uses cooked or leftover chicken plus other yummy ingredients, rolled up in a soft taco shell, and air fried to absolute perfection.

Where do flautas and taquitos come from originally?

First of all, I want to clarify that this recipe is not meant to be authentic or traditional. It is meant to be a simple and delicious thing to eat when you want a quick, easy dinner from the air fryer.

While ‘flauta’ is the Spanish word for flute, the specific origins of the dishes are not super easy to find. It’s clear flautas have roots in Mexico, while taquitos seem to be a later creation, possibly a little north of the border.

If you’re looking for an authentic taquito recipe, try these Crispy Taquitos from Muy Delish! For a more authentic flautas recipe, try these Chicken Flautas from The Busy Abuelita!

Taquitos vs. Flautas: You Choose

Both dishes are basically a tightly rolled taco that has been fried in some method. Here is my understanding about the difference between the flautas and taquitos:

• The difference in name can be regional. They are called different things in different places.
• The size of the tortilla matters: Taquitos are usually smaller (made with small taco size tortillas); Flautas are usually bigger/longer, like a flute (made with large burritos size tortillas)
• The type of tortilla matters: Taquitos are generally made with corn tortillas; Flautas can be made with either, however taquitos or flautas made with flour tortillas are more Tex-Mex and non-traditional.

I’ve been corrected both ways on the Internet. Some tell me taquitos are only made with corn tortillas. Some tell me flautas are only made with corn tortillas. Some say the opposite.

Ultimately, I’ve learned that people just love this dish – some use the names interchangeably, and some would never do such a thing. Food is very important to people!

What are the ingredients in these Air Fryer Buffalo Chicken Flautas?

This recipe is perfect for using up some leftover cooked chicken. You could easily double or halve the recipe, depending on how much cooked chicken you have.

Here are the ingredients I used in this recipe, along with a little explanation for each:

• chicken breast – If I don’t have any leftover cooked chicken, I simply throw a pound of chicken into the Instant Pot with some broth and cook, then shred and use for recipes as needed. You can also use a rotisserie chicken from the store!
• cream cheese – This makes the insides of the flautas creamy and delicious, plus rounds out the hot buffalo flavors.
• cheddar cheese – I used shredded cheddar cheese to make the inside nice and cheesy, along with the cream cheese.
• Ranch dressing – Buffalo and Ranch just go together in my opinion. Use your favorite kind of Ranch!
• buffalo sauce – I use Frank’s Redhot because it’s dependable and classic! You know how the saying goes, “I put that shit on everything!”
• garlic powder & smoked paprika – To add a little more flavor besides just buffalo, I’ve also added some of my favorite spices here. Garlic and smoked paprika help provide more flavor to the chicken mixture, on top of the buffalo sauce!
• fine sea salt & fresh ground black pepper – A dash of each helps tie it all together and flavor the buffalo chicken perfectly.
• flour tortillas – I use taco size tortillas (8 inch) simply cause this is the largest size that will fit into my air fryer. Traditionally, flautas are even longer than this! You can also use corn tortillas if you wish.
• avocado oil spray – I use Chosen Foods avo oil spray for all my air fryer recipes. This helps with crispness and browning! Compared to deep frying (where it would be fully submerged in oil!), this is a very small amount of oil.

How do you make these Air Fryer Buffalo Chicken Flautas?

This is very simple recipe that is great for air fryer beginners to try! Here’s how you make these Air Fryer Buffalo Chicken Flautas.

Start with the cooked chicken – make sure it’s finely shredded. Two cups of cooked chicken is around 9-11 ounces of chicken, if it’s packed in there. You can use rotisserie chicken, or cooked chicken breast, especially if you’ve got leftovers.

Add everything else except the tortillas (it’s obvious but I gotta say it) into the bowl and mix well.

Next, it’s time to fill and roll the tortillas. Use your spoon or fork to loosely mark/divide the bowl of filling mixture into six sections. This helps you do a more educated eye ball of how much filling to use for each tortilla, without using another utensil or measuring cup.

Arrange a section of the filling in a line across the widest part of a tortilla, like in picture below. Fold the tortilla over the filling, then roll it up tightly and set aside. Repeat this process until all filling and six tortillas are used up.

For air frying the flautas, you can do all six at once, or you can cook in two batches. For maximum crisp, cook in two batches. This gives the most airflow all around.

You can crowd the flautas and they will still get crispy and delicious, but there will be less exposed area, which means less crispy on the sides.

Place your flautas into the air fryer basket and give a quick spray of avocado oil to coat. Air fry at 380F for 8-12 minutes, or until sizzling and golden brown to your preference!

For more even browning, flip flautas halfway through cooking, though this is not required. If the basket is crowded with six flautas, it will most likely take closer to 12 minutes to cook. But it will still work!

Serve with your favorite toppings! I know blue cheese is common with buffalo chicken, but we aren’t huge fans of that around here. Add green onions, more sauces, shredded lettuce, anything you want!

Testing notes for these AF Buffalo Chicken Flautas:

Here are a couple things I noticed while testing this recipe:

• For crispier flautas, cook in batches. All six flautas fit into my air fryer, and it’s quicker to cook them all at once. They still get crispy on the top and bottom, and still taste amazing. However, cooking fewer flautas at once will improve airflow in the air fryer, and make crispier flautas all around.
• Use leftover or rotisserie chicken. This is a great way to use up leftover shredded chicken. Or, you can cook the shredded chicken ahead of time to prep for this recipe. Another option – grab a rotisserie chicken from the store.

How do you meal prep these Air Fryer Buffalo Chicken Flautas?

1. Complete prep: Make this recipe from start to finish and store leftover cooked flautas in the fridge for up to 4 days. Reheat in the air fryer at 350F for 7 minutes.
2. Partially prep & cook later: Mix up the filling ahead of time and store in the fridge for up to 4 days. When it’s time to eat, simply roll and cook the flautas.
3. Partially prep & freeze: Make recipe as written through step 2. Lay the flautas on a baking sheet, seam down, and stick them into the freezer for at least four hours. Transfer the frozen flautas or taquitos into a storage container with an airtight seal and keep them for 3-6 months!

What should you serve with these Air Fryer Buffalo Chicken Flautas?

You can easily make this dish a full meal by serving over a bed of lettuce and loading with toppings! Alternatively, it would be good with a side of chips and salsa, or a plate of veggies and Ranch or blue cheese.

Alternative customization ideas for this recipe:

This is a pretty simple recipe on its own, and you can easily customize with all of your favorite toppings. Here are few other ways to customize these flautas:

• Use BBQ sauce instead of buffalo! This will definitely change the flavor, but they will still be cheesy and delicious!
• Add some chopped red onion to the chicken mixture
• Change up the cheese inside – use some blue cheese if you want!

Can you bake these in the oven instead of air fry?

Yes, you can cook these in the oven instead of the air fryer.

Preheat the oven to 400F. Follow the rest of the instructions as written, including adding a spray of avocado oil, but place the rolled flautas on a baking sheet lined with foil or parchment paper.

Bake in the oven for 18-22 minutes, or until golden brown and sizzling!

Which air fryer do you recommend?

The air fryer I have currently, and the one that is pictured in this post is the Cosori XL 5.8 qt Air Fryer (affiliate link!). If you’re going to invest in an air fryer to cook things for 2 or more people, you should opt for a larger size like this one, in my opinion!

I previously had a slightly smaller Philips Air Fryer with a metal grate basket which I liked, but I prefer the larger Cosori model with the nonstick coated basket.

How to store cooked Buffalo Chicken Flautas:

Store leftover cooked flautas or leftover chicken mixture in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.

How to freeze Buffalo Chicken Flautas:

Make recipe as written through step 2. Instead of cooking, lay the flautas on a baking sheet, seam down, and stick them into the freezer for at least four hours to flash freeze.

Transfer the frozen flautas or taquitos into a storage container with an airtight seal and keep them for 3-6 months!

How to reheat Buffalo Chicken Flautas:

From the fridge: Place flautas or taquitos into the air fryer basket and spritz with a bit of avocado oil spray. Cook at 350F for 6-8 minutes or until hot and crispy.

From the freezer: Place frozen flautas or taquitos in a single layer in your air fryer and spray with a quick spritz of avocado oil. Cook at 350F for 12-15 minutes, checking at 10 minutes to see how fast they’re cooking.