Chicken Flautas Ahogadas

By Lesley Téllez

Chicken Flautas Ahogadas
Ryan Liebe for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Barrett Washburne.
Total Time
45 minutes
Rating
4(249)
Notes
Read community notes

These crunchy, tube-shaped flautas ahogadas — the name roughly translates to “drowned flutes” — are served in a pool of spicy tomatillo sauce, and the idea is to slather each bite in the sauce as you eat. They’re immensely popular in Mexico City, where they’re prepared using long corn tortillas specifically made for the dish. This faster version uses standard corn tortillas and a quick rotisserie chicken filling, but the tomatillo sauce, which is tart with an underlying sweetness, deserves to be made from scratch. Prepare it a day in advance or freeze it to save time. It’s worth making a double batch of the sauce, because it brightens up just about anything: tacos, quesadillas or eggs.

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Ingredients

Yield:4 servings
  • 1small white onion, peeled
  • 1pound tomatillos, husked and rinsed
  • 2serrano chiles
  • 1large garlic clove, peeled
  • 2cups shredded white and dark meat (about 10 ounces) from half a rotisserie chicken
  • ¾teaspoon ground cumin
  • ½teaspoon Mexican oregano
  • Kosher salt and ground pepper
  • 1tablespoon canola oil, plus about 2 cups for frying
  • 12corn tortillas
  • ½cup Mexican crema
  • ¾cup crumbled cotija cheese (about 4 ounces)
  • ½cup cilantro leaves and stems
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)

972 calories; 79 grams fat; 15 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 41 grams monounsaturated fat; 19 grams polyunsaturated fat; 45 grams carbohydrates; 8 grams dietary fiber; 7 grams sugars; 25 grams protein; 905 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Fill a large saucepan halfway with water and bring to a boil over high. Thinly slice half the onion crosswise into thin rounds, leaving the remaining onion half in one large piece. Add the onion wedge, tomatillos, chiles and garlic to the boiling water, reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until softened and tomatillos take on a yellow-green hue, about 10 minutes. Reserve 1 cup cooking water and pour the remaining contents of the saucepan into a colander to drain.

  2. Step 2

    While tomatillos cool, toss the chicken with the cumin, oregano, ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon black pepper.

  3. Step 3

    Coarsely chop the cooked onion, garlic and chiles, discarding chile stems. Transfer to a blender with ¼ cup reserved cooking water and blend until chunky. Add the tomatillos and another ½ cup reserved cooking water and blend until smooth.

  4. Step 4

    Heat 1 tablespoon oil in the saucepan over medium. Add the sauce and 1 teaspoon salt. Pour the remaining ¼ cup reserved cooking water into the blender jar, swirl around to catch any remnants in blender, then pour the mixture into the saucepan. Simmer over low, stirring often, until flavors meld, about 10 minutes. Cover and keep warm.

  5. Step 5

    While the sauce cooks, wrap the tortillas in a damp dish towel and microwave, 1 minute. Shuffle the tortillas to redistribute the heat, then microwave, 1 minute more. Transfer to a dry dish towel and wrap tightly to keep warm.

  6. Step 6

    Heat about ½-inch oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium-high. To test if it’s hot enough, tear off a small piece of tortilla, add to oil and flip after 30 seconds; the tortilla should turn light golden-brown. (You’ll need to make sure the oil is properly heated so the flautas become crisp.) Working with one at a time, pull out a warm tortilla and add about 2 tablespoons chicken in a line down the center of the tortilla. Roll tightly and secure crosswise using two toothpicks.

  7. Step 7

    Once you’ve rolled all 12 tortillas, gently transfer them to the hot oil using tongs and cook, seam side down, until golden brown on all sides, turning occasionally, about 4 to 5 minutes. (Work in batches to avoid crowding.) Using tongs, tilt flautas over skillet to allow excess oil to drain, then transfer flautas to a paper towel-lined platter and carefully remove and discard toothpicks.

  8. Step 8

    To serve, divide the sauce among 4 shallow bowls (about ½ cup per serving). Divide the flautas among bowls and slather flautas with crema. Top with cheese, sliced onion and cilantro and serve immediately.

Tip
  • You can also bake these at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes, turning halfway, until dark-golden brown.

Ratings

4 out of 5
249 user ratings
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Private Notes

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Cooking Notes

Wendy

I make this sauce regularly but I roast the vegetables instead of boiling them. I also change up the chiles, using whatever's available at the market... jalapeno, hungarian, etc. Roasting gives the sauce so much flavor!

Sharon Snodgress

Amazing flavor, easy recipe. The only thing I changed was to lay out all the tortillas at once to even out the amount of filling. It did take a bit longer than the 45 minutes, I guess chopping time is extra.

Heidi

Can you bake these instead of frying?

Laurie W.

Having grown up in El Paso where Chico's Tacos reigns, I decided to add two ripe tomatoes to the boiling water & added them in my blender. When cleaning my blender, I added 1/2 Tbsp tomato paste. The sauce was reminiscent of the combination of Chico's tomato sauce topped with tomatillo salsa. A recommendation for the sliced onions (from a Rick Bayless tip): Put the sliced onion in a bowl & top with boiling water for 30 secs. Then transfer to a bowl of iced water to take away the bitterness.

Erica H.

Delicious! I cheated and used a jar of Herdez salsa verde since I needed this to be extra easy and quick. Store didn't have cotija in stock, so I subbed with queso fresco. I threw in some of the queso fresco into the chicken mixture as well and added a packet of Sazon Goya to the shredded chicken, which gave a delicious boost to the chicken. The flautas cooked quickly, a little less than a minute per side in the hot oil. Yum! Our whole family enjoyed this! Great weeknight meal!

Yogamom

@Meeka - A couple alternatives, if available: 1) Use canned tomatillos, if you can find down there, or the Herdez salsa verde mentioned below - specialty grocers might have them. They make a serviceable sauce. 2) Order canned tomatillos or the Herdez from Amazon if you can't buy them fresh or canned locally. 3) Grow tomatillos yourself - they're incredibly easy to grow, and your climate should work really well. 4) Make the flautas w/ chicken, use crema and a salsa/ guac to dip. Really excellent.

Mary from Terry, MS

I sometimes fill them with scrambled eggs with diced onions and jalapenos instead of a meat. Serve with a big dollop of refried beans, sour cream or crema, and fresh pico de gallo.

Rose

Made this with my boyfriend, ended up being delicious and very fun to make. These would be very kid friendly, but if I was making it for children I might only add one serrano. We didn’t have toothpicks so we put four of them on a skewer at a time and just lowered them into the frying pan. Worked great. The recipe makes way more sauce than flautas, so plan on making something else with salsa verde soon.

Shelby

I absolutely love this and make it all the time! The sauce is amazing. The toothpicks placement was a little tricky the first time around, but trying it again made it easier. The warming up the tortillas in the microwave part is ESSENTIAL to getting a good wrap - don't skip that part!

AJ

Any suggestions for a vegetarian version - what would you sub for the chicken?

Mary from Terry, MS

I sometimes fill them with scrambled eggs with diced onions and jalapenos instead of a meat. Serve with a big dollop of refried beans, sour cream or crema, and fresh pico de gallo.

Andrea

I use black beans for my vegetarian daughter.

Madeline

Potatoes would be excellent

John Golden

I’m confused about the oil. First it says to fill a pan half inch of oil. Is that the 2 cups oil listed in recipe? And if you bake these instead do you omit part of step 3 and 4?

Wilford

Baked as directed in the note below—400 degrees for 30 minutes, flipping once—which made it easier to serve to guests as I was not tied to a hot skillet and filling the kitchen with oily plumes. Two notes: 1) broiling the vegetables under a low broil 15 minutes, flipping once, creates a deeper flavor profile; and 2) lightly brushing the flautas with a oil before baking ensured crispy shells. To improve: baking dried out the shredded chicken some, maybe some stock is needed for this variant.

KM

These were delicious; exceeded my expectations for home results and will become a regular basis for various takes in our house. They hold up against some of the best little places in Texas. I served with a few sauce varieties of things we usually make -- creamy jalapeno, guacamole, etc... and the tomatillo sauce with onions, cilantro, and crema mixed in beat them all, hands down.

MudrickKitchen

These were delicious! I wish the recipe advised exactly what temperature to fry them at as I think I went to high and they were a bit too crunchy. I did miss the note about baking these which I would try next time. Absolutely delicious though and will definitely be making again!

Theresa

These came out great via baking. Can't imagine deep frying them, ugh. Used flour tortillas as we like those better, didn't have to microwave. Used smoked chicken we had in the freezer, it was amazing.

Connie

How long did you bake?

Caroline

These were terrific. I have tried various other Mexican recipes with only mediocre results so was very pleased with the results here. Highly recommend it!

Laurie W.

Having grown up in El Paso where Chico's Tacos reigns, I decided to add two ripe tomatoes to the boiling water & added them in my blender. When cleaning my blender, I added 1/2 Tbsp tomato paste. The sauce was reminiscent of the combination of Chico's tomato sauce topped with tomatillo salsa. A recommendation for the sliced onions (from a Rick Bayless tip): Put the sliced onion in a bowl & top with boiling water for 30 secs. Then transfer to a bowl of iced water to take away the bitterness.

Meeka

From where can one get tomatillos in Sydney, Australia?!?!?!?! What might be a reasonable substitution?!?! As a Cali native who grew up on real REAL Mexican food, I’m DESPERATE to make this. Help!

Yogamom

@Meeka - A couple alternatives, if available: 1) Use canned tomatillos, if you can find down there, or the Herdez salsa verde mentioned below - specialty grocers might have them. They make a serviceable sauce. 2) Order canned tomatillos or the Herdez from Amazon if you can't buy them fresh or canned locally. 3) Grow tomatillos yourself - they're incredibly easy to grow, and your climate should work really well. 4) Make the flautas w/ chicken, use crema and a salsa/ guac to dip. Really excellent.

Erica H.

Delicious! I cheated and used a jar of Herdez salsa verde since I needed this to be extra easy and quick. Store didn't have cotija in stock, so I subbed with queso fresco. I threw in some of the queso fresco into the chicken mixture as well and added a packet of Sazon Goya to the shredded chicken, which gave a delicious boost to the chicken. The flautas cooked quickly, a little less than a minute per side in the hot oil. Yum! Our whole family enjoyed this! Great weeknight meal!

Linda

If you bake the floutas do you need to brush them with some cooking oil first?

Janis LW

You can just spray them with a bit of light olive oil! Probably other oils, to taste.

Wendy

I make this sauce regularly but I roast the vegetables instead of boiling them. I also change up the chiles, using whatever's available at the market... jalapeno, hungarian, etc. Roasting gives the sauce so much flavor!

Angela

I love the idea of roasting the tomatillos! Do you toss them in anything first?

Ellen

From a Rick Bayless recipe for Tomatilla Salsa: just brown them under the broiler, along with onions, garlic, etc and blend- great flavor.

Heidi

Can you bake these instead of frying?

Anne C.

"You can also bake these at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes, turning halfway, until dark-golden brown." tip from Lesley Tellez. I am also interesting in baking instead of frying.

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