One Pork Butt cooked on the grill and shredded, a chicken cooked and shredded or a roast cooked and shredded or ground meat…whatever meat you choose, homemade is the best!

To the meat add:

• 1 Onion, Diced
• 5 Garlic Cloves, Crushed
• 1 Green Bell Pepper, Diced small
• 1 Red Bell Pepper, Diced small
• 2 Carrots, Diced small
• 1 Tablespoon, Oregano
• 1 Tablespoon, Chile Powder
• 1 Tablespoon, Cumin
• The juice of one lime
• 1 Bunch of Cilantro, Chopped
• 1/2 Cup of Salsa, either fresh or your favorite in a can or jar
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• DIRECTIONS:   
• In a large bowl combine all the ingredients, mix, fill in each tortilla and roll.  Fry seam side down first in one half Cup of oil and turn to brown all sides.  Drain on a paper towel.

I have been making taquitos for years.  They are big and full and delicious when you make them at home.  The special times that stand out for me the most, have to be when we took them to the Rose Parade in Pasadena California to share with Dr. George and Shirley Halberian.  We would cook all night long, stuffing and rolling and frying so they would be ready when we woke up at the crack of dawn.  We needed to get up early in order to drive down to the Parade before they closed off the streets.  We started making them at home back in the early 80’s and in 1990 we went to the Parade for the last time before we moved to the east coast. 

Dr. George had an incredible motor home that he would park on Foothill Blvd.  They fixed the best Bloody Mary’s in the world and their motor home was not only welcoming and comfortable…but sooo nice and warm! Such wonderful memories, and like all exceptional times in our life, they usually revolve around food.  It wasn’t a memorable Rose Parade without taking taquitos to Shirley and Dr. George, who were the most loving and gracious hots ever.

 

Saying that the taquitos you make yourself will be outstanding, is such a huge understatement,  You just can’t get this goodness when you go out.  Not only are the ingredients fresh but you can make each one exactly the size you want without skimping.   Seriously fantastic.  Using either a  flour tortilla, or a corn tortilla and choose the meat you want to put inside.  Either beef or pork or chicken.

The outer tortilla is wonderfully crunchy and flaky while the inside is filled with as much juicy tender meat and spices that you want.  They are a bit messy to make because of frying, but so worth the mess.  If you can, make a double batch and freeze them, you will be pleasantly surprised how good they taste after they have been frozen.  All you need to do before serving is heat them up in the oven for 15 minutes at 350….no mess at all.

Mexican done our way…these taquitos are made with Pork.  I also cook chuck roast in the crock pot and when I’m in a rush, I will buy a rotisserie chicken and use the meat.  Whatever you decide to put inside will be a treat.

This Pork but was cooked all night on the grill until was fall apart tender and is my favorite filling…beef a close second and chicken third.  I just love taquitos!

Use a pressure cooker, a grill or a crockpot to cook whatever meat you decide on.

I think the main difference is that when you make them yourself, there is so much more meat in the taquitos, and the meat actually has flavor compared to what is available at the store, and fresh tortillas fried are insanely good.  What meat I decide to use, and how we make them, largely depends on how much time we have and what ingredients are already in the refrigerator.

This time my husband was in the mood to grill, so we used a pork butt.  Grilling a butt low and slow over night, gives the taquitos an over the top insanely good flavor.

The added flavor of smoke makes them taste amazing.

Start off, however you want to fill the inside by softening the corn tortillas, by flash frying them in oil for just a second on each side.  That makes them very soft and easy to fill, and roll up.

After your meat is cooked shred it up, add the ingredients and then roll in the tortillas.

Step by step directions:

Put a small amount of meat in the center of a softened tortilla and roll up.

Fry seam side down, in a small amount of oil.  Peanut Oil seems to work best for frying at high temperatures.

Drain on paper towels to remove any excess oil.  (Those two in the frying pan will be heading to that paper towel to the right. Got a little ahead of myself)

Serve with Guacamole, Pico de Gallo or Warm Cheese Dip.

Tonight I will serve them with refried beans, Spanish rice, pico and guacamole. 

If I’m serving them as appetizers, so I cut them in thirds and place them around a huge mound of guacamole on top of shredded ice berg lettuce.

They are good so many ways…shoot cold right out of the fridge they are amazing…which I have been known to do once or twice.

If there are any left over tortillas, I always cut them up and fry them for chips.  So light and crispy!

Remember to salt them as soon as they come out of the oil.

Taquitos may be messy to make because of the frying, but if you make a double batch and freeze half…when you take them out of the freezer, put them in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes at 350 and there is no mess at all.  I always like to cook double and freeze half.