This fried burrito recipe features tender chicken, onions, tomatoes, and cream cheese wrapped in a flour tortilla and fried to perfection. 100% kid-friendly!
Nothing hits the spot quite like a fried burrito stuffed with cheesy chicken. This recipe rivals your favorite taqueria and is so straightforward to prepare. If you’re a big fan of meal prepping, you can whip up a couple of batches, freeze some, and have burritos on hand for a rainy day.
Making this Easy Fried Burrito Recipe
This recipe doesn’t require any technique for wrapping the burrito. All you have to do? Roll them up and fry them!
- Prepare the Chicken: First, slice the chicken into small pieces and sauté them until fully-cooked with a little salt.
- Dice & Sauté the Veggies: Dice up the tomatoes and onions. Throw the onions into skillet and sauté them until they soften. Stir in the tomatoes and let the whole mixture come together for another 5 minutes. Remove the skillet from heat and allow the chicken to cool at room temperature.
- Add in the Cream Cheese: In a large bowl, add the softened cream cheese to the chicken and mix it in with your hands until well-combined.
- Assemble the Burritos: Place a couple of tablespoons of the chicken mixture into the center of the tortilla in a tube shape. Roll the tortilla up tightly like a taquito. Repeat until you run out of filling and tortillas.
- Fry the Burritos: Preheat the skillet with olive oil over medium-low heat. Fry the burritos until they turn crispy and golden brown. Enjoy with some sour cream!
Like it spicy? Add in chili powder to the filling to taste.
5 Tips for a Perfect Fried Burrito
A couple of handy tips will help you make restaurant-worthy deep fried burritos!
- Use uncooked flour tortillas. If you can, get your hands on raw, uncooked tortillas. They fry up super nicely and have a fresher taste.
- Don’t overstuff the burritos. Resist the urge to add too much filling to the burritos – about 2-3 tablespoons of filling is more than enough. If they are packed too fully, they will open up and make a mess of your frying oil.
- Place the burritos in the oil seam side down. Place the burritos seam side down in the frying pan to prevent them from opening up in the oil.
- Fry the burritos in batches. Avoid overcrowding the burritos in the fryer oil, or they won’t get crispy and they’ll stick together. Fry about 2 at a time to air on the safe side.
- Let the burritos rest on a paper towels. Transfer the burritos to a plate lined with paper towels to rid them of any excess oil before serving.
Want to set it and forget it? Whip up a batch of Mexican Crock Pot chicken for the filling instead.
Different Fillings to Try
Love burritos? Here’s a couple different fillings to experiment with.
- Vegetarian – Black beans or refried beans, cumin, roasted vegetables, and cheddar cheese
- Shredded Pork – The shredded pork from our Cuban pork sandwich recipe and cheddar cheese
- Tex-Mex – Chicken, green chilis, black beans, and sautéed bell pepper
- Beef – Ground beef (drained of excess grease), jalapenos, and cheddar cheese
Ways to Serve a Fried Burrito
These crispy chicken burritos can be served as an appetizer for your next family party or movie night. Assemble them on a platter with sour cream, salsa, and guacamole for dipping! If you’re serving them for dinner, top them with fresh avocado and sour cream and pair them with a side of cilantro lime rice and black bean and corn salsa.
Storing, Freezing, & Reheating
These burritos are great for batch cooking and freezing. Below, find all the tips and tricks you need to know.
- Storing: While these burritos are best eaten fresh out of the fryer oil, you can store the leftovers for 2-3 days. To keep them as fresh as possible, store them in an airtight container in the fridge.
- Freezing: To freeze the burritos, place them in a single layer on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper raw. Next, pop them in the freezer uncovered. Once completely frozen, transfer them to a freezer-safe bag for up to 3 months.
- Reheating: To reheat the burritos, pop them in the oven or the air fryer until crispy and warmed through. Avoid microwaving them, as they are prone to turning limp and soggy. To cook frozen burritos, drop them directly into the fryer oil (they’ll take a bit longer than raw burritos).
FAQ
Where can you find uncooked tortillas?
You can find uncooked tortillas at Costco and most grocery stores in the refrigerated or freezer aisle.
What kind of chicken should you use?
Boneless, skinless chicken thighs work best, but you can also use chicken breast.
What is the difference between a burrito and a chimichanga?
A burrito consists of filling wrapped up in a warm tortilla, while a chimichanga is a deep-fried burrito.
Can you fry these burritos from frozen?
Yes! These burritos are great for freezing and can be fried straight from frozen.
Can you cook these burritos in an air fryer instead?
You can definitely use an air fryer to make these fried burritos. To do so, spray them with cooking spray before adding them to the air fryer basket. Make sure to give them an inch of space in between one another to prevent them from sticking.
More Tasty Mexican-Inspired Dishes
- Breakfast Quesadillas (Only 5 Ingredients) – Kid-friendly egg and cheese quesadillas
- Easy Breakfast Burrito Recipe – Ham, egg, and cheese burritos
- Easy Chicken Fajitas Recipe – Chicken and veggies stir fry
- Carne Asada Street Tacos – Steak tacos
Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 lbs boneless chicken
- 1 tsp salt to taste
- 1 tbsp light olive oil for frying
- 1 large onion
- 2 medium tomatoes
- 12 oz cream cheese softened at room temperature
- 10 raw tortillas
Instructions
- Slice the chicken into 2-inch pieces.
- Preheat a skillet with a little bit of olive oil over medium-heat. Add the chicken into the skillet. Season it with some salt and sauté it until fully-cooked.
- Dice the tomatoes and onions into small pieces. Add the onions into the skillet and sauté them until they begin to soften and turn translucent. Next, add in the tomatoes and sauté the chicken for another 5 minutes. Remove the skillet from heat and let the chicken cool at room temperature.
- Add the softened cream cheese to the chicken and work it in with your hands, breaking the larger pieces of chicken apart as you go.
- Place a few tablespoons of chicken into the middle of a tortilla, forming a little tube out of the filling.
- Roll up the tortillas tightly and stack them them on a baking dish together.
- Preheat the skillet with 1/2 cup of light olive oil over medium-low heat. Fry two burritos at a time until they are crispy and golden brown on the outside.
- Serve the burritos immediately with a side of sour cream for dipping. Enjoy!
I first discovered this recipe many years back and I loved it so much I'm revisiting it again today! Taco Time's crisp chicken burrito is one of my favorites and this is the closest thing to it. This has been one of my long-time favorite recipes for many years as a beginner in cooking, so I appreciate you for providing this gem!
Hey Ann, Crisp Chicken Burrito is all my time favorite thing on their menu. So happy that you enjoyed it as well. Thank you for sharing this.
Would sour cream work instead of cream cheese cause one of my kids hate cream cheese
Hi Barbara- I haven't tried using sour cream as a substitute, so I'm not sure. I feel like it would make the consistency a lot thinner. If you give it a try, let us know how it works out!
Natalya, I just noticed you're the same person who turned me on to that salad dressing they serve at the Teriyaki joints around Seattle and the rest of the NW after I spent years looking for it.
Lol I used to work at that taco restaurant too when I was a kid and I make the crisp chicken burrito at home quite often. I used to cook the chicken when I worked there too. The burrito I make also tastes exactly like they make it. Their chicken was simple. They just cooked chunks of chicken breast in oil and then seasoned it lightly when it was just about done with their seasoning salt that they also used on their mexi fries. That seasoning salt tasted a lot like Lawry's seasoning salt so I use that. They also used equal amounts green chilies, diced onion and their own salsa. I use a can of drained Rotel, which is green chilies and diced tomato, and I dice my own onion. That all gets added to the chicken after it is cooked and seasoned, and cooked for one more minute with that mixture. Rotel and your own diced onion tastes exactly like their chicken mixture and it's easy to get. Then let the cooked chicken sit in the fridge overnight and then mix the cream cheese into it the next day, then roll some of that mixture up into a flour tortilla and deep fry it like a chimichanga. Their "sour cream" is also just sour cream and ranch, but not just any ranch. The best combo I've found is a good sour cream like Darigold Mexican style mixed with Ken's buttermilk ranch dressing in a 2:1 ratio. That tastes just like their sour cream that they put on everything and use as a dip too. If you deep fry some tater tots and season them with Lawry's and eat them with this crisp chicken burrito and a side of this sour cream, you'll have an identical clone combo. If you like their chicken soft taco this chicken, without the cream cheese, plus this sour cream can be used to make a clone of that, too. I only wish I could make their taco beef for the crispy beef burrito. I mean you can make a crispy beef burrito all day, sure, but not like the one they make. All I know is they used fresh lean ground beef and added some proprietary seasoning that they had in large packets, and then mixed that beef, once cold, with grated cheddar cheese. Thanks for posting this.
I sometimes use ranch as the sauce w/ chicken and every time I use this recipe it turns out perfect!! Thanks
I made them using cooked Tortila. I also added sarachia sauce for the adults.
Thanks
We use to use cooked tortillas at the restaurant too. Sarachia sauce sounds like a good addition to them.
I also worked at that restaurant when I was a teenager. I would roll those burritos up every morning. The original ones have green chillies in it. Try mixing a small can of green chillies into the cream cheese (find them in the Mexican aisle in your store). They taste exactly like the one in the restaurant.
Hi Vera, it has been so long that I may have missed that one. Thanks for the tip. Does it make burritos spicy?
No not at all
Oh ok, I will check them out. Trying to keep those burritos kid friendly 😉
Way back in high school I used to work at that restaurant too 😉 Thanks for recipe!! I will try this week for sure, my kids really like these from there. And I like the idea of freezing extra.
Hey Nella! So cool, we have something in common 😉 I hope you love them!
I use egg roll wrap and fold them as I would блинчики , sides in as well. Yammmm. Can't wait to try this way also 🙂
We love egg roll wraps, affordable and ready for any filling. I like your idea.
Thanks for the recipe, i used left over rotisserie chicken instead, and it turned out very good. My kids loved them even the picky once. thanks!!!!!
That's a great idea.
Hey Elena, thats a perfect way to use left over chicken! I know you mean about picky kids, mine have been very picky lately.
these are sooooo delish... I couldn't find the uncooked ones so I just used regular and they still came out tasty.. thanx for sharing
That's great that you guys loved them. The restaurant also used cooked tortillas so you prepared them just they way they should be 😉
Have you tried canned chicken for this recipe?
No, I haven't. I dont think they taste would be the same. Might still taste good though 🙂
I tried it with canned chicken and cream cheese only and it was really good. I will definitely try another batch with your ingredients. Thank you for sharing this recipe!
Thank you for letting me know. Next time I am in the hurry this will be great option 😉
This looks so good!! did you use chicken thigh or chicken breast?
I used boneless chicken thigh but at the restaurant they used breast, either one would work great.
If i decide to freeze them, is it best to freeze them fully cooked, or roll in uncooked tortillas and freeze at that point
(omitting the frying step) thank you!
Omit the frying step if you plan on freezing them. This way you can have them prepared fresh.
Where can I buy uncooked tortillas? I think I have only seen cooked ones.
Hey Olga, They are sold in Costco and Winco in a refrigerator. You can also use corn or cooked flour tortillas in this recipe.
Found them 🙂 took me a while though... seems like Costco is the only one that sells them. At least here in Minnesota.. will be making them tonight 🙂
Look at target and walmart
these look very much like flautas, but for the wheat tortillas
Yes, very true. I guess everyone has a bit of a different name for them.