Beef flautas, how to make the best
When I lived in Iowa City, a fellow homesick Texan was tired of the lack of good food, so he opened a Mexican restaurant called La Perlita. The name means little pearl in Spanish and this small restaurant was indeed a gem. The salsas were fiery and bright, the refried beans had depth and flavor, and the tortillas were patted out by hand. But I have to say my favorite dish on menu were the freshly fried flautas.
Not familiar with flautas? Perhaps you know them by another term: some refer to them as taquitos and in parts of Mexico they’re often called tacos dorados. But the basic premise is the same—it’s a rolled taco that’s been fried.
Flauta (which means flute in Spanish) is what I grew up calling them, so I was a bit flummoxed by the variation in names. When I asked my non-Texan friends, they insisted that it was a flauta if it was made with flour tortillas, a taquito if it was made with corn. I have to disagree as I’d never even had flour tortilla flautas (though I don’t doubt their existence). And the Mexican street-food vendors here all sell tacos dorados, but they look just like flautas to me.
No matter what you call them, however, the key to a good flauta is that it needs to be fresh. Often you’ll find pre-fried ones, where a dull tortilla surrounds a cold, lifeless filling. Would you eat a cold nacho? Would you eat a cold enchilada? Of course not! So I don’t understand why people insist on serving old food—you can’t doll it up no matter how much lettuce, cheese or salsa you pile on top of it.
But a fresh flauta? Now that’s a thing of wonder! The tortilla snaps, the filling is alive and no adornment is necessary—though a drizzle of hot sauce is certainly welcome.
Making these is not difficult—as long as you’re brave when confronted with a skillet that is hissing and popping with hot fat. (I wear long sleeves and oven mitts to keep myself safe.) But because of your fearlessness you will be rewarded with the best flautas you’ve ever had. Actually, that’s not exactly true—I still think that the best flautas were those served to me at La Perlita, by a fellow Texan who knew how to make those needing a respite from the cold feel welcome and warm.
I’m curious—what do you call these? And am I wrong—is there indeed a difference between flauta, taquitom and tacos dorados? Please let us know!
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Beef flautas
Ingredients
- 2 pounds chuck roast, cut into 4-inch chunks
- 1 tablespoon bacon grease or canola oil
- 1 medium Spanish onion, quartered
- 5 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1 pound tomatillos, husked and quartered
- 2-4 jalapenos, seeded and diced
- 1 cup chopped cilantro
- 2 tablespoons ground cumin
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon black pepper
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
- 12 corn tortillas
- Oil, for frying
- Salsa, cilantro, diced onions, and sour cream for garnishing
Instructions
- Brown the cubed beef in the fat on medium heat in a large Dutch oven or pot (may have to do in batches). Add the onions, garlic, tomatillos, jalapenos, cumin, 1/2 cup of the chopped cilantro, 4 cups of water, salt, and pepper.
- Bring to a boil and then lower to a simmer uncovered for 2 hours until meat is tender. Remove beef from the pot, shred it and then toss it with the 2 tablespoons pan juices, the lime juice, then taste and adjust seasonings.
- Wrap the tortillas in foil, and heat in a 350° F oven for 10 minutes or until soft. Take each warmed tortilla and place 2 tablespoons of the shredded beef into it and roll tightly.
- Heat 1 1/2 inches of canola oil in a large iron skillet and when oil is 350° F (or hot but not smoking), gently place 3 flautas into oil, seam side down, and cook on each side until crisp, 45 seconds per side. (If you don't have a thermometer, you can stick a wooden spoon into the oil and if it bubbles around it, the oil should be hot enough.)
- Serve immediately with salsa, chopped cilantro, onion and sour cream.
I’m a Texan living in Mexico, and I’ve never heard of a flauta made with a flour tortilla. Down here (CDMX), the main difference between tacos dorados and flautas is the size. Flautas are generally made with bigger tortillas, and there’s also a wider range of fillings for flautas (e.g. cheese, mashed potatoes with chorizo) vs tacos dorados which are usually chicken.
CF–That makes sense that flautas wouldn’t be made with flour tortillas in CDMX! That seems like a very Tex-Mex variation.
Thanks for this recipe! I desperately miss Ninfa’s delicious flautas and these might help fill that void. To me, flautas are the rolled/fried tacos in this recipe; taquitos come in a Delimex box from the grocer’s freezer section. If they’re made with flour tortillas they’re chimichangas. There is a fabulous Tex-Mex restaurant here in NE OH that makes flautas with flour tortillas though…. I haven’t tried them; wouldn’t that be like eating enchiladas made with flour tortillas? Blasphemous!
Peggy-I imagine that using flour tortillas would indeed be blasphemous like eating enchiladas with flour tortillas, though I’m sure it would also be tasty. Though perhaps if the you call them chimichangas as Dellmex does, then there’s no blasphemy involved!
Can I deep fry them in my fryer? Can you then put them in a low oven to keep warm while you make additional batches?
Judith–Yes, you can deep fry them in a fryer and keep them in a low oven until ready to eat.
Could you make the meat in a slow cooker?
Kelsey–Yes, I would do it on low for 6 hours.
Glad to see you’re still online, sharing recipes, and back in Texas. I think I first found your website between 2005-2010 when you were still in NYC. And yes, they will always be flautas to me because that’s what they were called at Pancho’s Mexican Buffet. 🚩
Jason–You’re a longtime reader! Thanks for dropping by and I agree, they’ll always be flautas to me, too!