September 25, 2019
Vegan Chick’n Flautas Ahogadas
Hello, Friends!!!
It has been way too long since I’ve posted a recipe to the blog, but as promised, we are back to our regular weekly postings, and I am so excited to finish this year off with all the recipes you’ve been asking for!
First up, my version of vegan flautas ahogadas. Ya’ll have been patiently waiting for this and I am so excited to finally be posting it!
As many of you know, my wife Ashlee and I live in a city that is deeply rooted in Hispanic culture and cuisine, so this recipe is especially dear to us. While my version of Flautas is not necessarily “traditional”, it’s an ode to my love of Mexican cuisine, and a fun twist on the classic recipe – like my vegan tortilla soup and vegan elotes!
Grab a drink and let’s get to cooking vegan flautas!
Now, I know there’s a lot of debate on whether “rolled tacos” are called Taquitos or Flautas. I used to think Taquitos were made with corn tortillas, and Flautas were made with flour tortillas. Contrary to my belief, that’s not the case at all. After some research, I learned that the word, taquito traslates to “small taco”, and flauta traslates to “flute”, so technically, you can call these little babies a taquito or a flauta, regardless of the tortilla you use – although I believe corn tortillas are generally used in most recipes.
Flautas Ahogadas roughly translates to “drowned flutes”, and that is exactly what we are making today! Our vegan flautas are served in tomatillo verde sauce (similar to the sauce we make as the base for our Pozole Verde), slathered with vegan crema, and topped with an array of garnishes such as cilantro and red onion. The idea for flautas ahogadas is to slather each bite with our delicous sauce as you eat them.
Are you drooling yet?! I know I am.
Contrary to traditional corn tortillas, I used flour because they’re easier to roll and I think they are so tasty when fried to perfection!
I hope you all love my vegan flautas ahogadas as much as we do! If you give these a try, make sure to snap a photo and tag us on Instagram at @eat_figs_not_pigs. I absolutely love seeing your recreations of our recipes!
Until next time, friends!
XOXO!
- 1 LB tomatillos, quartered
- 1 large white onion, quartered
- 1 Anaheim pepper, cut in half
- 1 jalapeno pepper, seeds removed and cut in half
- 5 cloves garlic, peeled
- 2 TBS avocado oil
- 2 tsp Kosher salt
- 1 tsp fresh ground black pepper
- ½ cup vegan sour cream
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 2 tsp fresh lemon juice
- Salt, to taste
- 1 avocado
- ½ cup vegan sour cream
- ½ cup fresh cilantro
- 1-2 cloves fresh garic
- 2-4 TBS non-dairy milk
- Juice of 1 lemon
- Salt, to taste
- 1 (about 10.5 oz) bag of vegan chick'n strips
- 1 TBS avocado oil
- 1 tsp each - ground cumin, mexican oregano, kosher salt, and chipotle chile powder
- ½ tsp smoked paprika
- 12 flour tortillas
- ¾ cup vegan cheddar shreds
- ½ cup vegan mozzarella shreds
- Vegetable oil, for frying
- Toothpicks, for securing flautas
- Chopped Cilantro, for garnish
- Diced red onion, for garnish
- Thinly sliced romaine lettuce, for garnish
- Chopped tomatoes, for garnish
- Preheat oven to a medium or high broil
- Place tomatillos, garlic, pasilla pepper, onion, and jalapeno in a large bowl. Toss with 2 teaspoons avocado oil, ensuring all the tomatillos and vegetables are lightly coated with oil. Place in a single layer on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Broil in the middle rack of the oven until the vegetables are soft and slightly charred, about 17-20 minutes. Remove and set aside to cool, about 15-20 minutes.
- Once cool, add all the ingredients to a high speed blender and blend until smooth. Trasfer sauce to a medium saucepan and simmer on low heat, stirring often, about 10 minutes. Taste and adjust seasonings. Cover and keep warm.
- In a smal mixing bowl, whisk ingredients until well combined. If it seems too thick, add a bit of non-dairy milk until you reach desired consistency. Asjust seasonings. Set aside.
- Add avocado, sour cream, cilantro, garlic, 2 tablespoons non-dairy milk, and lemon juice to a food processor or blender. Blend until smooth, Taste and adjust seasonings, adding a pinch of salt and more non-dairy milk one tablespoon at a time until you reached your deisred taste and consistency. Set aside.
- In a pan on medium heat, add avocado oil and vegan chick'n strips. Season the strips with cumin, oregano, salt, chipotle powder, and smoked paprika.
- Using the back of a wooden spoon, break up the strips once they are warmed through, and continue to cook them according to package directions.
- Transfer seasoned chick'n to a large bowl with cheddar and mozzarella shreds, mixing to thoroughy combine the chick'n with the cheese.
- Meanwhile, heat about a ½" inch vegetable oil in a large heavy skillet over medium-high heat.
- Working with one tortilla at a time, add about 3 tablespoons of the chick'n and cheese mixture in a line down the center of the tortilla.
- Roll tightly and secure crosswise with toothpicks.
- Once you've rolled all your tortillas, transfer them to the hot oil gently with tongs and fry them seam side down, about 5-6 minutes, flipping halfway through. Transfer flautas to a paper towel lined plate, remove toothpicks, and repeat until all the flautas are fried.
- To serve, add about ½ cup of tomatillo sauce to a shallow bowl. Gently place flautas on top of the sauce and drizzle with each of the cremas. Top with cilantro, red onion, lettuce, and tomatoes and serve immediately.
- ENJOY!
I made these for a dinner party with my non-vegan friend. She said she couldn’t even tell they were vegan they were that good. I love all of the eat figs recipes and not one has steered me wrong. It might seem extra but both sauces really add to the dish.
Yay! Always love hearing when non-vegans like my recipes as well!! Thank you for always trusting me for your dinner parties ????
Thank you for sharing. We made the other night. They were fabulous. The daiya cutting board line of cheddar and mozzarella shreds made it so creamy.
Made these tonight and they were fantastic. I will be sharing this one and making more soon!
This recipe is SO insane!! I used impossible meat instead of chick’n for the filling (that’s just what I had on hand), and I added a layer of refried black beans… SO good!! This is going to be a go to for me for sure, I think you could change up the fillings and do lots of versions! I made it for my non vegan boyfriend and he LOVED it too! Thank you for sharing the recipe!! ????????
Thanks so much Dakota! I cannot wait to try this recipe with Impossible meat once I’m able to get my hands on it — such a great idea!!
Made this recipe once, and it was bomb. But I make the sauces with all the time because they are so good with any type of Mexican style dish! I had some questions when making these, and was able to message Ashley on Instagram and she helped me right away!
My husband said that if we weren’t already married, after eating these he’d propose. Five stars!