Crispy Southwest Chicken Wraps
These southwest crispy chicken wraps are delicious, easy to make, and so versatile! It’s no surprise they’ve been on our steady meal rotation for many years!
Considering these southwest crispy chicken wraps have been pinned nearly 2 million times (!!), I’d say the recipe is definitely worthy of your attention.
Well, actually, can I take that back?
I can give several pretty riveting personal testimonials about how recipes that have been pinned millions of times turned out with disastrous results for me.
Talk about a bad mood inducer.
So while hopefully we can agree that Pinterest alone may not be our best parameter for judging a successful outcome, I promise that in this case, these crispy chicken wraps really do live up to their pinned fame.
You can read hundreds of comments below if you don’t believe me.
Taken after the model of these delicious wraps, I threw these together for dinner one night nearly three years ago in a frantic attempt to feed my hungry family and use ingredients I already had on hand.
And the result was such a smashing success that we’ve continued to enjoy this recipe at least monthly since.
That’s saying a lot coming from the girl who doesn’t repeat many meals.
These crispy chicken wraps have been a staple this summer, in particular.
Thanks to the insane craziness that has been summer thus far (kind of funny since I think we “go” less than most people, but man, I feel busy), I’ve been calling on all my favorite quick and easy meals to save us.
At least once a week since June, we’ve made some variation of these wraps for dinner.
And by we, I mean my kids. Bless them.
They have become quite proficient at throwing together ingredients in the fridge for any number of crispy wrap variations.
Most super delicious, at least one slightly questionable, and all of them eaten with an open mind and heart (better that than going hungry).
Great for an on the go dinner, these crispy southwest chicken wraps can be made in less than 30 minutes, and they are infinitely adaptable.
No cooked chicken on hand? Make ’em meatless.
Forgot to cook or save leftover rice? Leave it out (less carbs that way anyway!) or use cooked quinoa (yum!).
Not a fan of cumin, cheese, black beans, bell peppers, life, humanity and food in general?
Well, by all means, make your own filling with whatever you have on hand and with whatever flavors tickle your fancy.
You really can’t go wrong here.
Um, actually, I should never use that as a disclaimer. I have a feeling I’ll get a comment saying I basically endorsed using marinated seaweed and bananas and for some reason the crispy wrap turned out soggy and nasty.
So use the versatility option with a little common sense and caution, ok?
If you haven’t let these crispy southwest chicken wraps be part of your life, what are you waiting for?
What to Serve With This
- Fresh seasonal fruit and vegetables
- Mexican Corn and Tomato Salad
Crispy Southwest Chicken Wraps
Ingredients
- 1 cup cooked rice, warm or at room temperature
- ½ tablespoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon garlic salt or garlic powder
- 1-2 cups cooked, shredded chicken (or other leftover meat, like shredded pork or beef)
- 1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 green onion, finely sliced (white and green parts)
- ½ red or green bell pepper, diced
- ¼ cup fresh cilantro, chopped
- Juice of 1 lime, about a tablespoon
- 2 cups shredded cheese, I use a combination of Monterey jack and sharp cheddar
- Sour cream, optional
- 6 burrito-sized flour tortillas
- Nonstick cooking spray
- Optional toppings:, sour cream, salsa, etc.
Instructions
- In a large bowl, add the rice, chili powder, cumin and garlic salt (or garlic powder). Stir to combine.
- To the bowl, add the chicken, black beans, green onions, bell peppers, cilantro, and lime juice. Mix. Add salt and pepper to taste, if needed.
- Sprinkle cheese over tortillas, leaving 1/2-inch border around edges, then arrange chicken and rice mixture down the center of each tortilla.
- Optional: I like to dollop little spoonfuls of sour cream over the cheese before arranging chicken and rice mixture down the center – it makes the wraps delightfully creamy.
- Fold one side of the tortilla over the filling, followed by the other side. Press lightly to flatten.
- Heat a large non-stick skillet (or griddle) over medium heat for 1 minute (about 350 degrees on my electric griddle).
- Spray seam side of wraps with nonstick cooking spray. Arrange wraps, seam-side down (cooking this side first will help them not fall apart), in the pan or griddle and cook until golden brown and crisp, about 2-4 minutes.
- Spray the top with nonstick cooking spray and flip. Cook for another 2-4 minutes until golden and the filling is hot.
- Serve with sour cream, salsa, or other toppings of your choice!
Notes
Recommended Products
Recipe Source: original recipe from Mel’s Kitchen Cafe
Recipe originally published Sept 2009, updated with new pictures, recipe notes, etc.
Family favorite!!
We made this with leftover ground beef, and my husband said, “please save this recipe!”. We loved it!
These were good. I heated the tortillas first before assembling them though.
Love these! I’m wondering if I can assemble, freeze and then bake them? I’m taking these on a ski trip but want to avoid heating one at a time.
Yes! These freeze great after they are assembled.
ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS! INSTEAD OF ALL THE SPICES THOUGH I JUST USE TACO SEASONING THAT I HOME MAKE. AND WE DIP OUR BURRITOS INSTEAD OF PUTTING SOUR CREAM IN IT. THIS LAST TIME I MADE IT I ALSO MADE GUACAMOLE TO USE AS A DIP. MAN SOOOOOOOOO DELISH!
I just made these tonight for dinner, with my own adjustments of course, and they were delicious! Thank you so much – I don’t like burritos generally, but I loved them crisped up like this. I used cilantro-lime rice inside my mixture also, kind of like Qdoba’s rice – so yummy!
This meal is SO delicious! I can’t believe I never thought to make burritos quesadilla style. So delicious. I doubled the recipe, and at first I was bugged I had made so much, but then I realized I could freeze the filling and use it for the rest of the month!! I am a HUGE fan of your recipes. They are always easy for a busy momma, and turn out great!
I always triple batch this recipe and freeze it in two and three serving amounts. I get about 18 wraps out of it and, as long as I have tortillas, sour cream, and cheese on hand, it’s a quick and easy meal to throw together at the last minute. I love that it’s so flavourful and is salt free (I use a generous amount of garlic powder instead of garlic salt). Also, I skip the cooking spray.
Thank you for such a great recipe!
Made these this week and everyone loved them!! These are excellent!
Delicious!!!
I love this recipe! So good, pretty easy and super delicious. I’m a huge fan of your blog and appreciate your recipes and the time you spend on this!
Thank you!
I’ve made something similar to these for years, but I’d just wing it without a recipe (always edible but never a hit). Made these last night and everyone loved loved loved them! Thank you!!
This has long been a favorite of ours! I haven’t made it in a couple years, so thanks for the reminder. I always add a lot more bell pepper and green onions (love the crisp texture they add). I either make it meatless or with rotisserie chicken. Such a great recipe!
Delicious, simple and a great way to use leftover rotisserie chicken – I loved this! Also love that you can add in or take things out depending on what you have on hand.
Mel, I made these a few nights ago pretty much according to the recipe. My husband and I LOVED them so the wraps will definitely become a part of our meal rotation. I left out the cilantro because I didn’t have any in the house but they were still tasty and wonderful. And so easy!
Thank you for posting this wonderful wrap recipe. I have shared the recipe link with friends too. The rest of the world should know about your blog and these wraps!
🙂 Thanks, Roxie!
First, thank you, Mel, for sharing this (and all of your other amazing recipes)! This was absolutely delicious and I can see it becoming a family staple meal as it’s so easy, yummy, quick, and versatile. Second, I did as your note suggested and doubled the batch, and froze the extras; this is likely a silly question, but how are your reheating your frozen wraps? Microwave? Oven? Thawing first? I tried reheating one in the microwave today and by the time I got it hot all the way through, the edges of the tortilla were tough and the ends of the wrap were boiling while the middle was luke warm. Suggestions? Thanks in advance! Life is Good 🙂
Hi Ellen! Great question. I usually cut the wraps in half before freezing since this helps to reheat evenly. If I’ve forgotten to do that, I reheat for one minute on 50% power in the microwave and then cut in half to reheat the rest of the way (usually 2-3 minutes at 50 or 75% power). Does that help?
Yes! Thanks so much. I’ll try that next time. Have a great day! Life is Good 🙂
Yum, made these tonight and they were delicious. We usually just have quesidillas and I thought about just doing that but am so glad I made them crispy wraps instead. My husband said “how come we hven’t had these before? I told him because I just found the recipe, lol. I did use refried beans and serranos instead of black beans and bell pepper because that’s what we had. Like I said yum! Planning on making these and a selection of your other recipes for my niece when she has her baby. Thanks again, Mel!
Thanks, Lori – refried beans sound delish in these! So happy you loved them!
One of our favorites! I find it a bit labor intensive with all the chopping, so I make this in bulk and get it over with. I freeze the filling without the cheese in a freezer bag and usually make quesadillas with it. Same thing, different shape. Just add the cheese when you are ready to cook. Thanks, Mel for a fantastic and quick meal! (I have also frozen them wrapped in burritos. Then you just thaw and grill.)
My husband and I have been in the thick of home improvement projects at his parents’ house. I don’t think we have been to the grocery store in a month. Last night I offered up grilled cheese, scrambled eggs or avocado toast as our dinner options and then I saw these. You were the inspiration for crispy breakfast burritos (scrambled eggs, cojita cheese, green peppers, shredded potatoes and black beans) for dinner. My husband was ohhing and awwing with every bite. Thanks once again for making me look like a rock star when groceries supplies are lean, time is short and I am too tired to be gourmet.
Whoa. Mind blown with the breakfast burritos version. Yum.
Not a fan of life, humanity, and food in general. Yep, that is me this week. 38 weeks pregnant and ready to kill a man. Sounds like this is exactly what I should make. Hahahaha! Thanks for reminding me of this one, Mel
38 weeks pregnant. Bless you, my friend! Hang in there.
2 million can’t be wrong! Trying these this weekend! Thanks Mel…w love ya!
Thanks, Jill! 🙂
This is a family favorite! I keep a batch of the “burrito seasoning” in my spice drawer, so I can whip it out and use it on everything. I’m using it tonight on a Mel-inspired chicken and bean dish 🙂
That’s brilliant, Sheree!
We love these wraps! I freeze them and then toast them as needed. A great quickie meal or snack!
These are on my monthly rotation for taco Tuesday. In fact I just made them last night! They are a family favorite every time! To be honest I’m always surprised since one of my kids doesn’t like his food mixed- think casserole, but he always asks for seconds. Thanks Mel!
This is one of my family’s favorites! We have been making it since you first posted it way back. My daughter went to college last year and also made these quite a bit–she froze the extras and then had them whenever she needed them. Worked great for her. She heard you present at BYU and loved ya. We all LOVE them! When my kid see them on the menu, they always cheer!
What a great college meal! We do the same…freeze the cooked wraps and they reheat so wonderfully for a quick lunch/dinner.
Marinated seaweed and bananas…It’s probably a smoothie flavor. 😀
Anyhow- this recipe sounds like a fabulous solution. Thanks for sharing. I’ll print it out and add to my Mel’s Kitchen Cafe recipe binder… (true story) I love your recipes so much and I never have any issues with them turning out. Your recipes are one of few I know I can get amazing results first time outta the gates. 100% confidence… Badda boom, badda bing.. ok- I need a second cuppa coffee. 😀
Haha, you make me smile. 🙂
This is easily one of our family’s favorite Mel recipes. My carb-less husband eats the filling without the wrap!
I like eating the filling without the tortilla, too! Of course, I smother it with cheese to make it extra special.
These look quick and easy. Nice to have this type of recipe. Thanks!!
Thanks, Charlotte!
Oops, forgot to rate this one. Definitely a 5.
Glad to see one of my family’s favorite recipes earn today’s spotlight. So easy and adaptable. The filling is also good in a bowl, topped with cheese, sour cream and, my favorite, sliced avocado! Yumm!
Yum, yum!
These are one of our favorites that we make often, too. I love that the filling can sit in the fridge to make fresh wraps for lunch the next day! Sooo yummy! The crispy tortilla with flavorful filling is out of control amazing. Thanks Mel!
I know, the crispiness just totally gets me.
Love all of your recipes Mel! A few times you mention omitting the green chiles yet I don’t see green chiles on the ingredient list?
Good catch, Karen! You can tell I’ve made these countless times over the years; I think I added that in the notes because so often I DO make them with green chiles. I’ll edit the post to be more clear. 🙂
Excellent and filling meal. I used sweet onions since I didn’t have green onions and they still tasted great! I would definitely make again!
This is on,our rotation all year thank you!
These are full of flavor!
I’m wondering what kind of rice you used?
You can use white or brown rice.
My husband and I love Tex-Mex, but our three picky eaters…not so much. However, everyone in my house loves this recipe! I do a happy dance anytime this happens. 🙂
I created a spreadsheet a few years ago to help me with meal planning, and have been updating it with every new recipe we try and like. It now contains around 90 meals, each categorized by main ingredient (Beef, Chicken, pasta, etc) and meal type (Mexican, Italian, American, etc), with a link to the recipe – yours included! It has saved me so much time with meal planning and making out my grocery list!
After talking with some friends, I thought this spreadsheet might be something worth sharing, so I have made it available from my blog to download for free! Now that my readers have your recipe, I’m sure they will be enjoying it as much as we do!
Hi! My name is Jessica and I am starting up a meal planning blog. This blog will be compiled throughout all of 2017 and will launch in 2018. My purpose will be to help families learn to meal plan by giving convenient, easy, and inexpensive plans, already laid out for each day. This will not be a recipe blog because to be honest, I’m not that good of a cook. Lol. I just see things I like and can put them in meals well.
Often I have made your Crispy Southwest Chicken Wraps and they are absolutely stellar! I was wondering if I could have permission to include this in my blog, along with 1 photo? You would have full credit, and I would only post a link to the recipe, which would take them directly to your site. I would not suggest any changes as I felt it was absolutely perfect as is.
Thank you for your consideration,
Jessica
Hi Jessica – as long as there is a link back to my blog for the full recipe, that sounds fine. Good luck!
Great recipe. I double it and use guac and refried beans and no green pepper. Also reheats perfect even 3 days later.
These are fantastic! I freeze them and send them with my daughter to college. She thaws and then puts in a pan to warm/toast and loves them!
Thanks for that comment! I’m trying to come up with a list of freezer meals to make for after I have my baby. I’ve made these before and think they’re great, but wasn’t sure how well they would work for a freezer meal. Now I won’t be afraid to try it. 🙂
I made these with leftover pot roast last night. Doubling the recipe was not enough. So delicious and disappeared very quickly!
These chicken wraps are the absolute BEST. I came across this recipie quite some time ago, and its since become one of my absolute favorites. The flavor is CRAZY, and if you happen to have left over and don’t want to make another wrap…you can turn the mix into soup….I just add some chicken broth and mabey a small tin of diced tomatoes or Rotel. Dollop of sour cream and OH YEAH!! Thanks Mel!!!!!
Thanks for the idea!
We LOVE these! They’re so easy, and they please everyone! Last week I made extra so I could try freezing them…I wrapped them individually in parchment paper and put them in a big ziplock. Took them out last night, put them on a pan, popped them in the oven for about 25 min–perfect!!! Tasted like I had just made them. Thought I’d share!
I’ve made these before and my kids all loved them! Tonight I had left over shredded pork I didn’t know what to do with and was searching through your recipes to get ideas, there was my answer: “1 cup cooked, shredded chicken (or other leftover meat, like shredded pork or beef)” MKC saved dinner once again! I didn’t even have lime or cilantro this time (which I LOVE) but they still turned out yummy. Thanks!
Made these last night. I made brown rice with some shredded zucchini mixed in, roasted a Poblano pepper and chopped it up with 3 fresh serranos; used some diced rotisserie chicken breast, black beans, reduced fat white cheddar (Trader Joe’s), and stuffed into freshly made w/w tortillas from my local store. The idea of frying them to a crispy state with just a couple sprays of Pam is really the key for some reason. Also served with freshly made pico de gallo on the side and a dab of reduced fat sour cream. Yummy!!! We ate two and have the two smaller ones wrapped up in the fridge for a lunch this week.
So for starters, these are absolutely delicious, combining so many awesome flavors. But the real thing that makes this recipe a winner? It can be prepped ahead of time, then thrown together for dinner many times after you first make it! You didn’t just make dinner for one night, you made dinner for all week! (if you’re a single person without kids to eat all the leftovers). The recipe calls for combining all of the stuffing ingredients together in one big bowl, at the end. Then you just scoop out some of that filling, into each wrap, and fry it up (with cheese/sour cream added). What this means is – at the end of the recipe, you’ve got a giant bowl full of burrito stuffing. It refrigerates easily, so for dinner the next night all you need to do is pull out some tortillas, shredded cheese, and that big bowl – wrap together, fry it up, and you’ve just made a delicious homemade meal more quickly than you could have made a TV dinner.
YUM! I made this as written except for using soft taco size tortillas, less cheese, no cilantro (yuck!) and I added a little corn. I also made the filling ahead and froze it, so I just had to put it all together tonight. Served it with sour cream and salsa on top. Would also be good topped with cheese dip (of course). 🙂 Thank you!!! I shared your link on FB!
When I make these, I want to make sure I get extra surface area. So, I end up crisping them a couple of extra times on 2 additional sides making them a long rectangular shape. My son just asked to have those “square burritos” for after Thanksgiving with leftover turkey. We are looking forward to it!
Have used this recipe many times and LOVE it. Now I’d like to try to make it for a staff lunch and wondered if you had any thoughts or suggestions on how to prep ahead and still get crispy results? Could they be warmed (uncovered) in the oven prior to serving? I know they’ll still taste great – but I do love crispy!
I think your idea of warming them in the oven uncovered (in a single layer) is your best bet. Good luck!
I love these wraps but since I’m only cooking for 2 we always have extras, even when I halve the recipe, any idea if this could be frozen? thanks!
I think many people in the comment thread have frozen these – I think it would work great.