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Wrap diced marinated chicken in a big tortilla, with beans, onion, and cheese. Brush it with oil, and put it in the oven to bake for a tasty chicken dinner. It is a very straightforward recipe. Serve with rice or potatoes. So, are you ready to learn how to make chimichangas? Let’s get started!
What You Need For This Recipe
If you want to make this recipe, take a look at the list of ingredients and put them on your grocery shopping list:
- Tortillas – use medium-sized flour tortillas
- Mexican chicken marinade – to make this recipe you need chicken thighs, olive oil, lemon juice
- Seasoning – you need Mexican seasoning to season the chicken thighs or chicken breast
- Onion – use regular white or sweet onions
- Garlic – fresh garlic finely minced
- Beans – use kidney beans, they are firm have a lot of fiber, and add great flavor to this dish
- Oil – vegetable oil to brush the outside of the tortilla
Optional:
- Rice – to serve the chimichangas with
Note that the full ingredients list, including measurements, can be found in the recipe card below.
How To Make Chimichangas
- To make this recipe start with marinating the chicken breast. Put the Mexican seasoning with oil in a bowl, lemon juice, and minced garlic. Add the chicken breast and let it sit for 15 minutes.
- Heat a skillet with oil and put the chicken breast into the skillet. Let the chicken bake. Resist the urge to move the chicken around. It will release by itself. Take a fork and turn the chicken breast to the other side. Bake the chicken until golden brown and slightly crispy on the outside. This will take about 5 minutes per side.
- Take it out of the pan and let it rest. Slice into small pieces and set aside.
- Now take a flour tortillas and fill it with chicken, onion, beans, and cheese. Wrap like a burrito and put the chimichangas on a baking tray lined with baking paper.
- Repeat the steps for the remaining three tortillas. Brush a tortilla with oil and set the chimichangas aside.
- Preheat the oven to 425℉/218℃ and bake the chimichangas for 25 minutes turning the chimichangas halfway through.
- Take out of the oven and serve directly.
Baked Chimichangas Recipe
A whole dinner wrapped in a tortilla, how easy is that? Chimichangas are such a great recipe that you can fill up with all your favorites.
If you love chicken or beef or just vegetables, it is all good. You can bake them like in this recipe or you can deep fry or pan fry. When you fry chimichangas it contains more calories as tortillas are very good at absorbing liquid or oils.
But bake them in the oven or Air Fryer and you still have a super tasty dinner.
Burrito Versus Chimichangas
What is the difference between a burrito and chimichangas? The short answer is chimichanga is a fried burrito.
- Mexican burrito – tortilla filled with meat and refried beans wrapped into a closed cylinder
- Tex-Mex burrito – soft tortilla wrapped filled with Mexican rice, lettuce, greens, tomato salsa, and guacamole
A burrito is never fried. Just a warm or cold tortilla with filling and wrapped closed. Chimichangas is a Tex-Mex recipe.
Take a soft tortilla and fill it with ingredients like meat, vegetables, salsa, and beans. Fry them in oil or bake them in the oven to make them more low-fat.
Are Chimichangas Freezer Friendly?
Absolutely. That is another great thing about chimichangas. You can make them ahead of them and freeze them.
Wrap them individually in aluminum foil, and put them in an airtight food container or Ziploc bag. Just leave the frying or baking until you are going to eat them.
Thaw them first and then decide whether to fry or bake them.
How To Reheat Chimichangas?
It is really easy to reheat chimichangas. When they are frozen let them thaw in the refrigerator. You have various options to reheat:
- Oven – if you reheat your chimichangas leave them wrapped in aluminum foil. Preheat your oven to 350℉/175℃ and warm them for 8-10 minutes or until warm
- Air Fryer – you can also warm chimichangas in the Air Fryer. Preheat for 3 minutes at 350℉/175℃ and put them in the Air Fryer wrapped aluminum foil for 5 minutes or until warm
- Cast-iron skillet – you can also warm them in a cast-iron skillet. Preheat to medium-hot and brush the skillet with olive oil. You can also spray them with cooking spray and warm the chimichangas for 15 minutes or until warm. Turn regularly
More Tortilla Recipes
If you love this tortilla recipe you will love these recipes:
- Crunchwrap
- Beef burrito
- Vegan burrito with lentils
- Breakfast crunchwrap
- Shredded chicken enchiladas
- Breakfast burrito
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Chimichangas
Want to learn how to make chimichangas? Take a look at this recipe and bake in the oven for an easy weeknight dinner. It is freezer friendly!
Ingredients
- 4 flour tortillas
- 300-gram chicken thighs
- 2 tablespoons Mexican seasoning
- 1 onion
- 2 garlic cloves
- ½ can kidney beans
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- Optional
- 100 gram Rice
Instructions
- Put the Mexican seasoning with 1 tablespoon oil in a bowl. Add the chicken breast and set aside
- Heat a skillet with 2 tablespoons olive oil and put the chicken breast into the skillet. Bake the chicken 5 minutes per side
- Take out of the pan and let it rest. Slice into small pieces and set aside
- Take a tortilla and fill with chicken, onion, beans, and cheese (rice is optional)
- Wrap like a burrito and put the chimichangas on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Repeat the steps for the remaining three tortillas
- Brush the tortillas with oil. Preheat the oven to 425℉/200℃ and bake the chimichangas for 20-25 minutes turning the chimichangas halfway through until golden brown
- Take out of the oven and serve directly
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Nutrition facts
Calories: 456; Fat: 17g; Carbs: 51g; Protein: 25g;
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