Air Fryer Chickpea Tinga Flautas

Easy air fryer flautas stuffed with a delicious and smoky chickpea tinga filling. A crispy and satisfying budget friendly plant-based dinner.

A lot of food I’ve grown up with is eaten with your hands: pastelitos, tostadas, tacos, tostones. They are true foods of comfort and provide me the most vivid memories and appreciation for my family. Flautas are no different.

Crispy rolled stuffed tortillas that are normally fried in oil. While I love this preparation…I tend to go a less messy route and make them in the air fryer. These make for an easier weeknight meal that you can feel comfortable eating regularly or for your next taco night.

Why You’ll Love These Air Fryer Flautas

• The ultimate budget friendly dinner meal that you can stuff as you like
• Easy and fun to make with basic pantry staples
• Can be fried, baked or air-fried to crispy perfection
• Completely gluten-free and vegan using plant-based protein

Flautas Vs Taquitos

It is very likely that you have heard the word “taquitos” before. And if you’ve seen what flautas look like, you may have assumed that they were taquitos. So what is the difference exactly? Honestly, the terms are interchangeable and I always call them flautas out of habit.

Some may use the word taquitos over flautas to refer to size. Depending on the tortilla size being used, some may refer to smaller versions of this finger food as taquitos (“small tacos”) and slightly bigger tortillas as flautas (“flute” shaped and sometimes made using oval shaped tortillas). You may also see these referred to as Tacos Dorados or “Crispy Tacos”. Either way they are a delicious finger food.

Key Ingredients and Substitutions

• Corn Tortillas: You can use yellow or white. I find that the yellow corn tortillas tend to be a little more pliable when warmed, so I tend to prefer using this variety for flautas.
• Chickpeas: Our main plant-protein source. You can replace the chickpeas with white beans, pinto beans or black beans if desired.
• Chipotle Peppers: I recommend using the chipotle peppers in adobo sauce. If you don’t want to use the whole peppers, you can also replace with 2 tablespoons of chipotle hot sauce. Don’t worry, you can use the rest of the chipotle peppers to make my Spicy Chipotle Tofu Bowls.
• Tomatoes: Use ripe Roma tomatoes or vine-ripened tomatoes if you wish to use fresh. I prefer using canned fire roasted crushed tomatoes as they are easy to work with. If you have left overs, you can use the rest of the canned crushed tomatoes for my Curried Red Bean Skillet.
• Seasonings: For flavor we are using onions, garlic, cumin and oregano.

How to Make Flautas in the Air Fryer

First, make your filling. Sauté your onion until softened then stir in the garlic until fragrant. Add in the diced chipotle peppers along with the cumin and oregano and continue to sauté for 2 minutes. Pour in the tomatoes, vegetable bouillon, water and chickpeas. Stir to combine and allow to simmer for 10 minutes.

After the chickpeas are done simmering, lightly mash the chickpeas with a potato masher or the back of your cooking spoon. In a separate pan or griddle, warm up tortillas 30 seconds on both sides to help make them pliable.

Place your warmed tortilla on a flat surface and spread a little of the chickpea filling down the middle of the tortilla. Wrap it up tightly and place it seam side down in your air fryer basket. Repeat with the remaining filling and tortillas.

Place the basket in the air fryer at 380F for 8-10 minutes, flipping halfway through and spraying or brushing again with oil. Once crispy, remove from the air fryer and place on a wire rack until ready to serve.

Expert Tips

• Use the thinnest tortillas you can find. They will crisp up better when air fried and you’ll have an easier time rolling them.
• Warm your tortillas before stuffing and rolling. This will make the tortillas easier to roll without breaking apart.
• Use toothpicks to hold the flautas together. This will help prevent the flautas from unraveling.
• Oil the flautas well. Either spray or brush the flautas with a high heat oil before baking in the air fryer. Repeat this process when flipping to ensure your flautas don’t dry out.
• Feel free to bake in an oven. If you don’t have an air fryer, just preheat your oven to 400F and place your flautas on a lined baking sheet. Bake for 12 minutes, making sure to flip and spray again with oil halfway through baking.

Frequently Asked Questions

How to Serve

Serve your crispy flautas with any of the following choices to either top or dip with:

• Homemade Charred Salsa Verde
• Vegan Sour Cream
• Mango Pico de Gallo
• Cilantro Lime Dressing
• Avocado
• Shredded Cabbage
• Cilantro

More Vegan Mexican Recipes to Try

• Homemade Refried Beans
• Tostadas with Refried Beans
• Tacos Dorados de Papas
• Mexican Pickled Red Onions
• Vegan-Style Migas
• Easy Mexican Rice

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★ Catherine

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