I Found All the Best Frozen Taquitos (and Some of Them Are Pretty Wild)

The best frozen taquitos have crunch, plenty of filling, and are always useful to have in the freezer. We tried corn-wrapped chicken taquitos, flour-wrapped beef taquitos, and even some vegetarian taquitos to find the best store bought taquitos of them all.

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What’s the deal with taquitos? (Yes, I’m standing in front of a brick wall dressed like Jerry Seinfeld right now.) They’re certainly a Mexican food, but at least two Southern California restaurants—one in L.A., one in San Diego—take credit for helping these delicious little taco roll ups hit the mainstream. And what’s the difference between a taquito and a flauta? Is there one? I read around, and I’m still not certain. Do taquitos still qualify as taquitos if they’re made with flour tortillas rather than corn tortillas? (I’m going with yes on this one since lots of taquito brands go the flour route.) Anyway, I’ll give it a rest with the questions and tell you a couple things I do know: Frozen taquitos are one of the most fun and easiest to make snacks you can have in your freezer, and we all should be eating them more often.

This ranking of the best chicken taquitos, the best beef taquitos, and the best vegetarian taquitos represents the results of five separate taste tests. Here’s what we were looking for: 

• Plenty of filling: Most taquitos are pretty small as it is; they should NOT be hollow inside.
• Discernible meat: Whether they’re chicken or beef, a lot of frozen taquitos are filled with an unappealing meat paste. We nixed those. 
• Creativity: Don’t worry, we have plenty of classics on here, but we also had a lot of fun taste testing all the newest, weirdest taquitos to hit the grocery store. Some are misses but some are BIG hits. 

These are the 11 best frozen taquitos we tried—now with breakfast taquitos, too (yes, breakfast taquitos exist).

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Best Goopy

El Monterey Mas Bold Chicken Bacon Ranch Taquitos

Instacart

As my colleague Justine put it during our most recent taquito taste test, “There’s nothing taquito about these.” If El Monterey wanted to be more accurate they would call these “goop tubes.” They’re very goopy inside—it’s just a cheesy, creamy slurry of chicken, bacon, ranch dressing, and cheese, all in a flour shell that’s flavored to taste like ranch. To be honest, there’s not that much ranch flavor on the shell, but the filling is chicken-bacon-ranch-y to the max. Do not buy these if you’re in the mood for taquitos; do buy these if you’re in the mood for some kind of weird franken-app you’d get at a chain restaurant.

Credit: Liv Averett / Instacart

Rating:

7.5/10

Sporks

Best Budget

Great Value Chicken Taquitos

Walmart

These chicken taquitos remind me of something you’d grab off the rollers at 7-Eleven, and I mean that in the best way possible. The difference? A box of 16 of these taquitos costs around five bucks, which means that each taquito only sets you back around 30 cents. 7-Eleven could never. And they taste good, too! The filling seems to involve peppers and seasonings that kicks the chicken up a notch. An excellent budget option if you’re on the hunt for the best frozen taquitos for a crowd.

Credit: Merc / Walmart

Rating:

8/10

Sporks

Best Vegetarian

Starlite Santa Fe Chick’n Rolled Tacos

Instacart

I’m not sure why these Starlite faux chicken taquitos are called rolled tacos rather than taquitos (perhaps because they’re a touch longer than the brand’s actual taquitos), but they’re definitely better than the taquitos. The “chicken” filling actually tastes like chicken, almost like it was seasoned with the vegetarian version of a Top Ramen packet. And the tortilla is more like pastry—it’s so flaky and light. These remind me a bit of the best frozen taquitos on this list, but made with plant-based meat. Okay, they aren’t quite that good, but if you’re on the hunt for the best vegetarian taquitos, I think you’ll like these, even if they aren’t taquitos by name.

Credit: Merc / DoorDash

Rating:

8/10

Sporks

Best for Breakfast

El Monterey Egg, Sausage & Cheese Taquitos

Giant

When I was a teenager and could eat whatever I wanted, I would have LIVED on these breakfast taquitos from El Monterey. They taste like a McDonald’s breakfast burrito—egg, salty orange cheese, sausage bits—but with a crispy-crunchy shell. They’re small so they cook fast in the toaster oven or air fryer, too. El Monterey also makes an egg, cheese, and bacon variety, but it wasn’t nearly as good as the sausage version. These are the best frozen taquitos to have around when you simply can’t wait for lunch to roll around to have Mexican food.  

Credit: Liv Averett / Giant

Rating:

8/10

Sporks

Best in a Corn Tortilla

Delimex Chicken Taquitos

Instacart

Although flour-wrapped taquitos took the top three spots on this list, Delimex makes the best frozen chicken taquitos if you like ‘em encased in corn. The chicken filling isn’t all that exciting on its own, but what you get here is a good corn flavor and a mushy, masa-like texture that keeps you coming back for another bite. These come off as a touch dry, but some sour cream and salsa (ooh, or how about queso?) will fix them right up.

Credit: Merc / Instacart

Rating:

8.5/10

Sporks

Best Spicy

Whole Foods Spicy Chicken Taquitos

Whole Foods

A lot of corn tortilla-wrapped taquitos have a problem: the flavor of the corn sort of overpowers the filling, especially when there isn’t a lot of filling to begin with. What we like about these Whole Foods chicken taquitos is that the corn flavor doesn’t overtake the meaty, zesty flavor of the filling. They also have a nice crispy greasiness that makes them almost like a blend between flour and corn tortillas—hard to describe but really flavorful and really lovely. The filling is actually chicken, not chicken paste, and they’re genuinely spicy, as promised. They’re not thrilling, but they’re good and would taste great with some dips. Spicy guac and some crema would be out of this world.

Credit: Liv Averett / Whole Foods

Rating:

9/10

Sporks

Best Spicy

El Monterey Extra Crunchy Diablo Chicken Taquitos

Instacart

While these chicken taquitos aren’t quite as good as the El Monterey Extra Crunchy Southwest frozen taquitos (our favorite in three separate taste tests), they are still very, very good. And genuinely spicy! They’re not too salty, but have a nice peppery flavor and just enough heat—nothing that’ll cause discomfort the next day. The extra-crunchy wrapper is what makes these frozen taquitos great. It’s light and bubbly and so good. These are devilishly delicious (sorry) and a worthy addition to our list of the best frozen taquitos. 

Credit: Merc / Instacart

Rating:

9/10

Sporks

Best Chicken

José Olé Chicken & Cheese Taquitos

Walmart

Imagine you’re smokin’ a J at a buddy’s house. He disappears for ten minutes and then re-enters the room carrying a plate of piping hot chicken taquitos. For real, this is the closest thing I’ve ever written to fan fic and it’s got me all revved up! José Olé’s Chicken & Cheese taquitos, made with flour tortillas, are moist on the inside and absolutely bursting with savory flavor. If you’re big on texture, I will warn that the chicken is a bit mushy, but these frozen taquitos still manage to pack a lot of chicken and salty cheese flavor. Plus, they cook up so nicely with their toasty little ends.

Credit: Merc / Walmart

Rating:

9/10

Sporks

Best Beef Runner-Up

José Olé Beef & Cheese Taquitos

Instacart

There’s something highly appealing about the light crispiness of a flour-tortilla-wrapped taquito. Yes, you miss out on some of the masa-like flavor you get with corn-tortilla-wrapped taquitos, but I think we can and should embrace both versions of the snack, especially because these taquitos from stud muffin José Olé are among the best frozen taquitos at the grocery store. They’re flaky, savory, and the filling is so moist thanks to an ample amount of cheese. According to my notes, I actually uttered the words, “There is cheese exploding out of its butt.” Plus, the beef actually tastes beefy. Truly a top-tier snack and some of the best beef taquitos you can buy.

Credit: Merc / Instacart

Rating:

9/10

Sporks

Best Beef

El Monterey Extra Crunchy Taco Seasoned Beef Taquitos

Instacart

These beef taquitos—a relatively new addition to the freezer aisle—have the same delightfully crispy exterior as the best frozen taquitos on this list, but they’re filled with deliciously spiced taco beef and cheese. The taco seasoning actually has some kick—a nice little bit of spice that lingers on your tongue without setting it on fire. The heavily spiced beef tastes incredible with the creaminess of the cheese. These taquitos are very spiced and very cheesy—if you want more of a blank slate taquito, look elsewhere on this list. I will say that I pretty much always think that frozen taquitos could use more filling and these are no exception, but what they lack in volume they make up for in flavor. Just like El Monterey’s Extra Crunchy Southwest Chicken Taquitos, these really channel a chain restaurant app and we love that.

Credit: Liv Averett / Instacart

Rating:

9.5/10

Sporks

Best of the Best

El Monterey Extra Crunchy Southwest Chicken Taquitos

Target

I’m probably going to get dragged by taquito purists for giving these chicken taquitos the top spot, but in a ranking where taste is the main consideration, I just couldn’t bump these suckers. For real, I shouted “holy shit” when I took my first bite. Their flour shells have a crispy, bubbly coating that gives them a little more crunch, but mostly it gives them a lot more flavor. The filling is really something, too. Like, how did they even fit this much stuff—chicken, cheese, peppers, beans—inside such a dainty tube?! What a feat. These taste just like Southwest chicken egg rolls from a chain restaurant. Naturally, if you don’t think that taquitos should taste like Southwest chicken egg rolls from a chain restaurant, do not buy and eat these! But if you want to take a chance on something you just might love, pick up a box. My colleague Jordan Myrick literally said they’re one of the most delicious things they’ve ever eaten. I just can’t imagine not declaring these the best frozen taquitos at the grocery store.

Credit: Liv Averett / Target

Rating:

10/10

Sporks

Other frozen taquitos we tried:

El Monterey Beef & Cheese, El Monterey Chicken & Cheese, Goya Chicken, Delimex Beef, Trader Joe’s Chicken Taquitos, Menu del Sol Beef Taquitos, El Monterey Steak and Cheese, Starlite Beefy Taquitos, El Monterey Bacon Egg and Cheese, Casa Mamita Chicken & Cheese Taquitos, Jose Ole Birria Beef Taquitos, Jose Ole Pollo Asado