Potato Taquitos and Sour Cream with Lime

Crunchy, golden brown fried tortilla shells surround creamy, smooth, cheesy potatoes.

I have just discovered Potato Taquitos!  Where have they been all my life?  Ha, ha.

I guess for most of my life one could not buy a soft corn tortilla anywhere in Newfoundland but that has changed. Most large grocery stores now carry them and if you keep your eyes open you will find them. They are much smaller than the flour tortillas and usually sold in packages of 10 or 12 and can be found either in yellow or white corn. 

Yellow corn tortillas on the left, white corn tortillas on the right.

According to my research Potato Taquitos or taquitos de papa are a well-known Mexican food often sold by street vendors.  There are hundreds (possibly thousands) of recipes, all basically alike, which use mashed potatoes, sometimes cheese and maybe a few additions such as onions or chili  peppers, etc. rolled up in a corn tortilla and fried to a crispy, golden brown. They are served hot and often eaten with a dipping sauce of salsa, refried beans, sour cream or guacamole.  

I made them the other day and served them with lettuce, tomatoes, sour cream and salsa.  I served beans and rice along side and had a delicious meal.  

Here's my take on this tasty Mexican dish.

Printable recipe at end of post.

Potato Taquitos

• 1½ cups plain mashed potatoes
• ¾ cup cheddar or Mexican blend cheese or your favourite (feta also works well)
• 1 tablespoon melted butter or sour cream
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 12 soft corn tortillas
• Cooking oil for frying

Optional add-ins:

• Cayenne pepper, a few shakes
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped onion
• 1 teaspoon finely chopped jalapeno pepper
• Anything you like that would taste good with potatoes!

How to make it:
Add the cheese and butter/sour cream to the potatoes.  Mix well.  Taste and add salt and pepper as needed.  Let cool if warm.  Divide the potato mixture into 12 even amounts.  

Wrap tortillas in a damp towel and microwave for 30 seconds.  Turn the tortillas and microwave for an additional 30 seconds or until warm.  Keep warm while rolling the taquitos.  Remove one tortilla from the towel, place a portion of potato in center, use your hands to spread it into a log shape, and roll tortilla.

Place taquitos, seam side down, on a plate. You may secure them with a wooden toothpick. When all of your taquitos are made heat about 1 inch of cooking oil in a frying pan.  I used canola oil.  

When the oil is hot place taquitos in pan. Cook them until light golden brown, turn and cook other side until browned. Remove taquitos to a plate lined with paper towels.

Serve hot with shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, sour cream,* salsa and guacamole.  Make a full meal with rice and beans.

Makes about 12 taquitos. 

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*This makes a delicious sour cream dip for your taquitos

Sour Cream with Lime Juice

• 1 cup sour cream
• ¼ cup milk or cream
• 2-3 tablespoons lime juice

How to make it:

Mix all together and chill before using.  

Use plain mashed potatoes.  Left-overs also work well.

Use your favourite cheese.  Today I used a mixture of mild cheddar and crumbled feta cheese.  If I have old (sharp) cheddar I use that.

Season with salt and pepper to taste. 

Mix one or two tablespoons of sour cream or butter with the potatoes and cheese for a little more flavour.

I added some garden fresh green onions to the mixture.  If you like them "hot" add some chili peppers or cayenne pepper to the mix.

Divide the potato mixture into 12 portions.

Place a portion of potato on warmed tortilla.  Shape into a log for easy rolling.

Carefully roll the tortilla around the potato.

Secure the rolled tortilla with a toothpick to keep from unrolling.  You may also put two tortillas together and fry them that way. 

Keep taquitos covered with a damp paper towel or cloth until ready to fry.  I piled them up but separated the layers with parchment paper so they wouldn't stick together. As you can see I used both yellow and white tortillas.  I think I prefer the yellow ones but I can't be choosy when corn tortillas can be difficult to find in the grocery stores.

A test run before frying the whole batch. 

Don't crowd the pan when frying.  When the underside has cooked to a nice golden brown, carefully turn them using tongs and fry the other side.  (This is a second batch I fried on another day and the tortillas were a bit stale and dry and I had trouble rolling them. When fresh, the tortillas roll up beautifully.) 

I served the taquitos as a meal with beans and rice.  

I topped the Potato Taquitos with lettuce, tomato, salsa and the Sour Cream with Lime.

The next time I made them I served them with lettuce, salsa, guacamole, and the lime sour cream.  A few beans on the side made a nice lunch on a hot day.

I'll be making these again!

For a snack serve the Potato Taquitos with a bowl of Sour Cream with Lime or salsa or refried beans or guacamole or just plain.  Good any way you serve them.

Crunchy shells surround creamy smooth potatoes!

To print click on arrow upper right side.⇩