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.
We have been making this recipe for years, and we love it. My husband does not like black beans, so we swapped pinto beans for those. It still tastes amazing.
These burritos were absolutely delicious. Don’t skip the sour cream, it really makes a difference. Added some hot sauce but next time I think I’ll throw some pickled jalapeños for some spice. So delicious! And great for meal prep/freezing for later. Thank you, Mel! Also, a tip for those who have gas stoves – I fried my burritos for under 2 minutes and popped it in the microwave for 30 seconds to melt the cheeses; any longer on the pan and it would have burned.
This is the most requested dinner from my kids. Mel’s Kitchen Cafe has never disappointed!
Best meal I’ve ever made. My kids absolutely love it! And it’s fun to make and they love helping
Thanks for this recipe! I made it as written the first time and have adapted it to my family all other times I’ve made it. Tonight was “build your own” and it was a hit!
These are just as good as the enchilada version of these. The southwest version is less saucy (without the sour cream), and perhaps a bit more smoky. Very delicious and very easy!
With ingredients extremely similar, how is it that crispy sw chicken wraps are 461 cal with 50 carbs and the crispy chicken enchilada wraps are just 163 cal.
It doesn’t make sense. Can you explain the difference and how calculated. Thank you.
Sue S.
That’s a good question and thanks for bringing it to my attention, Sue! The way the nutrition facts calculate can be a little tricky (which is why I’ve given the disclaimer that the nutrition facts are just an estimate, not a guarantee), but sometimes it is helpful for me to go back through the recipe and make sure the values calculated correctly. I double checked and it looks as though it had miscalculated the number of tortillas and amount of chicken. I reran the calculations which seems to have helped. The Crispy Southwest Chicken Wraps are made with large burrito-size tortillas whereas this recipe calls for smaller tortillas (although you can really use whatever size tortilla you like), hence the reason one of these enchilada wraps is lower in calories. Hope that helps.
My son found this recipe on your site a few years ago and asked if we could make it. It was a big hit and we have made it many times since then. We make the filling and then we put it in the fridge and then cook a few when we need them. We use the George Foreman to cook them.
As promised, these are yummy, quick and extremely versatile.
My family loves this recipe! They request it often. It’s a great way to use up leftover rice and chicken. And the flavors are soo bright and tangy, especially with the lime juice and a drop of sour cream spread down the tortilla to seal it all together. They get nice and crispy, too, which my family loves. Thanks for another delicious meal, Mel!
Can’t wait to make these! Drooling as I read it! I’m going to do the variation you suggested instead of the diced bell pepper. Can you tell me how much chopped roasted red pepper (from the jar) to use?
You can use the same equivalent as the bell pepper called for in the recipe (1/2 cup).
Just wondering if you think these would still be good without the red peppers? Thank you!!!
Yes! Still delicious.
Yummy! So good. To decrease carbs we use the ‘cut da carb’ wraps. I also spread that laughing cow cheese on the wrap instead of using shredded cheese, and squirt some honey mustard in the wrap. Very delicious!
I decided to double this the first time making it, knowing it was going to be good. I made one batch with chicken and the other with pork since I had those meats in the refrigerator that needed to be used up. Both meats were equalling delicious and the whole family including toddlers loved them.
Love this recipe! I made it as-is (except for my picky child’s who just had chicken, cheese and sour cream). Delicious! My husband said it was one of the best meals I had made in awhile. Thanks!
Excellent! They were a huge hit. Today my 9 year old told me he wants me to make them for his birthday meal!!
I doubled the recipe, not paying too close attention to quantities of chicken and rice and it made tons. A huge plus for our big family. Thanks for another excellent recipe!
We have made these again and again and again. I love them!! We have used the cooking spray trick on breakfast burritos to make them crispy too. Thanks so much!!
My husband and I love these! We love how versatile the mix is and how it works with basically anything you have on hand. The wraps are super yummy and we make them about once a week!
Just made these for the first time last night and they were a huge hit! I’m trying to use up some pantry items right now so I used canned chicken and frozen peppers and onions. I threw the veggies in a skillet over medium heat to defrost a bit then added the chicken, warmed through and then added the seasonings. Followed the rest of the recipe as instructed. Skipped the sour cream but will definitely be trying that next time!
I tried this recipe today as my husband’s favorite dessert is custard pie. It came out perfectly. I had read the reviews and added the 1/4 cup of sugar and teaspoon of vanilla in the egg white mixture. So delicious. My husband gave it an AAA+ which is something for him! Thank you for sharing your recipe, and for the reviews that added their input.
My kids request these for their birthday dinner. I’ve made them for several family members who are all now making them at their house. WE LOVE THESE WRAPS!! Also – my sisters-in-law and I are always on the hunt for new recipes – it’s just a given that anything from you will be delish! Thank you!
Thank you, Misty! 🙂
This is one of my family’s favorite recipes. I found it on your website a couple years ago and have been making it ever since! Whenever I see them, they request these and I double it and make a big batch! I love how easy, versatile, and delicious they are! We usually omit the bell peppers, green onion, and cilantro because we don’t usually have them on hand, but they are still amazing. I use your recipes all the time, but I decided I needed to start commenting, haha. So thank you, Mel!!
My husband invited a guest for dinner and then left town. 🙁 I was in no mood to cook… until I found this super simple recipe. I was inspired! They were simple, I had all the ingredients on hand, and they turned out delicious! Thank you! I used Cilantro-Lime Rice, canned chicken, wheat tortillas, omitted the pepper (didn’t have it), and subbed in cilantro-lime salsa for the cilantro and lime. Definitely use the sour cream–amazing! I also liked how I could tailor the wraps for those that do/don’t like cheese since it wasn’t mixed into the filling.
This bread is delicious! …but drives me crazy! I’ve made it twice. The first time I didn’t cook the quinoa enough and it didn’t “melt” into the bread enough. This time I used my IP to cook it and it was perfect. HOWEVER, both times I had to add WAY more flour! The dough is SOO STICKY! I even reduced the additional water to 1/2 C instead of 3/4 C. Perhaps I didn’t add enough flour in the first part of the recipe, but I had to add about 3 more cups of flour! Even still the dough was really sticky, but I couldn’t bring myself to add anymore flour. There was so much dough I actually made 4 loaves and luckily they turned out delicious.
Ha! Just kidding…totally posted this on the wrong recipe!
Thanks for this recipe, we had them tonight & loved them
My family loves this recipe. Last time I made them I used leftover pork from the Instant Pot Mexican Pork recipe (https://www.melskitchencafe.com/instant-pot-mexican-pork/) instead of chicken and it was a delicious variation. I always freeze the leftovers and defrost them in the microwave then finish them off on the griddle so they will be crispy again. Probably 90% of my recipe rotation is from this blog. 🙂
Thanks so much, Esther!
I’ve become “famous” among family and friends because of this recipe! I have made these numerous times for so many people, and people always ask for the recipe . . . more often they ask me to make them again. It’s a family favorite, and they would have them every day if I made them that often. I’ve adjusted the recipe in a way that makes it easy to know how much I need for the number I need to make. It’s my go to recipe if we are having a big group because once they are assembled I can clean up the kitchen before crisping them on the griddle, and I don’t have a mess to worry about later.
I’ve frozen some, and they are delicious warmed in the oven though they lose the crispiness.
And that filling just gets better and better each day it sits in the fridge!
Thank you for the delicious, easy to adapt recipe!
This recipe is a solid 5 stars. I personally don’t like the results when I reheat the assembled wrapsin the microwave, so I freeze or set aside the filling (steps 1 and 2) and assemble them fresh as needed. You might have better luck reheating them on a griddle, but at that point you might as well assemble them fresh. This is super kid friendly too! By the way, use the sour cream in step 4. It’s soooooo good.
I love the easy dinner nights, and this recipe is really family friendly. I didn’t have a lime, so subbed some apple cider vinegar, and it worked great! I added green chile to the adult wraps, and the leftovers were great over a salad the next day too. Thank you again Mel!
Sooo yummy!
The whole family loves these wraps! Easy and tasty.
Delicious meal and easy to make! Definitely highly recommend and will be making again in the future!
So delicious and easy to make! We happily had this multiple nights in a row- thanks Mel for an easy, yummy weeknight meal!
We LOVE this meal. It’s quick, easy, yummy and my kids all actually eat it! can’t beat that!
We have been using your recipe for years! My kids love them, and the filling freezes beautifully. Perfect for using up any leftover meat.
These are to die for-one of our very favorite meals! Thank you for sharing!!
Also-I like to spread the tortilla with cream cheese before I put the filling in. So good!
Very easy to make and very delicious. Even my finicky eater husband loves this as a meal!
This is the best quick dinner recipe-I have been making it for years! I double it and we can eat on it for two nights. Winner in our house!!! Thank you Mel!
I decided to spread the tortillas with a thin coating of sour cream, before adding the grated cheese. This way, the cheese had something to adhere to. I used grilled chicken breast leftover from our Memorial Day cookout. Delicious! Thanks for the recipe!