From the Kitchen · El Paso, TX
Flautas vs Taquitos: What's the Difference?
They look almost identical on the plate — both crispy, rolled, golden, dunked in salsa. But ask any cook from Jalisco or Sinaloa and they'll tell you these are two different dishes with their own histories.
The short answer: taquitos are smaller, made with corn tortillas, and fried until shatter-crisp. Flautas are larger, traditionally rolled with flour tortillas, and come out crisp on the outside but softer through the middle.
What is a flauta?
Flauta means "flute" in Spanish — and that's exactly the shape: a long, slender tube. Flautas are usually made with flour tortillas (though corn versions exist, especially in northern Mexico), filled with shredded chicken, beef, or potato, rolled tight, and pan-fried or deep-fried until the outside crackles.
Because flour tortillas hold more filling and bend without cracking, flautas are typically bigger and a little softer inside than their corn cousins. They're a staple across central and northern Mexico and a defining dish of Tex-Mex and El Paso cooking.
What is a taquito?
Taquito literally means "little taco." It's made with a small corn tortilla, lightly filled, rolled tight, and deep-fried until uniformly crispy from end to end. Because corn tortillas are smaller and more brittle, taquitos are shorter, thinner, and have that signature shattering crunch.
Taquitos are especially associated with central Mexico and have become a fixture of frozen-food aisles in the United States — though a fresh, hand-rolled taquito is a different animal entirely.
Side-by-side comparison
| Flautas | Taquitos | |
|---|---|---|
| Tortilla | Flour (sometimes corn) | Corn |
| Size | Larger, longer | Smaller, shorter |
| Texture | Crisp outside, soft inside | Shatter-crisp throughout |
| Fillings | Chicken, beef, potato, cheese | Chicken or beef, light fill |
| Region | Northern Mexico, Tex-Mex, El Paso | Central Mexico |
How we make ours at Flautas Palys
At Flautas Palys we hand-roll our flautas every morning the way our family has made them for generations — corn tortillas, slow-cooked chicken or beef, fried to order so the outside crackles when you bite in. Served simple with slaw, or completas with rice, beans, and queso fresco.
Want to see them on the menu? Browse our favorites or come by the restaurant in East El Paso.
Come Try Them
Hand-rolled flautas in East El Paso
1861 Joe Battle Blvd Ste 5, El Paso, TX 79936