These tasty Baked Flautas with Mackerel offer up a healthier take on fried flautas with a nice dose of Omega-3s.

Flautas on a wooden serving board with a side of salsa and tin of King Oscar mackerel

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Cheesy, Meaty, Crispy Goodness.

These aren’t your usual flautas, but boy are they a treat! Especially for seafood lovers.

I’ve put King Oscar’s Mackerel Fillets with Jalapeño Peppers to use in these crunchy, melty flautas and it did not disappoint. The addition of freshly chopped jalapeño adds the perfect kick, and as a bonus, you’re getting a healthy dose of Omega-3.

Not to mention they’re baked, not fried. So there’s less mess and no grease.

Ingredients You’ll Need.

Round serving board with tin of mackerel, bowls of grated cheese and spice mix, jalapenos, limes, and parsley.

King Oscar’s Mackerel Fillets With Jalapeño Peppers Are Key.

I try to create recipes with ingredients that are easily interchangeable. But some things just can’t be replaced, and in this case, it’s the mackerel.

I can’t imagine making these flautas with any other mackerel.

King Oscar’s fillets are super tender, buttery, and flavorful, but hearty! Which makes them the perfect candidate to replace the usual shredded chicken stuffed into crispy flautas.

These particular fillets are carefully packed in pure olive oil along with big slices of jalapeño peppers. So the flavor is BIG. And it just adds so much to this fab finger food.

Here’s How to Make Baked Flautas With Mackerel.

  1. Preheat the oven to 425º F.
  2. In a small bowl, mix 1 tablespoon of flour with some water, just enough to make a runny paste. Set it aside.
  3. Drain the mackerel and pop it into a mixing bowl along with the jalapeño peppers from the tin. Then add the cream cheese, fresh chopped jalapeños, spices, and shredded cheese. Squeeze some lime juice over everything and stir it well with a large spoon or spatula, breaking the mackerel into bits.
  4. Divide the mixture evenly between the tortillas, placing it on one side of the tortilla. Grab the edge of the tortilla where the filling is, and wrap it over the filling, squeezing it a bit to tighten it up. Roll the tortilla forward tightening it up as you go. When you’re close to the end, brush a bit of the flour paste along the edge of the tortilla that you’re closing in on, then roll to close it up. The paste will secure the flautas so they don’t unwrap during the baking process.
  5. Repeat this for all of the tortillas and place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Lightly spray the tops of the flautas with cooking oil and pop them into the oven. Bake them for about 10-15 minutes, or until the tortillas turn golden brown.
  6. Take them out of the oven and let them cool to warm before digging in. Top with freshly chopped cilantro or parsley. Serve them with salsa, guacamole, sour cream, or plain Greek yogurt—or all of the above!

Process shots of how to stuff and roll flautas.

Baked flautas in a wooden serving board with a dipping bowl of salsa.

Useful Tools for This Recipe:

Recipe Tips + Tricks.

  1. To ensure that the flautas don’t unroll during the cooking process, “glue” them with a mixture of flour and water. See the recipe for details. You could also use toothpicks, but this is the less desirable method.
  2. If you can’t find King Oscar’s Mackerel Fillets with Jalapeño Peppers, you could use the mackerel packed in olive oil.
  3. You can cook these flautas in an air fryer! Just give the tray a quick spritz with cooking spray, place the flautas in the tray (don’t over crowd them), and spritz the tops of the flautas with a bit of cooking spray. Then air fry them for about 8-10 minutes at 375º F. Check them at 5 minutes to see how they’re cooking.

Close up of baked flautas on parchment-covered serving board.

Have You Made This Recipe?

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You can also show off your creations on Instagram by tagging @killing__thyme

Other Mackerel Recipes to Try:

Baked Flautas with Mackerel

These tasty Baked Flautas with Mackerel offer up a healthier take on fried flautas with a nice dose of Omega-3s.
5 from 2 votes
Print Pin Rate
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 25 minutes
Servings: 6 flautas
Author: Dana Sandonato

Ingredients

  • 2 tins King Oscar Skinless & Boneless Fillets of Mackerel with Jalapeño Peppers, drained
  • 4 oz plain cream cheese, softened
  • 1 jalapeño, finely diced For extra heat, include the seeds
  • 1/2 tsp sea salt
  • 1/2 tsp cumin
  • 1/2 tsp garlic powder
  • 1/2 tsp chili powder
  • 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
  • 1 cup shredded Mexican blend cheese
  • 6 uncooked flour tortillas
  • 1/2 lime, juiced

For serving:

  • Salsa
  • Guacamole
  • Sour cream
  • Lime wedges
  • Chopped cilantro or parsley, for garnish

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 425º F.
  • Mix 1 tablespoon of flour with some water in a small bowl to make a runny paste; set it aside.
  • Drain the mackerel and put it into a mixing bowl—include the jalapeño peppers from the tin. Add the cream cheese, fresh chopped jalapeños, spices, and shredded cheese to the bowl. Squeeze half a lime over the bowl and give everything a good stir breaking the mackerel into bits as you go.
  • Divide the mackerel mixture evenly between the six tortillas by placing some on one side of the tortilla. Then, grab the edge of the tortilla closest to the filling and wrap it over the filling, squeezing it a bit to tighten it up. Roll the tortilla forward, tightening as you go, and when you're close to the end, brush a bit of the flour paste along the edge of the tortilla. Roll it up completely. The paste will secure the tortilla so the flautas don't unwrap during the baking process.
  • Repeat this step for each of the tortillas. Then, place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
  • Give the tops of the flautas a quick spritz of cooking oil and place them into the oven to bake for about 10-15 minutes, or until the they turn golden brown in color.
  • When they're ready, remove them from the oven and set them aside to cool.
  • Top with freshly chopped cilantro or parsley, and serve them with salsa, guacamole, sour cream or plain Greek yogurt, and lime wedges.
  • These flautas will keep in the fridge for two days.
  • To store in the freezer, let them cool completely, then pop them into a sealable freezer bag and store them in the freezer for up to 3 months.