Thursday, September 15, 2011

The Secret To Making Cheesy Chicken Enchiladas


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If sour cream sauce isn't your favorite topping for chicken enchiladas, then this recipe is for you!  This dish includes white corn tortillas stuffed with seasoned chicken and cheese, then topped with a homemade enchilada sauce and more cheese, then they are baked until ooey-gooey perfection.

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This delicious enchilada sauce can be made spicy or mild, and its not as difficult as you would think it would be.  Give it a try, you won't be disappointed.


Ingredients to enchilada sauce:

  • 1/4 cup unsalted butter
  • 1 can stewed tomatoes 
  • 1 tablespoon chili powder (use more or less depending on how spicy you like your enchiladas)
  • 2 tablespoons flour
  • 1 1/2 cups water
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon garlic
  • 1/4 teaspoon onion powder


Steps:

Heat the butter over medium heat in a medium sized sauce pan.

While the butter is heating, add the stewed tomatoes, onion, garlic, and cumin to a blender.  Blend until smooth.

When the butter is hot, stir in the flour and chili powder, and cook until browned 3-5 minutes stirring constantly.

Slowly stir in the stewed tomatoes and the water.

Continue cooking the sauce, stirring occasionally, for 10-15 minutes.

Easy!  It tastes so much better than store bought too.  Once you make it, you'll be questioning why you ever used store-bought.
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Ingredients for the enchiladas:

  • 12 white corn tortillas
  • 3 chicken breasts (de-frosted if using frozen)
  • 1 tablespoon taco seasoning (I like McCormick)
  • 1 1/2 cups grated cheese (I like to use medium sharp or sharp cheddar; add more if you like your enchiladas extra cheesy)
  • enchilada sauce (you can use store bought if you like, but homemade is so yummy)
  • oil
**I have made this recipe using ground turkey or beef as well.  Super delicious!**

Steps:

Fill a large stock-pot with a good amount of water.

Add the taco seasoning, as well as the chicken breasts to the water and simmer for 35-40 minutes.

While the chicken is cooking, prepare the tortillas.  This is also a good time to make the enchilada sauce.

 Pour enough oil into a large sauce pan to cover the bottom.

Heat over medium-high heat until hot. 

When oil is hot, place two corn tortillas in the pan at a time, and lightly fry: about 15-30 seconds on each side.  This will ensure that your tortillas are nice and flexible, so they won't break when you roll them.



Set fried tortillas on a plate lined with a paper towel or a towel.

When chicken is cooked, remove from water, and place on a cutting board, and allow chicken to cool for 10 minutes.

When cooled, shred chicken either using clean fingers (I find this to be the easiest option) or two forks.

Place your shredded chicken in a bowl.

Now its time to assemble your enchiladas!

At the head of your assembly line have your plate of fried tortillas.  Next, place the shredded chicken in one bowl, the grated cheese in another, and the enchilada sauce in another.

Brush a tortilla on each side with enchilada sauce.

Add 1 tablespoon of shredded chicken and as much cheese as desired to the inside of the tortilla (make sure not to overstuff the tortilla, this will make it hard to roll the tortilla up.)


Roll the enchilada tightly, and place it into a 9X11 glass baking dish.

Repeat with the remaining 11 tortillas.

Top the enchiladas with the remaining enchilada sauce and top with desired amount of grated cheddar cheese.



Place in a 350 F degree oven for 30 minutes, or until cheese is melty and looks delicious!

Serve with Spanish rice.

Who needs a Mexican food restaurant for delicious cheesy chicken enchiladas when you can make them so easily from your own kitchen?! This wasn't always the case, as we never thought we could make them as good as the restaurants until we found little secret of frying the tortillas beforehand. You can bet this recipe will surely be one that is requested over and over again.

Enjoy!
    ~ Chef Megs

23 comments:

BestOodles said...

Delicious chicken enchiladas you got there! I would like to have that for dinner, if I have most of this ingredients in my pantry I will made this tonight!

Serena Bakes Simply From Scratch said...

I love enchiladas! Those look delish!

TinaRBK said...

Like the fact that most of these ingredients I have on hand-they look delicious.

The Farmers Wife said...

Oh yum... Those look so delicious! I could just eat up that whole pan! Buzzed!

Unknown said...

Wow, you all make me feel so loved! As said by BestOodles, and Tina said this recipe includes things that is already in your pantry. Thank you all for taking time to read my recipes.

Enjoy!
~ Chef Megs

Curt said...

Those lookd awesome! I haven't made, (or eaten), enchiladas in quite a while.

Atley said...

Im so dang hungry, and on top of that I have been wanting to get some mexican food! this stuff looks so darn good! I'll probably end up making this tonight... but I'll be using more fresh garlic, not "jarred" garlic.

firefoodie said...

Wow, this looks great. Spicy and hearty. I am now a happy follower!

Sandi said...

Achieved:Mouth is watering now. These enchiladas look delicious!

Charissa said...

That looks absolutely amaaaazing!

Thanks for the add on FoodBuzz! Love meeting new foodie friends!

Lilly said...

These look amazing! I love the stuffing. Would be a great potluck dish.

Magic of Spice said...

Fantastic looking enchiladas!

Unknown said...

Now I know what's on everybody's mind including mine 24/7, "Mexican Food" or "Enchiladas". Looks like I'll have to cook up some more to feed all of you guys. I appreciate ya'lls <as we say down here comments more than you know. :) Be looking for more Mexican dishes in the future... see ya there.
Best foodie wishes,
~Chef Matt

Jen at The Three Little Piglets said...

Once you make homemade enchilada sauce you won't ever look back either!

Bubbe Bites said...

I bookmarked this for later will certainly give it a try. I liked you on facebook so I can get updates when you send them. Thanks for sharing.

Sylvia said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Sylvia said...

These enchiladas looks delicious.Love your recipes and I follow you on tweeter to stay tuned

Torviewtoronto said...

delicious enchiladas looks wonderful
following you too
nice to meet you

Platanos Mangoes & Me said...

Thanks for the Foodbuzz follow. I hope to be receiving your posts by e-mail. My official blog is http://platanosmangoes.com

PinayinTexas said...

Love chicken enchiladas! Yours look so gorgeously yummy!

Unknown said...

Jen--you said it! I don't think I'll ever buy enchilada sauce again.

Unknown said...

OMG.. I'm so hungry right now.. been so busy with work that I completely missed my lunch. I have to really make your cheesy chicken enchiladas. They look really delish. CHeers, Jo

Mamaloli said...

These look delicious!! :)

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