Cheesy Baked Chicken Enchiladas: Take This, Takeout
Prep time: 18 min
Cook time: 30 min
Maybe it’s because I own and run a restaurant, but it’s definitely one of my pet peeves when I order a meal and know right off the bat that I could’ve made it better. Now I’m the first to admit that there are some restaurant dishes I’ll never be able to one-up (I mean, how do they get the soup into those Shanghai soup dumplings anyway?), but there are others that I can definitely top, and cheesy enchiladas are one of them.
That’s why I never, ever order enchiladas in restaurants anymore, and honestly speaking, I bet you won’t either once you’ve tried making them yourself. Super simple, inexpensive, and so good, they leave you feeling happy and satisfied, not comatose, after eating.
HERE'S OF COURSE LOOKS AMAZING COMPARED TO MINE, BUT MINE STILL TASTED GOOD!
Ingredients
About 2 1⁄4 cups shredded cooked chicken
1 small red or white onion, finely chopped
1 jalapeño chile pepper, seeded and ribbed for a milder flavor, finely chopped (optional)
1 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro
3 cups No-Cook Garden Vegetable Sauce or your favorite salsa
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1⁄2 teaspoon salt
1⁄4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
8 (8″) flour or whole-wheat tortillas
2 cups (8 ounces) grated Cheddar and/or Monterey Jack cheese
Sour cream, for serving
ALEXIS NOTE: Instead of Jalapeño I picked up a jar of green chili peppers, I used a jar of our favorite salsa (I'm cheap and like to make things fast), Sorry we only had regular tortillas on hand and used a bag of Italian shredded cheese.
Make the filling. Heat the oven to 400°F. Place the chicken in a large bowl and gently mix with the onion, jalapeño (if using), all but 2 tablespoons of the cilantro, 1⁄2 cup of the vegetable sauce, the lime juice, salt, and pepper.
Roll and bake the enchiladas. Evenly spread 1⁄2 cup of the vegetable sauce over the bottom of a 13″ x 9″ baking dish. Place the tortillas on your work surface and divide the filling among them, arranging it in a strip down the center of each tortilla. Roll the tortillas around the filling and place the filled tortillas seam-side down in the baking dish.
Cover with the remaining 2 cups of sauce. Sprinkle evenly with the cheese. Bake the enchiladas until the sauce is golden brown and bubbling, 20 to 30 minutes. Sprinkle with the remaining cilantro and serve hot with sour cream on the side.
How yummy! Thanks for sharing. I love enchiladas!
ReplyDeleteOh how yummy. I love them..
ReplyDeleteI made something almost exactly like this the other night!
ReplyDeleteWe are SO on the same food brain wave :O)
I have some shredded pheasant in the fridge right now-I bet it would be great for enchiladas!
ReplyDeleteGosh that looks good. I wanted to go out and eat Tex-Mex, but my son informed me he was tired of eating it (lucky him) since he is surrounded by them here. I would make this, but will have to wait until I arrive home, and you better believe I am blogging about it and linking it back to your dadgum yummy rear end cooking!
ReplyDeleteDon't apologize for your substitutions, celebrate your ingenuity!
ReplyDeleteoh i loooove anything mexican... i bet i would looooove this!!
ReplyDeletelooks fantastic!!
thanks for another recipe!
ReplyDeleteLooks wonderful.Thanks for linking to TMTT.
ReplyDeleteThat looks so yummy. I'll definitely have to make this. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteYum love enchiladas!
ReplyDeleteOOO, sounds yummy, although I'd be all over those jalapenos! We LOVE spicy food! =)
ReplyDeleteThis sounds really good!
ReplyDeleteThis looks delicious, as does the Three Cheese White Lasagna below! Thanks for sharing these!!
ReplyDeleteAre you freaking kidding me!!!!???!!!
ReplyDeleteYou stink! This looks so delicious. I will give you my address and you can just mail it to me.
When are you making a trip to Illinois? Oh I know, since you work from home...you can just move here and be my neighbor. I will fix dinner for my very picky husband and you can fix me food that actually has ingredients. You can bring the boys over and they can do all of our favorite messy crafts at our house, so I clean up afterwards. How does that sound?
I love enciladas. I MUST try these someday.
ReplyDeleteYou know that I'm a cheese-a-holic, right? Even without seeing the size of my rear.
ReplyDeleteAnother yummy one... you know cheese is one of my weaknesses!!
ReplyDeleteI am so behind putting these recipes into my computer, you are too good at giving me them. I don't even cook that much anymore because there is just the two of us. But I really want to now with all this delicious stuff. :-)
Chicken Enchiladas is one thing my family can agree upon. Jonathan just takes out the chicken. I'll have to try this recipe. I usually only buy the Stoffeurs (?) brand.
ReplyDeleteI have a feeling this will be on my plate tomorrow :) so yummy!
ReplyDeleteGoodness that looks good. Something that is right up my husbands alley, too. He loves enchiladas
ReplyDelete