A favorite meal for all ages. Easy to make and so delicious, these chicken enchiladas will make your whole family happy!
If you’ve been here long, you may well know about my love for Mexican food. Spurred by a childhood spent eating delicious food in the heart of California, I just can’t seem to get enough.
These chicken enchiladas are full of fresh flavors, and are super satisfying because they are made from scratch! No canned sauce here!
Did you know the number one ingredient in some canned green enchilada sauces is water? Water!! Once I discovered that, I set out to make my own. And I’m so glad I did. It’s WAY better than the canned stuff.
I start with fresh tomatillos. Peel ’em, wash ’em, slice ’em, and roast them, with some onions and peppers as well.
Once all these veggies are nice and roasted, you scrape them into a blender and blend them. Just a few quick pulses is fine, we will blend them again in a minute.
To the blender, I add cilantro, garlic, seasonings, lime juice, and chicken broth. Blend again, just until the cilantro is sufficiently blended. Everything should be pretty smooth now. Set the sauce aside until ready to pour over the enchiladas.
Place shredded chicken in a bowl. Add cream cheese, diced green chiles, and seasonings and stir everything until combined. Now add navy beans and mix again. (The beans are optional.)
Divide the mixture among the tortillas, and top the chicken with some grated cheese. Roll each tortilla and place it in a baking dish. I really like 7×11 inch baking dishes for enchiladas, I think they are just the right size.
Pour the sauce over the enchiladas. Note: This recipe makes about 5 cups of sauce. I can easily get two or three pans of enchiladas out of that, if I want. However, if I only need 1 or two pans I use the sauce more liberally. In that case I will dip each tortilla in the sauce, coating each side, before I fill it with chicken and cheese and roll it. Once I’m done filling my desired amount of tortillas I pour the remaining sauce over the rolled enchiladas. This sauce can also be frozen if you don’t want to use it all at one time.
Bake the enchiladas until bubbly and hot.
Ingredients
- 8-24, 6 inch tortillas- however many enchiladas you want to make (about 8 per pan)
- For the filling: 4-6 chicken breasts
- 1, 4 oz can of diced green chiles
- 6 oz cream cheese
- 15 oz can of navy beans, drained and rinsed
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tsp oregano
- 3 cups of grated cheese- maybe more for sprinkling on top- I like Monterey Jack, Colby Jack, but you can use your favorite
- For the sauce: 2 lbs of tomatilloas- peeled, washed, and halved
- 1 large onion- peeled, and quartered
- 1/2-1 whole serrano pepper (or jalapeno, or other pepper of your choice)- halved and seeded
- 2-3 cloves of garlic (or equivalent of minced garlic)
- 1 cup of cilantro (1/2 a bunch)
- 1 cup chicken broth
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tsp organo
- 1/2 tsp cumin
- Juice from 1 lime (about 1-2 Tbs)
Instructions
- Cook and shred/ chop the chicken. You can slow cook it in a crock pot, or bake on a pan in the oven, or on the stove top, or grill it- however you like. Set it aside in a bowl while you make the sauce.
- Place the tomatillo halves on a greased baking sheet, cut sides facing down. Place the pepper halves, cut onions, and whole garlic cloves (if using) on the baking sheet as well. Roast these under the broiler until they are black and blistered. Rotate or turn then as needed. Roast on both sides.
- Add the roasted tomatillos, onions, peppers, and garlic to a blender. Pulse a few times to break up the big pieces. Add the cilantro, garlic (if using minced), chicken broth, cumin, oregano, salt and pepper, and lime juice to the blender and blend until pretty smooth. Add more salt and pepper to taste. Then set mixture aside.
- To your chicken add the cream cheese, green chiles, salt and pepper to taste, and oregano. Stir to combine. Add the beans and stir again.
- Divide the chicken filling among the tortillas- however many you want. You can use less filling in each and make 2-3 pans, or use more filling and make 1-2 pans. Add 1-2 Tbs of grated cheese to each tortilla then roll them and line them up in a greased pan.
- Pour the enchilada sauce over each pan of enchiladas- dividing equally. Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes, or until the sauce is bubbly around the edges. Sprinkle the cheese over the top about 5-7 minutes before they are done baking.
- Let the enchiladas cool slightly before serving. Garnish with cilantro, sour cream, guacamole, pico de gallo, etc.
These go amazingly well with my refried beans, Mexican rice, pico de gallo, and guacamole!
This is a great meal to make ahead and freeze, or make a couple pans and take one to a friend!
Don’t forget to check out my free, printable menu planners!
