Amazing Chicken Enchiladas
Happy Tuesday, friends! Today, I want to share with you my own recipe for Amazing Chicken Enchiladas!
My own amazing chicken enchiladas have been a favorite of Mr. B for over 30 years.
Before we had children, he would invite a best friend over during Monday Night Football for sports and food.
These chicken enchiladas were their favorite.
When I made them recently for his birthday, I also sent home a pan with my daughter for family dinner that night.
They agreed…these are amazing chicken enchiladas.
Thank you for your patience as I walk you through my process as a home cook. This is not as organized as a recipe blog would present it.
But, I guarantee the results.
Join me in Pamela’s Kitchen and let’s get to cooking…..
AMAZING CHICKEN ENCHILADAS: BEGINNING STEPS
This is another recipe where I rely on my crock pot stock.
So, the night before, I place a whole chicken, one chopped onion, 2 chopped celery stalks, 3 garlic cloves, and a teaspoon of salt to slow cook overnight.
There are times I have thrown in a chopped jalapeño..but since I knew I wanted a pan of these to go to my three young grandsons, I held back on extra spice.
When the chicken is cool the next day, you will need to shred it into a bowl and I do use all of the chicken for this…except the bits and skin that go to Tux.
You will need six cups of broth for the sauce, and about 1/2 cup of broth to soften the tortillas.
AMAZING CHICKEN ENCHILADAS: WHAT YOU NEED
For the enchiladas
1 chopped onion ( I like the sweet yellow onions)
½ cup chopped green pepper
½ cup chopped red bell pepper
1 container of fresh medium heat salsa from the produce section
2 tablespoons of cumin
Salt to taste
30 corn tortillas…I like a hefty yellow corn tort…you will see why later.
For the enchilada sauce
9 tablespoons of butter
9 tablespoons of flour
6 cups of chicken broth
3 cups of sour cream
For the topping
32 oz. shredded Monterey Jack Cheese
After you prepare the chicken meat and stock, next put a little avocado oil in a large saucepan, and cook the onion and bell peppers until soft.
Stir in the meat, salsa, cumin, and sometimes I add a minced garlic…season to your taste with salt.
I just have to say once again that I am grinding my own spices now and the flavor this fresh cumin added, really way amazing.
I have several of The Spice Way spices on Amazon and I have been pleased with all of them.
I also ordered my spice grinder on Amazon.
Cook the meat filling on the stove for about 30 minutes, then set aside to cool.
I put about a 1/2 a cup to one cup of stock in a pan, and heat it (but not to boiling).
Then I use a kitchen utensil with holes to hold the tortilla in the hot broth.
On my left hand I have a thick kitchen mitt and that is where I put the tortilla, scoop a large tablespoon of filling into it, roll it, and put it into a baking pan.
As I said, I have been making these chicken enchiladas for years, and this part does take practice to get the tortillas just right.
If they get too soft, they fall about and you cannot work with them.
If they are not soft enough you cannot work with them.
It just takes some practice.
This recipe will fill up two large baking pans with amazing chicken enchiladas. They freeze nicely and they taste even better the next day.
You can see in the back pan that I sprinkled extra meat filling over the top and I often do that…but if you have some left, do whatever you like (it’s good)
For the sauce, melt the butter in another pan, then sprinkle in the flour and round it into a yellow ball.
Then pour in your six cups of stock and whisk it until it is smooth and thickened.
The stock has salt in it, but you might want more, just taste. I do add about a 1/4 teaspoon of freshly ground pepper to it.
Once it is thick, set it aside and let it cool slightly for about 10 minutes. Then whisk in the sour cream. Do not do this with the hot sauce just off the stove…allow it to cool.
Then pour the sour cream sauce over both pans of chicken enchiladas.
Grate four cups of Monterrey Jack cheese and spread it over the top of both pans…two cups each pan.
You can pepper the top with a green salsa, or with green chiles, or with jalapeno…or nothing. Whatever your pleasure.
Cook at 350 for about 40 minutes…until it is bubbly.
Then enjoy Amazing Chicken Enchiladas!
This picture is from a past Christmas meal. For awhile, we ate Mexican food for a tradition on Christmas Day.
When I made these recently for Mr. B’s birthday…people were grabbing them so fast, I did not get a new picture.
We had not eaten them in awhile…and the word I got back was…AMAZING.
Thanks for joining me today in Pamela’s Kitchen. Please let me know if you have questions…these really are pretty easy…the softening of the torts is the hardest part, but the flavor added from the broth is worth it.
Hopefully, I will see you tomorrow…until then….
KEEP SMILING…and in my kitchen, I sing!
By Pamela Lutrell
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These sound delicious. Do you use red or green fresh salsa? What brand do you use? Have you ever frozen a try of enchiladas and baked at a later time?
I use red salsa that is made fresh at our grocery. I have frozen and they freeze well. We think they are better the next day.
Maybe I missed something, but I didn’t see how much water(etc) to put in the crock pot with the chicken?
I fill it to the top, Rhoda.
Sounds delicious! Subbing my gf flour for regular but corn tortillas work ( must check ingredient list) – I want mine as near to yours as I can get! Yummy!
These look really good. I’m going to try them.
They sound delicious but I can no longer eat red or green peppers or onions or garlic. I’m afraid they would be very plain and my husband rarely eats meat. But I remember when I could eat enchiladas many years ago.
This recipe would be a good one to break in my new larger kitchen when I get moved later this month. It’s such a pretty kitchen I feel obligated to start cooking again-LOL. I may experiment with cutting your recipe in half and then freezing individual portions, since I live alone. This would also be a real treat if someone is hosting a SuperBowl party this weekend. I love how you explain the steps in your recipes – very accessible to a cook with more basic kitchen skills. Thanks so much for sharing your kitchen with us!
Oh do those sound good and look delicious. For just me though that’s a lot of left overs.
I think these would be easy to sub ingredients and still have flavor. Enjoy, Paulette!
A larger kitchen…sounds like so much fun!
Hi Pam, I’m getting my ingredients ready to make your enchiladas . It’s a big batch and I want to freeze some for company next weekend . Can I freeze with sauce and cheese ?
Yes! It freezes well!