Why I chose to wear a white sweater and khaki pants on the day I made these amazing, saucy chicken enchiladas, I’ll never know. But even though my nice clothes are soaking in a bath of laundry detergent and hot water, all I can think about is how last night’s dinner was SO worth the gloppy red stains and piles of dishes.
This was a dinner I was originally reserving for the weekend, but as I read the recipe for these enchiladas, I couldn’t help but drool and start craving them immediately. After just under an hour of chopping, seasoning, sautéing and baking, these enchiladas were staring back at me and my husband as a delicious dinner we couldn’t wait to devour!
Of course, when I wrangled them out of the pan and onto the plate, they promptly split and oozed gooey cheese, chicken and tomatoes. But that’s just the nature of enchiladas. Everyone knows they’re not pretty, but they sure are tasty!
Chicken Enchiladas
Ingredients
- 1 ½ tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 lb. skinless boneless chicken breast
- Salt and pepper
- 1 teaspoons cumin powder
- 1 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon Mexican Spice Blend
- 1/2 red onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 cup frozen corn, thawed
- 3 canned whole green chilies, seeded and coarsely chopped
- 2 canned chipotle chilies, seeded and minced
- 1 28-ounce can stewed tomatoes
- 1 teaspoon all-purpose flour
- 7-8 corn tortillas
- 1 1/2 cups enchilada sauce, canned
- 1 cup shredded Cheddar and Jack cheeses
For servings:
- Chopped cilantro leaves, chopped scallions, sour cream, chopped tomatoes
Instructions
- Coat a large sauté pan with oil. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Brown chicken over medium heat, allow 7 minutes each side or until no longer pink. Sprinkle chicken with cumin, garlic powder and Mexican spices before turning. Remove chicken to a platter, allow to cool.
- Sauté onion and garlic in chicken drippings until tender. Add corn and chilies. Stir well to combine. Add canned tomatoes, sauté 1 minute.
- Pull chicken breasts apart by hand into shredded strips. Add shredded chicken to sauté pan, combine with vegetables. Dust the mixture with flour to help set.
- In batches of 3-4, wrap tortillas in moist paper towels and microwave on high for 30 seconds each. This softens them and makes them more pliable.
- Coat the bottom of a 13 x 9-inch dish with a ladle of enchilada sauce. Using a large shallow bowl, dip each tortilla in enchilada sauce to lightly coat. Spoon 1/4 cup chicken mixture in each tortilla. Fold over filling and place enchiladas in each pan with seam side down. Top with remaining enchilada sauce and cheese.
- Bake for 20 minutes in a preheated 350 degree oven, until cheese melts.
- Garnish with cilantro, scallions, sour cream and/or chopped tomatoes before serving. Serve with Spanish rice and beans.
- Enjoy!
Oh that’s terrible, Roxan! That just might have scared me into carrying an extra skirt or pair pants everytime I go out wearing white!
My family would love these! They look so tasty!
Your enchiladas look amazing! Definitely worth the laundry :)
What a delicious looking dish. Love the color.
Yes, you were very gutsy to wear that light colored outfit when cooking up these enchiladas. They look well worth the stains though! Great recipe, my hubs would love it! Have a great weekend :)
This is mouthwatering!
These looks great! Can’t wait to get messy with them myself!
It seems we always wear the best things to cook in, but for me I usually think I am in the clear and in the last few minutes is when I will spill something on my clothes! Enchiladas usually aren’t pretty, but those look excellent!
these look great! How do you always have the most amazing photos!?
Sarah, that’s great that you and your boyfriend enjoyed these! Thanks for letting me know how they turned out for you :) In fact, I’m making them again tonight!
Georgia
What a beautiful picture! These look amazing!
I am definitely an enchilada lover, and these have my mouth watering at 10:30 in the morning!
Thank you, Claire. I’m so flattered that you like the photos!
i am always impressed whenever i stop by your site. it is gorgeous. i love this enchilada recipe. great post:)
Enchiladas are the favorite on our household. Thanks for sharing this recipe, I will surely try this on the weekend.
Hi Kiasa,
I don’t know exactly what brand of canned goods I used, but they were the best quality I could find. Chipotle peppers (sometimes called adobo peppers) are usually in the “ethnic” aisle of every supermarket. As you can tell from the original recipe’s review on The Food Network, it was very highly rated, but I’m sorry it didn’t work out for you.
Georgia
This is my kinda favorite meals! This is comfort food to me and I could never tire of a plate of enchiladas. Beautifully done…I can taste these already!
Makes me so happy when you find a recipe like that.. one that just won’t wait for the weekend! Your story is sweet, especially about the stains! Glad you both enjoyed -These look delicious! ~ Megan
Nice post! They look delicious…
that photo is great
These look so good. I love enchiladas, and I love how this recipe doesn’t pack in excess sour cream in the sauce. Thanks for sharing!
This looks yummy. I’d use reduced fat cheese to make the recipe skinny and keep everything else the same!
yum! I LOVE enchiladas :) These look fantastic! :)
These look so yummy. I wonder how they would be with spinach in place of chicken?
I love Mexican food. Enchiladas is one of my favorite Mexican dishes. Yours look absolutely mouthwatering.
I agree with Betty…these are beautiful! I’m sure they tasted even better though! I love enchiladas…and I wish that I made them more often. I find myself not planning ahead enough during the week for a yummy meal like this. Maybe I’ll give these babies a shot tomorrow night…I have all day tomorrow to go to the store!
Oh, but I think they are beautiful! I love the looks of these enchiladas- I’d probably have to wear a bib. :)
This is my kind of comfort food – I love Mexican! Your enchiladas look mouth watering good.
Aw, sorry about the mess on your clothes, but glad to hear it was worth it. They certainly look worth it! Funny story that yours reminds me of… one of my friends was out at a restaurant, eating pasta with a red sauce. She got some sauce on her hands, and thinking that her napkin was on her lap, started wiping her hands on her white pants.
Your photo makes my mouth water…when you make them next, can I invite myself over for dinner? Theresa
Thanks for stopping by and pointing me out to that awesome sauce of yours, Wendy! I’ve always got something marinading in the fridge, so this will really come in handy next time I want to kick up the spice!
Georgia
Look yummily fantastic! I sometimes get the urge to cook a fancy meal during the week, but The Weekend Gourmet usually holds out ;)! I love Mexican food and could make it every weekend. I encourage you to give mojo de ajo a try next time…recipe’s on my blog if you want to see it.
If I hadn’t just had flautas for dinner last night (and again tonight), I’d be right out the door to one of the three Mexican places 1 block away for an enchilada “fix”. As it is, I’ve got tortillas galore (for store-bought I prefer flour). Let’s face it, you can put anything inside a nice soft and warm tortilla and cry a little at the pleasure.
Just wanted to let you know, I made this last night for my boyfriend. This was absoultely delicious!!! I’m pretty sure this made him fall in love with me all over again. :)
I just made these tonight because they looked/sounded amazing. I think my biggest advice would be to use good quality canned tomatoes. (I’m visiting my mom and just used what she had on hand.) I also couldn’t find “mexican spice blend” (used taco seasoning) or canned chipotles (just omitted) at my local market (and I didn’t feel like hitting multiple markets with two little kiddos. Do you mind saying what brand of canned goods you used. For me, it seems, can make or break a dish. Mine didn’t turn out fantastic (I’m guessing because I didn’t follow the recipe as closely as I like), so I’m a little bummed.
These sound so good, thanks for sharing this delicious looking recipe.
Simon