Chicken Enchiladas

I wish I could come up with more creative titles for these posts, but since this is a cooking blog, and the goal of it is functionality (i.e., to find a recipe via internet when I need it!), I'll try to keep it simple.

Chicken enchiladas are one of my specialties: they are SO EASY, creamy and delicious.  I have based it on a recipe from Michelle Porter Nylander, a respiratory therapist who contributed this recipe to a book put together when I worked in the RTU at Primary Children's (circa 2004).  There are several recipes for enchiladas in that cookbook, but this one was the best, and I think my tweaks have made it even better.  The recipe:

Chicken Enchiladas


1 lb chicken breast cooked and shredded/cubed
1 cup sour cream
1 small can diced green chiles
1 can Cream of Chicken Soup
1 can green enchilada sauce
1 cup mozzarella cheese
8-10 flour tortillas


Mix soup, sour cream, green chiles, and 3/4 cup of cheese in a medium bowl.  Add chicken and mix well.  Spoon the chicken mixture into tortillas and roll.  Place close together in a glass baking dish coated with nonstick spray.  Pour enchilada sauce on top, then sprinkle with cheese.  Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.


That's the basic recipe.  Once again, I usually double this because it's just easier to do with a whole rotisserie chicken.  Once you shred the meat on the chicken, you have a perfect amount for a double recipe.  I really like the savory chicken from Smith's (Kroger), but really--any chicken will do, but stay away from funky flavorings (like lemon or barbecue).  Costco's is great and cheap, but make sure you use it the same day you purchase it.  Trying to shred cooked chicken that has been in the fridge is not ideal.  Ask me how I know.

So I will usually use one whole rotisserie chicken, 2 cups of sour cream, 1 large can of chiles (I like the mild, but if you prefer more heat--get the hot ones, or even jalapeños), 2 cans of soup, one large can (around 30 oz) of enchilada sauce, 2 cups of cheese and 20-25 tortillas.  The large can of enchilada sauce goes a long way; you don't have to use it all.  I definitely prefer a green sauce over a red sauce; I think it has better flavor.  I don't always use mozzarella; you could use a jack (I bet a pepper jack would be great!), colby, cheddar, whatever.  I can be a cheese snob, but since the cheese is not the star of the show here, I'll just use whatever I have on hand.  I also prefer to bake these in glass casserole dishes (9"x13" or so), and giving them a quick spray with nonstick Pam (or the like) will make clean-up a lot easier.  I have tried covering the pans, baking for 15 minutes, then removing the foil and baking for another 5 minutes or so (until the cheese browns), but I didn't see much difference between the taste or consistency of the enchiladas, and the covered ones took significantly longer to brown.  So just don't bother with it.  If you feel like adding spices, some pepper and/or cumin would be awesome.  Skip the salt--there's plenty of it in the soup and the chicken.


If you wanted to stretch the filling even further, you could add cooked rice or beans to the chicken mixture and get  around 40 enchiladas out of it.  Also, you can use reduced-fat sour cream and/or soup to make it a bit more diet-friendly.  I do NOT recommend low-fat cheese--it doesn't melt nicely, and it always leaves me feeling jipped.  


I hope you try this!  Let me know if you like it!