I rarely make enchiladas at home because it's pretty labor intensive if you make everything from scratch (see my previous post on chicken enchiladas in a red sauce). But my in-laws LOVE enchiladas. We were suppose to fly out to Hawaii in April to visit them, so I had purchased all sorts of Trader Joe's ingredients to make them some enchiladas once I arrived. Why Trader Joe's ingredients, you ask? Cuz there's no TJ's in Hawaii. So ANYTHING lugged over from TJ's is a treat for them (or so I like to think!).
Well, this extended shelter in place = cancelled trip with tons of enchiladas ingredients...and there's no better time than on Cinco de Mayo to make some enchiladas!
Instead of making everything from scratch, I decided to cheat and use store bought rotisserie chicken meat, and a jar of TJ's salsa verde to make this week night chicken enchiladas with green sauce. Because, hey, it's just for my hubby and I, and not for company.
But the dish came out really tasty and was so easy to make with these short cuts, I decided it was worthy to post the recipe here in case the mood for enchiladas with green sauce strikes in the future.
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| Saute onions and garlic. Then add cumin and flour and cook to remove raw flour taste. |
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| Add chicken broth and salsa verde and cook til thickened. |
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| Blend with immersion blender |
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| Assemble |
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| Top with sauce |
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| Top with cheese |
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| Bake 350 x 30 min |
Don't let the long instructions scare you. Should only take about an hour to make 2 trays of 8 enchiladas each. Eat one tray and freeze the other for later, or give to a relative/friend in need! You can serve these with a side salad (maybe this Southwestern style chopped salad?) and some tortilla chips to round out the meal.
Yields 8 servings
Ingredients:
- 16 corn tortillas
- Additional shredded cheese for topping (about ½ c)
Ingredients for sauce:
- 2 large yellow onions diced (about 4 cups)
- 6 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 T olive oil
- 1 T cumin
- ½ t salt
- ½ t ground black pepper
- 1 t sugar
- 2 T flour
- 2 c chicken broth
- 1 jar of Salsa Verde (12 oz)
Ingredients for chicken filling:
- 4 cups of shredded cooked roasted chicken
- 3 c shredded Monterey Jack cheese (12 oz)
Procedures for enchilada sauce:
1. In a pot, add olive oil and saute the onions with garlic until the onions are soft and translucent.
2. Add cumin, salt, pepper, sugar and flour and stir over medium heat for about 1 to 2 minutes.
3. Add chicken broth and salsa verde. (Note, if your salsa verde jar comes as a 16 oz jar, just use about 3/4th of the jar, and save the remaining 4 oz. You can use it for chips and salsa if you plan on serving the enchiladas with chips on the side.)
4. Bring to a boil and stir until thickened slightly. (about 5 min)
5. Turn off the heat and puree the sauce with an immersion blender. Taste the sauce and add more salt and pepper to your taste. (I didn't have to add any more because my chicken broth was salted and the salsa verde was already medium spicy.) The sauce is now ready to use.
Procedures for chicken filling:
Mix in 3 cups shredded cheese with the 4 cups of shredded chicken.
Procedures for rolling the enchiladas and baking:
1. Gather all your ingredients on a nice large working surface.
2. Spread 1 cup of the green enchilada sauce on the bottom of an 8x8 inch baking tray.
3. Place 6 corn tortillas on a microwave safe plate and cover them with a wet paper towel. Microwave on high for 1 minute to soften the tortillas.
4. Spread chicken filling mixture down the center of each tortilla. Wrap tortillas tightly around filling, placing seam side down in the baking dish. (See photo)
5. Repeat steps 3-4 until baking dish is filled. An 8x8 tray fits approximately 8 enchiladas.
6. Top with enchilada sauce. (Note: right after assembling the first tray, you need to immediately top with enchilada sauce to prevent the tortillas from drying and cracking open since the tortillas are not fried in oil. So do not wait until you finish assembling the 2nd tray before topping with sauce.)
7. Sprinkle with cheese.
8. Repeat steps 2-7 until 2nd enchilada tray is complete.
9. Bake at 350 F uncovered for 30 min. Let sit for 10 min. Serve hot.