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These creamy chicken enchiladas are elevated by salty queso fresco, a rich red enchilada sauce that tastes homemade (but is far less work), and, naturally, lots and lots of cheese.
With very little work, take a simple canned enchilada sauce and make it taste rich and homemade. Since I typically feed just two people, this recipe allows for plenty of leftovers, making the extra work worthwhile.
For a shortcut with chicken, consider using a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store. If you want to go the affordable route, I typically boil chicken breasts and cut into 2-inch pieces, then throw them into a mixing bowl. Using the paddle attachment on my Kitchenaid mixer, the chicken is shredded in under a minute!
I have the admit, there was definitely a time when we got tired of these bad boys… because I was making them almost once a week. Now we’re back in a healthy enchilada lifestyle (which is about once per month).
I like to serve these with black beans with lime, which help to add citrus and some veggie-power to this rich and creamy dish.
Creamy Chicken Enchiladas
- Prep Time: 35 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
Ingredients
- 2 T butter
- 2 T flour
- 1 (10 oz) can red enchilada sauce
- 3/4 c chicken broth
- 2 onions, diced
- 1 (4 oz) can diced green chiles
- 6 oz queso fresco, crumbled
- 1 1/2 c sour cream
- 3 c cooked, shredded chicken
- 1 T cumin
- 1 tsp. chili powder
- 8 tortillas
- 2 c Monterey Jack, shredded
- 3 scallions, thinly sliced (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Prepare 8 ½ x 11″ baking dish with nonstick spray.
- In a small pan over medium heat, melt butter and add flour. Stir constantly and cook. Add enchiladas sauce, broth, salt, and pepper and stir. Bring to boil; reduce heat and simmer until thickened, about 15 minutes. Keep warm over low heat.
- In a large pan, heat oil until shimmering. Add onions and green chiles and cook, stirring, 5 to 7 minutes.
- Stir in cumin and chili powder, then add chicken, sour cream, and queso fresco. Stir until creamy, about 4 minutes.
- Remove enchilada sauce from heat. Spread 1/2 cup of sauce in bottom of baking dish. Working with 1 tortilla at a time, dip tortillas in remaining enchilada sauce and fill with 1/3 cup of chicken filling. Roll tortilla around filling and place seam-side down in baking dish.
- Repeat with remaining tortillas.
- Pour remaining sauce over rolled enchiladas and sprinkle with Monterey Jack.
- Bake until cheese is fully melted and bubbly, 25 to 30 minutes. Remove from oven and let rest 5 minutes. Garnish with scallions and serve.
Notes
For easy shredded chicken, use a rotisserie chicken or poach chicken breasts.
I love this recipe! I might hit you up for this one too – once I get my meal planning up and going : )