My little brother, who is a dentist, just LUVS anything Tex-Mex! He’s especially fond of my Cheesy Chicken Enchiladas. So, I told him that every six months I would come to his house and cook him some of these here dee-lish-us enchiladas, in exchange for a free teeth cleanin’ and bleachin’! So, now he has a full and happy tummy and I have a healthy mouth full of pearly whites! Ole’ to that!
Cheesy Chicken Enchiladas
Recipe by: Bobbi Jo Lathan
Recipe type: Main, Brunch, Entree
Cuisine: Southern
PREP TIME
45 mins
COOK TIME
30 mins
TOTAL TIME
1 hour 15 mins
INGREDIENTS
15 corn tortillas
2 boneless chicken breasts
2 teaspoons ground cumin
½ teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 red onion (chopped)
2 cloves fresh garlic (chopped)
2 fresh jalapeno peppers (seeded and chopped)
2 cans red enchilada sauce (15 ounce size)
1 jar taco sauce (12 ounce)
2 cups Cheddar and Jack cheese (grated)
Sour cream and cilantro (for garnish)
INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat your oven to 350°.
Cut your boneless chicken breasts in half so they will cook more quickly and pat them dry.
In a small bowl, blend together your chili powder, garlic powder, cumin, and black pepper. Sprinkle both sides of the cut chicken breasts with the chili powder-cumin mixture.
Git your cast iron skillet and heat your olive oil over a medium heat.
Add your cut-up chicken breasts. Let them brown over the medium heat for about 6-7 minutes on each side until they are no longer pink and are cooked through.
Remove the cooked chicken to a plate and let it cool. Once the chicken is cool, you can shred it with two forks or with your hands before placing inside the corn tortillas.
In that same skillet, add the onions and garlic and sauté them in the drippins’ from the chicken until the onion is translucent. Now, add the chopped jalapeno peppers and sauté for another minute, or so. Next, add half (1 can) of the red enchilada sauce to the onion-jalapenos in the pan and stir to blend.
Once that’s all blended and bubbly, add your shredded chicken to the enchilada sauce and stir ‘til blended. If it’s a bit runny, I just take 2 tablespoons of the bubblin’ hot sauce and place it in a little pot. Then a teaspoon of flour and whisk ‘til thick. Then, I add this floured mixture back into the chicken - enchilada sauce cookin’ in the cast iron skillet and stir. This will help thicken it a little.
Now, git yourself a 9X13 pan and coat it with some olive oil. Take that other can of enchilada sauce and pour half of it into the 9X13 pan. The other half, pour into pie plate or pan as you’re gonna use this to dip your corn tortillas in before rolling them up.
You’re gonna need to heat up them corn tortillas in order to make them pliable. You can nuke ‘em in your microwave for about 20 seconds, or hold ‘em over your gas burner with some tongs and get a little 2-3 second scorch on ‘em. Or you can heat ‘em over a medium heat in another skillet coated with a little olive oil, about a half minute on each side, and place them on a plate of paper towel to drain. Any way you do it, you’re gonna want to work quickly, at this point, so they don’t get hard.
Now, dip both sides of your tortilla into the enchilada sauce that you already poured in your pie plate, then scoop out about two tablespoons of the chicken mixture into the middle of the corn tortilla, add a little of the grated cheese and roll the tortilla up and place seams-down into the 9X13 pan with half the enchilada sauce in the bottom.
Once all your tortillas are rolled up and snugly resting in the pan, pour whatever (if any) of the remaining enchilada sauce you used for coating over the tacos. Then, open the taco sauce and pour over all the filled chicken enchiladas, and then top with the remaining grated cheese. You can always use more grated cheese on top if you like! You’re the boss, or jefe!
Now, place the pan of enchiladas into your 350° preheated oven and bake uncovered for about 20 minutes.
As soon as I take them out of the oven, I sprinkle a little more grated cheese over the top and it melts right away. Now, let it cool for about 3 minutes (if you can wait that long!)and serve them up with a dollop of sour cream and some freshly chopped cilantro! YUM! Dadgum! These here Cheesy Chicken Enchiladas are mucho muy bueno!!