Chicken Enchiladas Recipe

This Chicken Enchiladas recipe is the result of many batches in my household.  I make it once or twice a month.  Slow simmered homemade enchilada sauce is so much better than ready-made sauces, you will never use them again, once you have made enchilada  sauce from scratch , you will never go back to jarred.

Chicken Enchiladas Recipe

5 from 1 vote

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Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 2 hours 20 minutes

Servings: 6

Calories:

Author: Robin Gagnon

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 to 2 lbs of boneless chicken either use tenders or cut up other boneless chicken to roughly that size
• 1 medium sweet onion diced
• 2 tbs. oil
• 1/2 tsp minced garlic or one crushed/minced clove
• 3 tbs chili powder
• 2 tbs dried cilantro
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp. cayenne
• 1/4 tsp. kosher salt
• large 29 oz can of Hunt’s tomato sauce (add another small can if you like extra sauce)
• 8 – 12 oz shredded cheddar or Monterrey Jack cheese
• approx. 12 corn tortillas

Instructions

• Saute onion and chicken in shallow stock pot or dutch oven, over med-high heat. Add the spices once meat is starting to brown. Stir. Cook another minute to open up the spices, then add the tomato sauce.
• Cut the burner down to simmer and cover. 1 hour
• Remove cover simmer another 40 min.
• Take pan off burner. Remove the chicken pieces from enchilada sauce, with tongs and put in a bowl to cool.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees
• Once chicken is cool enough to handle. Shred it by hand.
• Mix half the shredded cheese in with the chicken.
• Coat the bottom of a 9×13 baking dish with a layer of the sauce.
• Put 5 or 6 corn tortillas in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and microwave for 1 minute.
• Remove wrap carefully, and flip over the tortillas. The ones on the bottom should be soft & flexible enough to work with now. By the time you get to the others, they will also be ready.
• Make about a 1 inch circumference “log” of chicken/cheese mix 1/3 up from edge of tortilla and roll.
• Place the enchilada loose end down in the pre-sauced baking pan.
• You should get 2 rows of 5-6 chicken enchiladas, across the 9″ span.
• Top with the remaining enchilada sauce and cheese. (If you made extra sauce reserve it, to top the finished enchiladas or side dishes.)
• Bake for 25 minutes.

Serve these chicken enchiladas with the usual accompaniments.  I usually make my Spanish Rice & some black beans for side dishes.