Chicken Enchiladas

I've made chicken enchiladas many, many times before but never quite like this.  This was da bomb diggity do da. 

I don't know what it is, but there's something about chicken enchiladas that screams comfort food.  Winter has officially struck Chicago so a little spice and some warm gooey cheese was called to the rescue.

The beautiful thing about this recipe?  It's pretty hard to screw up and you can make a million different variations.  It's also an awesome recipe to use up left over meat.  In my case, it was left over chicken.  Don't like meat?  Try the same recipe with lentils or black beans.  Boom.

I know this is more ingredients than I normally use, but I promise it's not that bad.  And NO, I'm not using all of that butter.  Only part of it.  Jeesh.

Cooked Chicken, Shredded

Mexican Blend Cheese
Butter

Cumin

Taco Seasoning

Enchilada Sauce

Chipotle Peppers 

Onion

Garlic

Tomatoes 

Flour Tortillas 

Melt down some butter in a medium hot skillet.  Chop the onions, garlic, and chipotle peppers and add to the butter.  Chipotle peppers are smoked jalapeno peppers canned in this amazing adobo sauce.  Adding a couple of peppers and some of the liquid gives this deep, amazing flavor with a kick of heat.  If you don't like spice you can easily skip this step.  But I'll be bummed.

Once everything is blended well add the cumin and taco seasoning and give it a nice stir.

Turn the heat off and fold in the chopped tomatoes.  You could easily add everything together at once, but I like to see chunks of the tomatoes so adding them at the end helps them keep their shape and bright fresh flavor.

Add our onion/garlic/chipotle/tomato mixture to the chicken and stir.

My chicken was a bit dry and this enchilada sauce was a bit tasty so I just added some to the chicken.  Yum.  Not a lot, just a splash to moisten things up.

Ok so before we start assembly, add some enchilada sauce to the bottom of your casserole dish.  Doesn't need to be exact - just add enough to cover the bottom but you want to save some for the top of the enchiladas as well so keep that in mind.

So...I like cheese.  Like a lot.  So, if you aren't like me and you don't spend your days planning how to incorporate more cheese into your life, you might not want to add so much.  There is also probably something wrong with you.  Check yo' self before you wreck yo' self.

Ok so after putting a layer of the chicken mixture and the cheese, fold up the ends.

Place it seem side down in the enchilada sauce.  Wrap it and hold it tight while you're putting it down because it'll loosen up as soon as you let go.  Don't worry about the flippy ends - we'll fix them in a second.

Keep going until you run out of space.  I made 4 big dawgs and topped it with the rest of the sauce.

With a wooden spoon or a spatula gently spread the enchilada sauce on the top and press the ends so they fold in.  See?  Add then, of course, add more cheese.

I would have actually added more but I ran out.  I GUESS this is enough.

Pop into a 450 degree oven for 10-12 minutes or until cheese is nice and melted on top.

Hells to the YES.

To make it look pretty and less gluttonous, I added some sliced tomatoes and some sour cream.  Obviously cilantro would be a more appropriate garnish here but I only had dill.  The important thing is that it's GREEN and it's PRETTY.  I hope you are writing this down.  This is revolutionary stuff here folks.

What uuuuuuup.

Let's just take a closer look, shall we?  This was incredibly tasty and enthusiastically enjoyed by the hubs.  Stay hungry!

Chicken Enchiladas Recipe

3 Cups Cooked Chicken, shredded

2 Cups Mexican Blend Cheese, shredded 

1 Tsp Cumin

1 Tsp Taco Seasoning

1 10 Oz Can Enchilada Sauce

2 Chipotle Peppers, chopped with sauce

1/2 Onion, chopped

2 Garlic Cloves, chopped

2 Tomatoes, chopped

Flour Tortillas 

1 Tbs Butter 

Melt butter in skillet.  Add onion, garlic, and chipotle peppers.  Add about a tablespoon of chipotle pepper (adobo) sauce for additional heat.  Stir over medium heat until well incorporated, about 3 minutes or so.  Add cumin and taco seasoning.  Stir to incorporate.  Turn heat off and add 1 tomato, chopped.  Add mixture to chicken and stir.  You can add a couple tablespoons of the enchilada sauce if chicken mixture seems dry.  In a casserole dish, pour in some enchilada sauce just to cover the bottom.  Add chicken mixture and cheese to tortillas and roll and place into dish seem side down.  You can make these as thin or as thick as you want.  Top enchiladas with enchilada sauce and cheese.  Bake in a 450 degree oven for 10 or so minutes until cheese is melted well.  Top with sliced tomatoes and serve.  Enjoy! 

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