Chicken Enchiladas from Scratch (Mostly)

Chicken Enchilada Meal

This recipe is an old stand-by that I’ve made for years. When I have extra time, I make a homemade tomatillo sauce to pour over the top, but this recipe uses a canned sauce. (That’s where the “Mostly” comes in…) This is another one of those meals that you can make ahead of time and put in the fridge until you are ready for dinner. Make a small green salad and heat up some refried beans while it’s in the oven, and dinner is served! I’ve cheated a little today as I’d written this recipe up last year and submitted it to a group for a recipe book project, so you won’t find the list of ingredients at the beginning like I’ve done in the past.

I wracked my brain to see if I could think of an anecdote to go with today’s dish, and was close to pointing out that I’d never had any kitchen mishaps or adventures while making this meal, but then I remembered when I made this one time I had poured the chicken broth down the drain by accident! I pointed this out in my Homemade Turkey Broth column.

Chicken Enchiladas from Scratch (Mostly)

In a 2 quart pot, add two large skin-on chicken breasts, about a half an onion, a couple of carrots and celery tops. Cover with enough water about an inch over the ingredients.

Bring to a boil, then turn down and simmer about 40 minutes until chicken is done. Strain and reserve chicken broth. Let chicken cool and debone and chop up chicken into bite-size pieces.

In a mixing bowl, add chopped up chicken, a small can of chopped black olives, about a half a cup of finely chopped onion, about ¾ cup of shredded cheese (any kind), a teaspoon of ground cumin, half a teaspoon or so of ground New Mexico red chili powder, black pepper to taste, and enough sour cream to bind it together. Then slowly add some reserved chicken broth until it’s not so dry.

Rolled and Ready for Sauce

Spray both sides lightly of 10-12 small corn tortillas with spray olive oil, then put on a paper plate, cover with a paper towel and microwave for about a minute until they are soft and pliable.

Spoon the mixture into each tortilla and roll up and place in rectangular casserole dish seams down. Pour more reserved chicken broth over all. Pour a can of green or red canned enchilada sauce over all, or use homemade enchilada sauce. Top with enough shredded cheese (any kind) to cover. If you have another can of sliced black olives on hand you can top the cheese with those to make it “pretty.”

Bake in a 350-degree pre-heated oven for thirty minutes until bubbly. Take out and let sit for five minutes. Serve and enjoy with additional sour cream and avocado!

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