Chicken Enchiladas with Salsa Verde
This recipe is inspired from one of our favorite chefs Sandy De la Mora, who teaches at the El Pueblito Cooking School in Mayakoba Mexico. See our post when we met Sandy: HERE. This recipe is a simple chicken enchilada in a delicious charred tomatillo and pepper sauce. The heat of the dish can be adjusted to taste with the jalapeno and poblano peppers.
Salsa Verde
The recipe for this delicious charred tomatillo and pepper sauce can be found below on the recipe card or: HERE. It’s really the game changer in this recipe.
What makes this recipe so simple is chicken can be pre-cooked. (think Costco rotisserie chicken or your own chicken leftovers.) On this day, we did not have any cooked chicken so we made our own. We simply boiled the chicken in a stockpot filled with water and added an onion, salt and pepper.
But here’s the really cool part that we learned from Chef Sandy. After the chicken is done cooking remove it with tongs and place in a large bowl. Careful, it will be hot! Cover the bowl with another bowl the same size and shake! And, shake some more, really hard. After a couple of minutes of shaking open the bowl and there you have the best shredded chicken! So easy but it only works when it’s hot.
Next it’s time to prepare the corn tortillas, warming them in a bit of canola or vegetable oil. Have a plate with paper towel ready to place and separate them until ready to make the enchiladas.
Time to start rolling!
Make the Enchiladas
Place the shredded chicken, some cheese and a bit of chopped onion into a tortilla. Roll it carefully. If the tortilla tears easily there may be too much filling.
As the enchiladas are finished placed in a large baking dish with a bit of sauce spooned on the bottom. This will help them to not stick.
Once the enchiladas are complete spoon the verde sauce over the top. The amount can be at your discretion as there will be plenty of sauce. We like to have sauce to serve on the side.
Top with cheese and a few onions. Bake at 375 covered, for about 20 minutes or until the cheese is fully melted and the sauce bubbly. Once they are out of the oven top with the crema or sour cream.
A Mexican Plate
On this night we served the enchiladas with cilantro lime rice, a simple chopped salad and our fresh Pico de Gallo.
Chicken Enchiladas Verde
Ingredients
- 2 cups shredded cooked chicken home cooked or rotisserie works great!
- 1 cup of oil for frying the tortillas
- 12 corn tortillas
- Paper towels
- 2 cups Monterey Jack cheese
- 1/2 white onion chopped, + more for garnish
- 1/2 cup Mexican style cream (crema) or sour cream (optional)
- Green (Verde) Sauce. Recipe: HERE
Instructions
- In a large stockpot filled with water place 2-3 chicken breasts (this will be about 2 cups of shredded chicken).
- Add one white onion, outer skin peeled off and quartered. Add salt and pepper. Turn the heat on high.
- Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 25 minutes. Remove the chicken breasts and place in a large bowl. Discard the onion.
- Place another large bowl over the top of the bowl with the chicken. Holding tight to both bowls shake vigorously for a couple of minutes.
- Open the bowl and magically the chicken is shredded! Set aside until ready to roll in the enchiladas.
- In a pan over medium heat, add enough ½ cup of oil to have about 1/2 inch depth. Heat for about 3 minutes.
- Gently "pass each tortilla through the oil," one by one, for about 5 seconds on each side, they will soften and become resilient. You should be able to fold them without breaking them.
- Transfer them to a paper towel covered plate.
- Preheat the oven to 375°F.
- Place chicken, onions and Monterey Jack cheese inside of each tortilla and roll them up (2 tablespoons per tortilla). Place them, seam side down on a baking dish. Cover, generously, with the green sauce. Put additional cheese and onions on top of the salsa.
- Place them in the oven, covered, for 15-20 minutes. The cheese should be melted and the sauce bubbly. Remove them from the oven, drizzle with the cream or crema as desired. Serve additional sauce on the side. Enjoy!
Chili Rellenos - A traditional dish originated in Puebla Mexico, meaning "stuffed chilis." This simple, yet delicious version, uses fresh roasted poblanos, and topped with a pre-made enchilada sauce.