Homemade Cheesy Chicken Chipotle Enchiladas Recipe

About once a week, I have to get my cheese on! It doesn’t matter whether it’s pizza, or nachos or in my eggs… I just have to have it! These chicken enchiladas are packed with some of my favorite cheeses. Colby Jack cheese and Asiago cheese combined with shredded chicken wrapped in a soft tortilla and spiced up with some enchilada sauce! Oh yeah! I’m in!

I learned this recipe from a friend’s mom who was born and raised in Mexico. She was an amazing cook. I remember the first time I tried her chicken enchiladas. I know I talk about getting excited over food, but this recipe definitely had me jumping up and down. On the jumping up and down meter, I would rate it a 10 out of 10. That’s pretty high… The reason I rate these enchiladas so high is because from the moment you taste them, you fall in love. You want to have more, but at the same time, you just want to savor the bite you are eating. It’s like having a food orgasm (excuse my analogy)! There are only so many foods that can do this, and believe me, this dish is one of them.

Probably what makes these chicken enchiladas so good is the amount of care that is taken to create them. There are steps to achieving enchilada bliss, and I will share with you exactly what my friend’s mom shared with me. It’s really not difficult to make these… it’s just there are details in the steps. Your belly (and your family) will be so happy that you learned how to make these 🙂

Much of the success in achieving yummy enchiladas comes from preparing your ingredients and setting them up ahead of time. This helps you put them together efficiently. You need two frying pans, one to heat the tortillas in oil and the other to dip the tortillas in enchilada sauce. Prepare a Pyrex dish to stack the enchiladas. Of course you need your grated cheeses (the most important ingredient ;-). Don’t forget the shredded chicken (I just buy cooked chicken and shred it). Finally chop some green onion and cilantro. Setting up this workstation will help you put the enchiladas together lightening fast!

The basic assembly is pretty easy… you put oil in a pan, fry the tortilla on both sides, then dip it in warm enchilada sauce. Transfer it right to the baking dish and load it with chicken, cheese, green onion and cilantro. Pour a little extra sauce into the enchilada and then wrap it over and stack in the dish seam side down. Repeat the process until you have a dish filled with enchiladas. Feel free to add your own ingredients like veggies or do a few with just cheese. Once the dish is full, add more CHEESE to the top! Dump on more sauce. Garnish with cilantro and green onion and bake in the oven until the cheese is bubbly!

One of my favorite ingredients in this recipe, is the addition of the Chipotle Peppers in Adobe Sauce. I puree the entire can of Chipotle Peppers and then only use 1 Tbsp. mixed in to the two cans of enchilada sauce. The Chipotle sauce adds a smokey, spicy kick to the sauce (and it can be easily omitted if you don’t like spicy food). You can easily store the rest of the sauce in small freezer proof Ziplock bags. I’ll separate the sauce by tablespoons which makes it easy to take it out of the freezer and add it to any dish. It’s great on eggs, in salsa, and it adds a nice flavor to chicken and fish.

And if you want cheesy goodness for those nights when you come home tired from a long day, simply make a large dish of these ahead of time, say on the weekend… then store them in large freezer safe ziplock bags (2 to a bag works perfectly) as leftovers. Take them out and let them thaw in the fridge and heat them in a large toaster oven (with foil on a tray) or in the microwave (no foil in the microwave, just put them on a plate and cover with paper towel) for a few minutes. These make a great party food or family dish and kids LOVE them!

Here’s the recipe for these Authentic Mexican Cheesy Chicken Enchiladas!

Print Recipe

Homemade Cheesy Chicken Chipotle Enchiladas Recipe

This Homemade Cheesy Chicken Enchilada Recipe will have your family and friends singing praises. The enchiladas are filled with shredded chicken, your favorite cheeses, cilantro, green onions, and enchilada sauce spiced up with smokey Chipotle pepper in Adobe sauce. This is an authentic Mexican dish that can be made ahead of time and the leftovers freeze perfectly!

Course

Main Dish, Party Food

Cuisine

Mexican

Prep Time

1 hour

Cook Time

30 minutes

Servings

people

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp Chipotle Peppers in Adobe Sauce (Puree the entire can and store the rest in small Freezer proof ziplock bags)
• 2 Cans Enchilada Sauce Red or Green
• 1 Cooked Chicken Meat removed and shredded
• 1 Handful Cilantro Chopped
• 3 Pieces Green Onion Chopped
• 1 Package Colby Jack Cheese Grated
• 1 Package Asiago Cheese Grated
• 1 Package of 12 Flour Tortillas
• 1/4 cup Oil Any oil works, grapeseed, olive, vegetable oil

Course Main Dish, Party Food Cuisine Mexican Prep Time 1 hour Cook Time 30 minutes Servings people Ingredients 1 Tbsp Chipotle Peppers in Adobe Sauce (Puree the entire can and store the rest in small Freezer proof ziplock bags) 2 Cans Enchilada Sauce Red or Green 1 Cooked Chicken Meat removed and shredded 1 Handful Cilantro Chopped 3 Pieces Green Onion Chopped 1 Package Colby Jack Cheese Grated 1 Package Asiago Cheese Grated 1 Package of 12 Flour Tortillas 1/4 cup Oil Any oil works, grapeseed, olive, vegetable oil

Instructions

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Use a small food processor to puree the Chipotle peppers in adobe sauce. Combine one tablespoon of the Chipotle sauce to the 2 cans sauce of Enchilada sauce. Pour about half of the Enchilada sauce into a frying pan.

   
3. Chop green onions and cilantro and set in a dish near workstation. Grate cheeses and shred chicken and set in dishes. Prepare two frying pans side by side on stove top (one with the Enchilada sauce and keep it heated on low). Place a Pyrex dish or pan near the stove top. Have oil and tongs nearby and ready.

   
4. Place a tablespoon of oil in the clean frying pan and heat on low. Once warmed, pick up a tortilla and move it around on top of the oil in the pan, then flip it and set in the pan. Allow the tortilla to brown lightly, then flip. It will firm up slightly. Then pick up the tortilla with tongs, dip both sides in the enchilada sauce and transfer to the Pyrex dish. Add another tablespoon of oil to frying pan and repeat coating the tortilla with oil, and flipping. While the tortilla warms in the pan, load the sauce covered tortilla with chicken, cheese, green onions and cilantro making a line in the center with the fillings. Spoon a little extra sauce on top of the contents.

   
5. Fold the tortilla edge over and wrap it under and place the tortilla seam side down in the dish.

   
6. Always be watching and flipping the tortillas heating in the oil pan. Keep this pan heated on low. Repeat the process of dipping the tortilla and coating in sauce, then transferring to the dish and loading with contents. Stack the tortillas tightly in the dish.

   
7. Once the dish is full, add more sauce over the top and especially edges of the tortillas (to keep them from drying out). Add more grated cheese on top. Sprinkle green onions and cilantro on top. Bake in oven for about 20 minutes of until cheese melts and starts bubbling. Serve warm and enjoy!

   

Recipe Notes

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~Mandy Gatlin

SWEETIE PIE AND CUPCAKES FAVORITE PRODUCTS

Pyrex Bowl Set of 4

Pyrex Rectangular Baking Dish

Chipotle Peppers in Adobe Sauce

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