There really is nothing like a hot bubbling dish coming out of the oven, especially when the bubbles are coming from cheese melting away draped over top some stuffed enchiladas. When thinking about what kind of enchiladas I was going to make I dabbled with the idea of beef, chicken, vegetable? And then I realized, this recipe would go great with any type of filling your heart desires. With the help of store bought rotisserie chicken you can cut the time to make chicken enchiladas in half. I’m sure we could all use a little extra time in our days. I like to pack my enchiladas with more than just meat, I like to make mine a cross between fajitas and enchiladas adding peppers and onions to the filling, because who doesn’t love a mouth full of flavor!
Now onto the enchilada sauce, sure there are some great kinds available at your local grocer however, I love a good sauce. Making an enchilada sauce from scratch is so much easier than you would think, it doesn’t require slaving over the stove all day stewing peppers or blending and seeding, it just requires some great spices, tomato paste, and a little water.
Tortillas, so many different kinds so many different uses for them. When I’m talking about tacos I love corn tortillas, but when I’m talking about enchiladas I am team flour tortilla all the way. The flour tortillas really hold up to being stuffed and rolled as well as stays intact with through the sauce and baking process. They keep their shape and allow for the best result over corn tortillas.
I know you typically don’t top enchilada with the kinds of fixing you would a taco, but I throw that rule of thumb right out the window. Mixing a little yogurt lime crema, slicing some radishes, chopping cilantro, any fixing you can think of in my opinion goes great with enchiladas, I’m kind of a topping queen if you haven’t noticed!
Ingredients:
- 1 Rotisserie Chicken
- 8-10 Small Flour tortillas
- 1 can Black Beans
- 1 Onion, thinly sliced
- 1 Poblano pepper, seeded and sliced
- 1 tbs. Garlic, minced
- 1 tbs. Fajita Seasoning
- 1 tsp. Chili Powder
- 1 tsp. Coriander
- Salt and Pepper to taste
- 2 Cups Mexican cheese blend (or pepper jack cheese if you want to kick it up a notch)
For Enchilada Sauce:
- 4 tbs. Tomato Paste
- 1 tbs. Fajita Seasoning
- 1 tsp. Chili powder (or chipotle powder if you find it at your local store)
- 1 cup water (plus more if needed)
- 1 tbs. Butter
- 1 tbs. Olive Oil
Instructions:
Pull Chicken and set aside
Meanwhile in saute pan heat 1 tbs. of Olive Oil, saute peppers and onions with a pinch of salt and pepper for 8 minutes until they begin to soften, add garlic and spices and saute another 3 minutes. Set Aside.
In a small sauce pot add the black beans coriander and chili powder with a pinch of salt and pepper and simmer until beans become very soft and mashable.
Set aside in bowl rinse out the sauce pot you will be reusing this. In small sauce pot heat butter, tomato paste, 1 tbs. fajita spices, chili powder (or chipotle powder) and water until smooth. Let simmer for 10 minutes stirring occasionally. You want the sauce to be slightly thick.
Now time to assemble, using an assembly line approach spoon a small amount of beans in the center of a flour tortilla, follow with a few peppers and onions, top with pulled chicken and 1/2 tbs. of cheese. Roll mixture into a log shape and lay in baking dish. Repeat this process until you’ve made a single layer of enchiladas in the dish. Once complete spoon sauce over enchiladas through the center to cover most of the tortillas, top with 1/2 cup of cheese (use more if your heart desires I just like to keep it low cal). Bake in a 400 degree oven for 15 minutes, broil for the last 5 minutes to get a nice dark melted cheese topping!
Now should you want to use only vegetables I would double up on the amount of beans, should you want to use ground beef I would substitute 1 lbs. ground beef cooked with 2 tbs. of fajita seasoning and omit the beans. That actually sounds delicious I might do this next week. Thanks for the idea.