Friday, August 9, 2019

Easy Chicken Enchiladas – Flatter Wasn’t Faster, But Still Fabulous

I’ve wanted to do a homemade red enchilada sauce video for a while now, and not just one. Eventually, I need to film a proper Mexican-style enchilada sauce, but first, may I present the faster, easier, but still very delicious, Tex-Mex version. Speaking of faster, I thought by stacking these, they’d be a little quicker to make, but they took the same time as rolled ones. That means they’re both fast and easy.

Since we are taking the shortcut of using dried chili powder, be sure to at least get a nice one. I used ground Ancho, which is very nice, but what isn’t nice is that old bottle of chili powder you’ve had in the pantry since the 90’s. If you live in some remote location, go on the Internet and order something fresh. Besides using it in this, your next pot of chili will also be grateful.

If you’re making the sauce ahead of time, it’s a good idea to heat it up first before assembling your enchiladas, so they are warm going in the oven. Otherwise, you’ll need to give them some extra time in the oven, so they get completely heated through. I love chicken enchiladas more than someone probably should, but this same preparation done with shredded, stewed beef, is not to be missed. Either way, I really do hope you give these a try soon. Enjoy! 


Ingredients for 2 1/2 cup Red Enchilada Sauce:
(enough for 4 to 6 Portions)
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup diced onion
1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
3 to 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour, depending on how thick you like it
2 tablespoons ground chili powder, like ancho
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon chipotle
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
cayenne to taste
small pinch cinnamon
3 cloves minced garlic
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 1/2 cups chicken broth

Fillings for each enchilada:
3 small corn tortillas
2/3 cup shredded cooked chicken
2/3 cup shredded pepper or regular Monterey Jack cheese, plus more as needed
chopped cilantro and green onion, as needed
sour cream, and guacamole to garnish
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28 comments:

Edward said...

A friend makes these like lasagna: layers of tortillas alternating with layers of chicken and cheese, starting and ending with tortillas. The tortillas are laid out overlapping enough to avoid gaps between them with half tortillas along the edge of a full or half hotel pan depending on the number of diners. The top layer is like yours with cheddar/jack mix or straight jack cheese. When the enchiladas come out of the oven, they are cut like lasagna into whatever size pieces are desired as a portion. Garnish as you like, of course.

Unknown said...

Wow, this looks delicious! Any recommendations for adjusting the sauce to make this gluten free?

Unknown said...

Cheese enchiladas.... with onions :). Just like in South Texas!

Leslie said...

Can you do a video on how to make a verde sauce? I prefer chicken enchiladas with green sauce.

Brenn said...

Mediterranean Chef? I am after all, the Phil Spector of cuisine corrector, (perhaps a poor reference). About to make these regardless.

richie said...

that sure looks awesome. i guess the shredded chicken is best in smaller size. smaller gives a better taste for the mouth to enjoy.....

Unknown said...

I love your recipes and your no-nonsense approach to cooking! Could you make a video or two on kitchen essentials (e.g. What pots/pans you like to use and how many) and how to stock a pantry/ spice rack? Cooking for a family of four in a tiny kitchen and struggling with space...

Vanessa said...

i made the sauce tonight, but used our favorite chicken enchilada recipe otherwise. This was incredible!

S/V Blondie-Dog said...

Greetings Chef! I'll has ya' done knows 'dat this here enchilada sauce ain't no Mediterranean Cuisine and 'dat it be Mexican. Kindly fix the labeling before my finicky lady-friend notices and she goes on one of her OCD inspired rants. Thanks! You're 'da best!

iamSrah said...

Looks so good! Will be on the menu this weekend! Thanks for sharing

.: Contorted Image :. said...

Thank you so much for sharing this recipe, Chef John! My wife loves mexican food and can't wait to make this for her.

April said...

Just put a list together for the items I need to make this...wanted to say your tag says for Mediterranean when you most definitely maybe wanted to tag it as Mexican...probably. Long time fan - you make me want to be a better man— I mean, cook. LOVIES!

Great Day! said...

Huge hit w/ my 3 boys!
They normally want flour tortillas but I insisted on doing it right.

They loved it!

Paul said...

I made this last week. Amazing. And what makes it so good is the enchilada sauce from scratch. I could eat that alone as a soup it is that good. Next time I will try it a roasted pork filling.

goldpanman said...

So, I made this last night for dinner and it was fantastic. My wife said it's the best enchilada sauce. Thanks, Chef John!

Lady Orion said...

Chef John could you grace us with a taquito video? I would like to be the great bandito of my taquito!

Unknown said...

This is the Enchilada sauce that has now made me a lover of this dish. Stacking the tortillas is brilliant! Thank you and keep up the good work.

Darwy said...

Hi Chef John

I was wondering if you had any experience with canning - I'm interested in canning enchilada sauce (I can't buy it out here in DK), and I'd like to be able to have it on hand for when dinner needs to be simple, etc.

Unknown said...

This recipe is as far as you can get from enchiladas. Clearly whoever did this has never had enchiladas in any reasonably good Mexican kitchen, not to say in Mexico. No roux, no sugar, no cinnamon, no stacking, where are tomatoes? the chiles? This only shows total lack of respect and knowledge of Mexican cuisine (you know, food eaten in Mexico). As a Mexican it seriously makes me wonder about the authenticity of other recipes in this channel, french, italian, spanish recipes and others.

Terry said...

Oh my! I made these tonight with pulled rotisserie chicken meat from Costco and Monterey Jack cheese. The depth and complexity of flavors was outstanding. Just the right spice bite without being too hot. Thanks for another fantastic recipe Chef John!

Christopher Lichtenberg said...

When I made the sauce it was thick like a gravy. Store bought sauce I found to be thinner and... oily. This sauce was a welcome change and I may use it with a tortilla soup. I didn’t do the stacking but rolled them. Btw I followed your corn tortilla recipe. I didn’t need to boil the tortillas and eat them again. They were very pliable and held together after baking.

Sylvia said...

Made this and rolled them (sorry some things are traditional!) It's a keeper and they freeze well. Cooking for one, can be a challenge when scaling down recipes.

Unknown said...

Chef John, I love, love, love you. Could you post a recipe for lumpia?
Lynn

Unknown said...

Doing this this weekend.

This would work well with a good sour cream sauce or tomatillo sauce as well.

I had to leave a comment telling you about the "crooked chicken".

I have watched that several times just for that. I laughed so hard! Thanks for not editing that out.

Unknown said...

I love Mexican food!!! Would be amazing if you could do a tamale video!!! Pork tamales...yummmm

Sylvia said...

For the person looking for gluten free, you can try oat flour, or corn flour, or just let the sauce reduce and it'll thicken, be careful not to burn it.

ashleee. said...

i used the red sauce recipe for my first time making enchiladas! i am a big fan of mexican food, but where i live in canada, there aren't many mexican restaurants that use a lot of pepper and other spices. the sauce was sweet in my opinion as i'm very accustomed to super spicy food, but it worked well with the shredded chicken, black bean and onion/bell pepper filling i used for my enchiladas as i seasoned those with canned chipotles that were in an ancho sauce. next time i will probably use some dried ground habanero pepper as well!

David Alpuche Las Vegas said...

I like to change things up I substituted the chicken for Chef John’s pulled pork. Even then, I didn’t want to wait for a hours for that. So, I did everything the same but I turned up the temp to 350 and cooked it for 6 hours instead of 12 hours and I added 2 sliced onions. It was still amazing and very moist all the parts very easily. I even added some liquid smoke dad a little extra flavor to it.