How to Make Chicken Enchiladas: Easy Enchilada Recipe
Written by MasterClass
Last updated: May 4, 2024 • 3 min read
Chicken enchiladas are one of the most popular staples of Mexican cuisine. The easy recipe features flavors the whole family will love, and you can make it for a quick weeknight dinner using leftover chicken and a homemade enchilada sauce.
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What Are Enchiladas?
Enchiladas are a classic Mexican entrée that consists of corn tortillas stuffed with filling—typically proteins like chicken, cheese, or beef—which is rolled and covered in a savory sauce. The name “enchilada” is a Spanish term that translates to "seasoned with chile," a reference to the native chile peppers prominent in traditional enchilada sauces.
Traditionally, the dish consisted of a corn tortilla dipped in salsa and folded over, and occasionally filled with hard-boiled eggs or fish. You can fill enchiladas with various ingredients, including zucchini, boneless chicken breasts, ground beef, diced tomatoes, and green chiles. You can use various types of salsas and sauces on top of your enchilada, like a chipotle salsa or French béchamel, and add sliced avocado, cheddar cheese, or sour cream for extra texture.
What Type of Tortillas Work Best for Enchiladas?
Corn tortillas are the most traditional and adequate vehicle for enchiladas, as they provide structure to the enchilada. Softer flour tortillas may become soggy and fall apart after soaking in enchilada sauce.
Popular Mexican Enchilada Variations
Popular Mexican enchilada recipes include:
- Enchiladas suizas, or Swiss-style enchiladas, feature a creamy cheese sauce.
- Enmoladas feature a mole sauce—a rich, complex sauce made with nuts, seeds, and dried chiles.
- Enchiladas Verdes (also known as green enchiladas) feature a salsa verde, a tomatillo–based sauce.
- Enchiladas Rojas (also known as red enchiladas) feature a tomato- and chile-based red sauce.
- Enchiladas poblanas are filled with poblano peppers and stringy queso Oaxaca.
Popular American-Style Enchilada Variations
Traditional enchiladas, once enjoyed by the ancient Aztecs and Mayans, are vastly different from the popular Tex-Mex enchilada casserole made with cooked chicken and cheese. There are a few regional varieties of enchiladas in the United States, including:
- California-style. Enchiladas feature a red chile and tomato enchilada sauce.
- Texas-style. Texas enchiladas are filled with cheese and onions and covered in cumin gravy.
- New Mexico-style. New Mexico-style enchiladas, also known as enchiladas montadas, are stacked rather than rolled and smothered in either red enchilada sauce or salsa verde. They are sometimes topped with a fried egg.
Best Chicken Enchiladas Recipe
makes
prep time
15 mintotal time
35 mincook time
20 minIngredients
- 1
Preheat the oven to 400°F.
- 2
Make the salsa verde. Remove husks from tomatillos and rinse. Place them in a medium saucepan with enough water to just cover. Add a pinch of salt and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
- 3
Lower heat to medium and simmer until slightly soft, about 4 minutes. Drain, reserving cooking liquid.
- 4
Add a ½ cup of the cooking liquid (or chicken broth) to a blender or food processor, along with jalapeño, cilantro, garlic, and cooked tomatillos. Blend or pulse briefly, until a coarse, chunky sauce forms. (Blend longer if you prefer a smoother purée.) Taste for seasoning and add more salt if needed.
- 5
Remove the skin from the chicken and shred it into thin strips. Place the chicken in a large bowl and season it with salt, pepper, garlic powder, oregano, and chili powder. Set the chicken mixture aside.
- 6
Fry the tortillas. In a sauté pan over medium heat, warm olive oil until shimmering. Use tongs to fry the tortillas one at a time until golden brown, a few seconds per side. Transfer warmed tortillas to a baking sheet.
- 7
Pour a thin layer of salsa verde onto the bottom of a 9x13-inch baking dish or casserole dish. Spread a spoonful of salsa in the center of each tortilla and top with a pinch or two of shredded chicken filling and cheese.
- 8
Roll up tortillas and arrange in the baking dish seam side down. Pour the remaining sauce over enchiladas and top with remaining cheese.
- 9
Bake until the cheese melts and begins to brown, about 10–15 minutes. Remove from the oven and dollop each enchilada with a spoonful of sour cream. Garnish with chopped cilantro and serve with black beans and guacamole.
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