Idea Thievery: Chicken Enchiladas

If you are a regular reader you know I have already stated my love for the nacho and if you know me personally you know I have mad love for Mexican food. For the past few months I have been working on a chicken enchiladas recipe. Like most things I cook I look for a fair amount of simplicity, ingredients that I can go low fat on and ingredients that aren’t objectionable to anyone in my household.

So in looking for the best recipe to work from, I did what I always do. First I started with the physical cookbooks I have on hand. One of my go-to books was a gift from a dear friend and fellow cook: The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook. They have a recipe for “simple” chicken enchiladas but there were a few issues with the recipe: the inclusion of heavy cream and the making of a traditional “red” enchilada sauce. My dear husband is not a member of the red enchilada sauce fan club so I needed to find a variation on the recipe that was on the creamier side of enchilada sauces.

Enter my go-to website: Allrecipes.com They had a recipe that was pretty straightforward and simple and involved a few convenience ingredients like canned soup. In this case, they recommended cream of mushroom soup. That was going to happen either because husband does not do mushrooms…OF ANY KIND. Even teeny, tiny mushrooms or mushroom-ish flavor was not going to fly. The all recipes version also calls for flour tortillas. One of the things I liked about the America’s Test Kitchen recipe was the use of corn tortillas. I like their flavor AND corn tortillas are the healthier option. 

So I experimented a few times, using sour cream like Allrecipes.com suggested and then trying light whipping cream. I experimented with tomatoes, tomato sauce, onions and chiles in different combinations. Then, I made up my mind to try one more version using the remains of the finally cooked roast chicken. The below recipe was in my mind a huge success and the only recommendation I got from hubby? A little more heat. Now THAT is an easy fix!

Cook Crook Chicken Enchiladas

1 can fat free cream of chicken soup

1 10oz. can of diced tomatoes and green chiles UNDRAINED

1 tablespoon taco seasoning

½ block light cream cheese

1 15oz can tomato sauce

2 cups cooked shredded chicken

2 cups reduced-fat Mexican blend cheese - divided

Corn tortillas

Preheat oven to 400.

In a sauce pan combine on medium heat the soup, tomatoes and chiles, taco seasoning, cream cheese,  and tomato sauce and heat until the ingredients are well incorporated and warm.

Remove the sauce from the heat and pour about 1 cup of the sauce into a bowl. Add the chickenand 1 cup of the cheese to the bowl of sauce and combine well.

Spray a large casserole or baking dish with cooking spray. Place the corn tortillas on a microwave safe plate, cover with plastic wrap and microwave for 50 seconds. (This is a tip I got from America’s Test Kitchen on rolling corn tortillas.) Working quickly with the still warm tortillas, place 1/4 to 1/3 cup of the chicken mixture in the center of each tortilla and tightly roll. I tend to stuff my tortillas pretty full so the amount of filling is truly a personal preference. The only trick is not to stuff them to the point they cannot be tightly rolled. I did find that I needed to reheat the last few tortillas to keep them pliable and easy to roll.

Place the rolled tortillas seam side down in the baking dish. Make sure to place them gently butsnugly up against each other. I ended up with a total of 12 rolled tortillas in my 9x11 baking dish. Carefully pour the sauce that remains in the pot over the rolled tortillas being sure to cover them evenly and completely. Sprinkle the remaining cup of cheese evenly over the sauced tortillas:

Cover tightly with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for another 5-10 minutes or until cheese is melted and the sauce is bubbly.

Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.

The dish can easily be heated up with the addition of chili powder, jalapeños or a spicy taco seasoning. You can of course use 100% cheese instead of reduced fat as well. I am excited to have a recipe I can call mine and look forward to making them again to share with friends.