Chicken Enchiladas

I was first introduced to this recipe by my sister-in-law, Debbie. When I first tasted it I thought that it was truly the most wonderful Mexican food in the world.

Since then I've played around with her recipe a bit. These days I'm really in love with my crock pot, so instead of browning my chicken on the stove like Debbie, I decided to let my chicken get all cooked and shreddable in the crock pot instead. I think it turned out pretty good!

If you've never made chicken enchiladas this way I think this is certainly worth giving a try. I think this is how I'm going to make them from now on! It was SO easy, and the chicken turned out very flavorful because it had been simmering for hours in the spices and sauces.

I forgot to include a couple ingredients in this picture, sorry! Altogether I used 4 chicken breasts, 2 cans of mild green chili enchilada sauce, 1 small can of diced mild green chilies, a 8 oz. package of cream cheese, 1/3 cup of taco seasoning, 4 flour tortillas, a couple handfuls of shredded cheddar cheese, and sour cream for garnish.



I used a 4 quart crock pot. I think it was just the right size for the amount of food. Remember those 4 chicken breasts that I bagged up when I made chicken nuggets? Well, here they are again! Headed into the crock. :)



I poured in both cans of enchilada sauce. Green enchilada sauce is the BOMB! So much better than red in my opinion.



Then I cut my cream cheese into cubes.



And I added them into the mix.



Here's my taco seasoning that didn't make it into the first picture. :) I buy the big container from Costco, so I used about 1/3 a cup. If you don't have the big container you can use one of those envelopes from the grocery store... but I must warn you that those things are a waste of money and you'll save like $3 if you just buy the big container.




Mmm.... lookin' good already! Well... except for the raw chicken and all. Hee hee! If you're just hangin' out in the house like me you can set the crock on high, wait till it starts to bubble, and then turn it down to low for 5 hours. If you're not like me and you have a real job and are starting this project at 6am then you should set it at low before you leave for work and it'll be perfect by the time you get home.



At some point you should add the chilies. If you're like me you'll realize after you've put everything in the crock that you don't have any. And then you'll have to rush out to the store to get some at the last minute and add it in an hour before it's time to eat. If you're not like me, then you will have planned to have it in advance, then you can toss it in with the rest of the stuff at 6am. :)



And here is what it looks like after it's been simmering all day. By now your house smells like heaven!



So at this point you will need to poke around in there with a spoon to "shred" your chicken. I just sort of jab at it until it's in small pieces, it should fall apart very easily. If it doesn't you might want to cook it for another hour.



Now you should set your oven for 350 degrees and spray your baking dish with Pam. I just used a small 9x9, but this recipe certainly makes enough for a 9x13 so if you have some hungry teenagers in the house go right ahead and bring out the big guns.



Rolling enchiladas takes way too much time and effort in my opinion. So I just follow Debbie's lead in this regard and make it into a sort of layered casserole. To do that I rip my tortillas in half so that there is a straight edge that I can put up against the edge of the dish.



I do the same thing with my second tortilla, so that there isn't any unsightly gaps. If you do have gaps, don't worry about it, no one will ever know once you've got yummy chicken-green-chili-sauce goodness all over it.



Then I ladle a couple scoops of that chicken sauce on top of the tortillas.



At this point I'm trying not to drool all over it, because it looks so freakin' good!



Then I put a handful of cheese on there. I try not to go too crazy with the cheese at this point. Keep in mind that you will put a bunch more on the top.



Then I put down a couple more tortillas. See that gap there on the right? It doesn't bother me, and it shouldn't bother you either. :)



Then more chicken sauce. Now since this is the last layer be sure that every bit of tortilla is covered, otherwise it will burn in the oven.



And then more CHEESE! No need to restrain yourself here, put as much on as you like.



And here it is coming out of the oven! Grrrrlrllrlrlrlrlrlrlllllll.... I like it bubbly but I pull it out before the cheese turns brown (about 20 minutes). But if you like crispy cheese feel free to leave it in longer. I won't be offended.



And then be sure to put a dollop of sour cream on it before you eat. Sour cream and green chili sauce go hand in hand I tell ya!



I still had about 1/2 a crock worth of chicken sauce left over. So I threw it in a freezer bag and tossed it in the deep freeze for another time. Hurray! I'm all about cooking once and eating twice!