Chicken Enchiladas
Flour or corn tortillas with creamy chicken filling, topped with cheese sauce and salsa.
Ingredients
For the Filling
- 2 cups cooked chicken meat from leftovers OR make your own, recipe follows
- 1 green bell pepper chopped
- 250 grams cream cheese cubed
- 1 cup hot salsa store-bought or make your own, recipe follows
For the Cheese Sauce
- 175 grams Monterey Jack cheese see note
- 175 grams cream cheese cubed
- ¼ cup full cream milk
Assembly
- 8 flour OR corn tortillas
For the Chicken
- 2 boneless chicken chops
- Salt to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper to taste
- Garlic powder to taste
- Onion powder to taste
- Smoked paprika to taste
For the Salsa
- ¼ medium yellow onion chopped, about ¼ cup
- 1 jalapeno pepper seeded, roughly chopped
- 400 grams crushed tomatoes (passata rustica)
- 120 grams canned chopped green chilis
- ¼ cup cilantro chopped
- 1 clove garlic minced
- ½ tablespoon lime juice plus more to taste
- ½ teaspoon sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt plus more to taste
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon ground cumin
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180 degrees C.
- In a saucepan over low heat, add the chicken, bell pepper, cream cheese, and half of the salsa and cook, stirring, until the cream cheese is melted and mixture is thoroughly combined.
- I clearly forgot to add the bell peppers when I took this picture.
- Divide the chicken mixture into 8 equal portions. Spoon each portion down the centre of each tortilla, and roll up. Place in a lightly greased 12 x 8 inch baking dish.
- Next, make the cheese sauce. In a saucepan over low heat, add the Montery Jack, cream cheese and milk. Let the cheeses melt, stirring, until a smooth mixture forms.
- When it cools a little and becomes less runny (think thick lava consistency), pour the cheese sauce down the middle of the tray over the tortillas, and cover with foil.
- Bake for 15 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Pour the remaining salsa over the tortillas.
Optional Step: Preparing the Chicken
- Pat dry the chicken chops and rub with some cooking oil. Sprinkle both sides of the chicken with salt, black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and smoked paprika. You may also simply use your favorite chicken seasoning.
- In a large skillet, heat 1 to 2 tablespoons of oil over high heat. When the oil starts shimmering, lower the heat to medium low. Add the chicken to the pan skin-side down and cook, undisturbed, until browned and no longer sticking to the pan, 2 to 3 minutes. Flip and continue to cook, until golden brown and the internal temperature reaches 70 degrees C, 5 to 7 minutes. Flip skin-side down again and cook undisturbed, until skin is crispy, another 1 to 2 minutes.
- Alternatively, arrange skin-side down in your air fryer basket in a single layer, leaving some space in between. Air fry at 200 degrees C for 20 minutes, flipping halfway.
- Let rest for 5 minutes, then shred or chop the chicken. You should get about 2 cups.
Optional Step: Making the Salsa
- In the jar of your food processor, add all the ingredients. Be sure to add the onion and jalapenos first.
- Pulse a few times then blitz to the desired consistency. Careful not to make the salsa too chunky, as we will be using some in the enchilada filling and will want the salsa to be more evenly spread.
- Keep refrigerated until ready to use.
Notes
- For best results when melting cheese, get block cheese and shred it yourself.