I wish I could just give you a plate of these homemade chicken enchiladas and let you try a bite for yourself.

Think steamy hot, creamy-chicken-tomato-green chili pepper flavors pouring out of a homemade tortilla, smothered with a bold, dark, deep, spicy enchilada sauce, covered in bubbling cheese and garnished with a squirt of cold fresh lime, cilantro and sweet, crunchy diced bell pepper.

Is that enough adjectives?

It’s not “quick and easy”, but it is “simple and satisfying.” If you have the time to spend in the kitchen, this meal will earn a really special place in your heart.

Leftovers, the mother of reinvention

I first resorted to making enchiladas to use up left-overs in a way that didn’t feel so much like leftovers. But in a sort of cheesy plot twist, I now roast a whole chicken as a prelude for enchiladas!

But don’t get me wrong, you don’t need to hand raise a chicken on organic flower petals until it’s old enough to harvest and roast before you can make this recipe… do what works for you…

Got leftover chili? Sure!

Beef from a roast? Sounds good!

A rotisserie chicken you snagged at the store on your way home in that weird warm plastic box? Perfect!

For example, in the event we have plenty of leftover Mississippi pot roast, I’ll pull out the meat and shred it into a separate bowl before putting the leftovers in the fridge. This way, tomorrow, I have some beef that’s ready-to-go (instead of one gelatinous blob which can only be reheated as a less interesting version of its original self).

Never underestimate a tortilla

While the humble homemade tortilla may not be the main character in this dish, they do bring a texture value that I have come to need in my life.

I typically make these enchiladas with homemade FMWW tortillas, but I have used the regular store-bought kind when I needed to throw this thing together quickly for a party. And let me tell you, they were wet blankets on my fiesta.

But to be honest, did anyone else care? Probably not.

If you don’t have the time to tackle homemade tortillas it’s no big deal. Feed your people. I support you.

But if you’re up for it, I think they’re worth it!

Spices are probably the best part

Let’s talk about this enchilada sauce for a minute.

Do I really know what an authentic enchilada sauce is? No. No my freckles do not.

Do I know how to make an enchilada sauce from scratch that my family loves? Yes. Yes I do. And I would like to believe that’s one thing an elderly abuela and I have in common.

And really, why not make your own sauce? Tortillas are one thing; they take time and that’s not aways an option, but this sauce is so quick and easy and the flavor is unbeatable!

I have a separate post dedicated to this sauce recipe with it’s own printable, but basically, it’s a matter of pouring spices into hot oil, whisking in flour and tomato paste and then following up with the liquid (broth if you have it, water if you don’t). It needs to be done quickly, so have your things gathered and on stand-by. Hot oil will not wait for you to dig in the cabinet for cumin.

I love your guts

We all know it’s what’s on the inside that matters.

Here’s what’s on the inside: that chicken or beef or chili that we talked about earlier, a few small cans of ro-tel (diced tomatoes and green chilies), a block of cream cheese and some of our homemade enchilada sauce.

The green chiles in the ro-tel give a great background heat, and the cream cheese makes this thing dreamy. A healthy dose of the afore-mentioned sauce brings flavor and the savory beef or chicken, for which we are throwing this enchilada party, shines in all its glory.

I like to add the first three of these things and let it come just to a simmer and then turn off the heat. At the very end I’ll add the meat and stir it in.

I don’t appreciate my chicken (or beef) being overly cooked or stirred into stringy fibers with a weird “old” reheated taste. Just put them in at the very last minute and give them some peace. (They will come to a piping hot temp in the oven momentarily.)

Let’s wrap this thing up

If there are no flies in the kitchen, and my children are quietly reading books and the sun is setting silently behind flaming billows, then I might individually fill my wholesome tortillas the way I have in these photos.

But if there are sounds of general pandemonium, a bird flying through the kitchen, a robot vacuum at my feet and a hungry man digging in the fridge, which is my real life, then I will slap this thing together in fast and loose layers like an irreverent lasagna.

And to tell you the truth, once it’s covered with cheese, baked, plated and garnished, nobody knows …but me.

(That’s a line in a Johnny Cash song.)

I prefer to cover my dish with a sheet of parchment paper to keep the cheese ‘blonde’. You could remove it for the last half of baking if you like for your cheese to get toasty and brown.

You could serve these enchiladas with all sorts of vibrant and fresh garnishes: a cold wedge of lime, a sprinkling of fresh cilantro, diced raw bell pepper, a few thin slices of raw purple cabbage, sliced avocados or fresh pico de gallo.

The colors are almost as bright as the flavors! 

Feliz cocina, amigas