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Homemade creamy Chicken enchiladas

Homemade Chicken Enchiladas

This is my version of homemade chicken enchiladas and I can tell you, they're a family favorite. Think creamy chicken and tomato, homemade flour tortillas, spicy green chiles, bold, dark, deep, enchilada sauce, bubbling pepper jack cheese and a finish of cold fresh lime juice, avocado slices, raw cabbage slivers, diced raw bell pepper and of course, cilantro!
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Servings: 6
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Mexican
Ingredients Method

Ingredients
  

  • 1 tbsp olive oil for the pan
  • Tortillas of choice I do homemade with FMWW flour when I can
  • Enchilada Sauce super easy from scratch, see post for recipe!
  • 2+ cups chopped, cooked chicken (or whatever protein you'll be using)
  • 2 10 oz cans of RoTel I like 'fire roasted'
  • 8 oz cream cheese (one block)
  • 8 oz pepper jack cheese or whichever you prefer
  • 1 fresh bell pepper, diced yellow or orange are sweet and add color
  • ½ bunch fresh cilantro finely chopped
  • 2 to 3 limes
  • ¼ head raw, red cabbage thinly sliced
  • fresh pico de gallo
  • 1 to 3 avocados, thick slices

Method
 

  1. Tortillas
  2. If you plan to make your own tortillas, go ahead and get that process started. I have included a separate recipe card for the tortillas below for easy printable organization.
  3. Sauce:
  4. While your tortilla dough rests, prepare your homemade enchilada sauce. The recipe card for this is also included separately below for easy printable organization.
  5. Enchilada Filling:
  6. Preheat oven to 350°F
  7. In a medium sized boiler on medium-low heat, pour in both cans of RoTel and the block of cream cheese. Allow this to come to a gentle simmer, stirring and mashing the cheese to combine. (A potato masher works great here.)
  8. When the mixture is hot and creamy, drizzle in about 1/3 cup of the enchilada sauce. Lastly, add in the chicken, turn off the heat and stir gently. You do not want your chicken to "cook", as it is already cooked and will still go into the oven. Overly heated chicken can become stringy.
  9. Drizzle 1 or 2 tablespoons of olive oil into a large, oven safe dish. Grab a tortilla and use it to smear the oil around until the dish is evenly coated.
  10. You could assemble this one of two ways:
    1. Fill each tortilla and fold in half like a quesadilla and stack them all against each other, smother with sauce and top with cheese...
    2. Layer it like a lasagna, starting with tortillas, a layer of filling and a drizzle of enchilada sauce. Cover with remaining sauce and cheese at the end.
    I usually do the lasagna method. Either way, try and use all of your ingredients proportionately so you don't end up with leftovers. I would always rather have left over enchiladas than lone ingredients.
  11. Once you've arranged your tortillas and filling, smothered with the sauce and topped with freshly shredded cheese, stick the dish in the preheated oven, uncovered, and let it bake until it begins to simmer around the edges and the cheese is as melted as you like it.
  12. Sprinkle with chopped cilantro and serve immediately!
    I like to cut large squares out with a wide wooden or metal spatula. Top with your choice of garnishes, and these do "make" the enchiladas: slivers of raw cabbage, chunks of avocado, raw diced bell pepper, extra cilantro, and of course, a wedge of lime.