Mom’s Easy Enchiladas

My hubby and I love Mexican food and usually have it at least once every week or two.  Now that my little man is big enough to enjoy “real” food, we have it even more often because he seems to really like it.  I have to be careful not to make these too spicy for my little boy, but they have become a staple in our house. 

I found this recipe in my mom's collection years ago after she passed away.  I still have tons of her recipe cards that I haven’t knocked the dust off of yet, but this one gets major usage.  She apparently got the recipe from a friend at work, but I have changed a few things here and there to make it my own.  For one, I DO NOT make my own enchilada sauce.  I could, it’s not hard to do, but during the week, I do not have the time and besides, why should I when there are tons of great canned sauces out there?   I try to find one with pretty basic ingredients like the La Victoria brand that do not contain a lot of added sugar or preservatives.  I also DO NOT make my own corn tortillas, but I do prefer the refrigerated corn shells that are available at the store. They usually contain less ingredients and let me tell you, they make a world of difference in taste and texture from the tortillas that are laying on shelves in the store.  One day I would like to try making my own, but being a busy working mom doesn’t allow me much time for that right now.

 

Ingredients & Instructions

1 28 Oz. Can of Red Enchilada Sauce
3 Chicken Breasts
2 Tbsp. Olive Oil
Pinch Chili Powder
Pinch Cayenne Powder
Salt & Pepper
1 Yellow Onion (diced)
2 Jalapenos (small dice)
2 C. Cheddar or Pepper Jack Cheese + Extra to Top
1 Bag Corn Tortillas
½ - 1 C. Vegetable Oil (depending on the pan size that you want to fry tortillas in)
2-3 Green Onions sliced
Sour Cream  (optional)

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Coat chicken breasts in olive oil and sprinkle with salt, pepper, cayenne, and chili powder. Bake for 30 minutes.  Once chicken breasts are cool enough to handle, pull them with two forks and place meat into a medium sized mixing bowl.

Meanwhile, saute onions and jalapenos until softened and then place into mixing bowl with the chicken.  Add 2 C. of cheese to the bowl and mix ingredients together.

At this point set up an assembly line for fashioning the enchiladas.  Place a small sauté pan on the stone on medium high heat and add just enough vegetable oil to come up the sides of the pan about ½ inch.  From left to right of the stovetop sauté pan, place a bowl filled with enchilada sauce for dipping the fried tortillas, an empty plate for assembly, and a 12x9 inch casserole dish with just enough enchilada sauce to cover the bottom lightly.  Behind the assembly plate, place the bowl of filling mixture.

Now that your assembly line is ready to go, the frying begins.  Once the oil is hot, fry the corn tortillas one at a time for a few seconds per side.  The tortillas will become hard if you leave them in the oil for too long so be sure to only fry for a few second per side.  You can do your whole batch of corn tortillas at once if you like and lay them on a baking sheet before beginning the rest of the assembly process, but because I am OCD I like to do each enchilada one at a time to completion. 

Once your tortilla is fried, dip it to coat in the enchilada sauce, and then place on the empty plate and fill with a couple of tablespoons of the chicken filling.  Roll the tortilla gently and place in the casserole dish seam side down so the filling stays in the shell and the shell stays in place.  Once all of your tortillas are stuffed and in your casserole dish, top with the remainder of the enchilada sauce, and sprinkle with cheese.  Bake until cheese and sauce is melty and bubbly.  Top with green onions and serve with sour cream if you like.