Make It : Chicken Enchiladas

In my house, these are known as “Zombie Feed” and no matter how many frozen batches I make, they disappear incredibly quickly. They freeze amazingly well, and the recipe is easy to double, triple, or quadruple.

2 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
1 10-ounce can cream of chicken soup
1 cup sour cream give or take… You can vary this up by about 1/2 cup if you want to stretch the recipe, or down by about 1/4 cup if you’re running low
2 1/2 cups cheese you can vary this by up to a cup in either direction – try using cheddar, Colby-Jack, or even the “Mexican” blend
1/2 to 1 small can diced chilies If you love spice, try diced jalepenos. If you are more of a mild-salsa person, half a can adds flavor without too much heat.
6-10 tortillas “Gordita” sized or larger – flour or corn.

This is the kind of recipe that is easy to vary and play with. You can throw them together with what you’ve probably got sitting around, except perhaps the chilis… and those are usually less than a dollar at the grocery store. If you don’t have a full cup of sour cream, then use a little less. If you LOVE cheese, throw in some extra. If you adore having red peppers in dinner, then slice some up, saute them to soften, and throw in. If you’ve got some leftover roasted chicken from last night’s dinner, use that. This is the kind of recipe that is made to experiment with, and use up whatever you’ve got around!

In a deep frying pan or wide saucepan, cover two chicken breasts with water (if you have it, add a cube of bullion or teaspoon of chicken stock). Place over medium-high heat. Let the water reach a boil, and poach chicken for 8-12 minutes, or until cutting into the thickest part of the breast reveals no pink.

Set poached chicken on a plate and allow to cool until you can comfortably handle it. (In the fridge, if you’re in a hurry) Shred or roughly chop the chicken – don’t worry about making it look pretty.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the cream of chicken soup, sour cream, 2 cups of the cheese, and chilis. Scoop about 1/3 of the mixture into a separate small bowl. Add the chicken to the remaining 2/3, and mix until combined.

At this point, you’ve got a couple of options. One 9 x 13 pan pretty much perfectly fits 8 enchiladas… or one 8×8 square pan fits 4. Either way, cover your pan with a layer of foil. Spoon the chicken-ified filling into tortillas, roll them up, and place seam-side down in the pan. Continue until the pan is full. Spread the reserved 1/3 of the cheese mixture (half of it if you’re using the 8×8 pan) and the remaining cheese (again, half for the 8×8) across the top of the rolled, filled tortillas.

If you are baking these right away, bake in a 350 degree oven for 40-50 minutes, or until they’re melty and bubbly.

If you are freezing these, fold the edges of the foil down over the topping. Place a second piece of foil over the top, and turn the entire pan over. Wrap it up into a package (yeah, the topping will get smushed. This isn’t a big deal) and stick in the freezer. When time comes for dinner, the foil package will fit perfectly into your pan- just take the top layer of foil off (to expose the top of the enchiladas – leave the first layer of foil folded, however, to protect the edges) and put in your cold oven. Turn the oven onto 350, and come back an hour later. This way the enchiladas have a chance to heat up and defrost slowly as the oven heats up, preventing soggy-edged tortillas.

Try adding olives to the topping. Also try using salsa and cheese as a topping – or, if you’ve got a favorite enchilada sauce, use that!