Sour Cream & Chicken Enchiladas
If your family loves Tex-Mex this is a quick easy meal that you can put together ahead of time and bake for dinner. Sorry my photo isn't styled, I was so excited to eat that I forgot to take a photo until I was two bites in!
Here's what you'll need:
Yield: 12 enchiladas
Ingredients:
1/2 Rotisserie chicken
12 white or yellow corn tortillas
1 small onion
2 cups cheese (cheddar, pepperjack, monterrey jack, or other)
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup salsa (green, red, whatever you have on hand) (optional)
Salt
Garlic Powder
Equipment:
Knife
Cutting Board
Pans
Tongs
Measuring Cups
Mixing Bowls
Silverware
Baking dish
Step 1: Wash your hands with soap and water
Step 2: Dice your onion
Peel off the papery outer layers of your onion. If you don't know how to dice an onion, I've linked a great youtube video here
Step 3: Caramelize your onions
Turn on your stove to medium heat. When your pan is warm, drizzle your pan with a bit of cooking oil. After heating the oil for a few minutes, add your raw onion and cook stirring occasionally until your onions are shiny, translucent, and lightly browned. This releases the natural sugars in the onions and makes them much more flavorful. Turn off the stove and remove your onions from the heat. You could also add some garlic to the raw onions during this step if you have fresh garlic.
Step 4: remove the meat from your chicken
Using a knife or your clean hands, remove the meat from your rotisserie chicken and shred or cube it. You can use white and dark meat, but discard any bones or skin. If you use all the meat on your chicken, don't throw it away! You can use it to make chicken stock .
Step 5: Soften tortillas
Heat a pan over medium heat and drizzle oil to just coat the bottom. Place one tortilla in the pan and let cook for 1-2 minutes, it will begin to puff slightly . Using tongs, flip the tortilla over and cook for another minute. Remove and set aside on a plate. Repeat with all tortillas adding more oil to your pan as needed.
Step 6: Combine chicken, onions, and season
Place your cooked onions in the bowl with your shredded chicken. Season the mixture any way you'd like. I added salt and garlic powder, but you could also add cumin, cilantro, or any seasoning. The best way to tell if it is seasoned properly is to take a little taste. And remember, you can always add more seasoning, but you can't take it away once it's in so start slow.
Step 7: Roll!!
Lay one tortilla flat on a cutting board
Top with onion and chicken mixture, don't overfill it or it will be too hard to roll.
Top with cheese. It will melt in the oven so any type of cheese is OK. I used sliced pepper jack and put about 1/2 slice per enchilada. If using shredded cheese, just top it with a small handfull
Now roll your enchilada and place it seam side down in a baking dish
Step 8: Place your enchiladas in a baking dish
For easier cleanup, spray your baking dish with cooking spray first. Then place your enchiladas seam side down in a baking dish. I was taking half of our enchiladas to a neighbor, so I made two smaller batches of 6, but you can place all of the enchiladas in one large baking dish.
Step 9: Prepare your enchilada sauce
I made a very simple verde sour cream sauce using sour cream and green salsa, but if you don't like spicy foods you could sub out chicken stock for the salsa. You can also buy pre-made enchilada sauce if you have a trip to the store planned. If you prefer a different type of sauce for your enchiladas, you can find thousands of recipes on google that are fairly easy to put together.
Mix together 1/2 cup of sour cream with about 1/4 cup of salsa. You want a nice sauce consistency (think about alfredo sauce) so you may need a little more or less liquid depending on what salsa you are using or what sour cream you are using.
Be sure to taste your sauce before topping your enchiladas. Adjust seasoning as you'd like. I added salt and garlic powder.
Step 10: Sauce those enchiladas
Pour your sauce over your enchiladas.
If you don't get an even coat, you can use a spoon to spread it out
Step 11: Top with cheese
Again, this cheese will melt so you can use any type or style. I shredded some cheddar for my topping.
Step 12: Any finishing touches?
I sprinkled a little bit of this seasoning on top, but you could put taco seasoning, chili powder, cayenne pepper (not too much!), cumin, or cilantro on top as well. Or leave it off completely. If you are making these ahead of time, cover with foil or plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator until you are ready to bake them .
Step 13: Bake in a 350 degree oven until cheese is melty and enchiladas are warmed through (15-20 minutes)
Be careful when taking the dish out of the oven as it will be HOT!