Cheesy Chicken Enchiladas

Name: Cheesy Chicken Enchiladas
Prep time: 1 h
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 90 min
Yield: 5
Ingredients: 2 large hatch green chilies or Anaheim peppers *see tip below; 2 large jalapeno peppers; 1 medium yellow onion; 6 tablespoons unsalted butter; 1/3 cup all purpose flour; 3 cups chicken broth *see tip below; juice from one small lime; 1/2 teaspoon black pepper; 1 teaspoon ground cumin; 2 large chicken breasts *cut into thirds; 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese; Eight 9" flour tortillas; 1/4 cup chopped cilantro; 1/2 cup chopped green onion; Diced tomato, sour cream, avocado, guacamole, salsa

by Garlic Salt & Lime

5 servings

1 hr 30 min

Cheesy chicken enchiladas are insanely delicious and truly embody the definition of comfort food. This recipe features shredded chicken mixed with cheddar cheese, sautéed peppers/onions, green onion and chopped cilantro all wrapped up in soft tortillas and covered with with a creamy verde sauce. It’s quickly become a favorite in our home and I am so excited to share it with you!

Cheesy Chicken Enchiladas

*Disclaimer: This article contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

HANDY TIPS:

Avoid drenching enchiladas too heavily with sauce before baking to avoid soggy tortillas. If you have a lot of extra sauce, reserve it as a topping!
I like to cook large quantities of chicken in the crock pot or instant pot with a little bit of chicken broth, and then shred/freeze it. Whenever I make this recipe I just grab a container of shredded chicken from the freezer, which cuts down prep time substantially. If you don’t cook your chicken ahead of time, simply simmer in the sauce and shred with forks.
I highly recommend purchasing an immersion blender if you don't have one already! You can transfer soup to a regular blender for puréeing, but that's such a hassle. I recently bought this immersion blender and it is AMAZING (plus affordable). Once you get your hands on one of these beauties, you won't ever go back to your old ways.

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Cheesy Chicken Enchiladas

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Recipe details

Yield 5 servings
Time spent: Prep time: 1 Hours Cook time: 30 Minutes Total time: 1 hr 30 min

Show Nutrition Info

Per serving

% Daily value

Ingredients

2 large hatch green chilies or Anaheim peppers *see tip below
2 large jalapeno peppers
1 medium yellow onion
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/3 cup all purpose flour
3 cups chicken broth *see tip below
juice from one small lime
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 large chicken breasts *cut into thirds
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
Eight 9" flour tortillas
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1/2 cup chopped green onion

Optional Toppings

Diced tomato, sour cream, avocado, guacamole, salsa

Instructions

Remove seeds and veins from hatch chilies and jalapenos (or leave them if you like it spicy) and dice. Chop onion into similar sized pieces. Measure 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter into a non-stick pan on the stove top. Allow the butter to melt and then add diced veggies to the pan. Stir to coat with butter and sauté for 15-20 minutes on medium/low heat.
While veggies are sautéing, place a large stock pot on the stove top and turn heat to low. Add remaining butter and allow it to melt (avoid letting it brown). Once it starts to bubble a little bit, add flour and whisk continuously for 2-3 minutes while the mixture thickens. Add chicken broth and whisk until smooth, then increase heat to medium/high.
Add pepper, cumin, lime juice, three quarters of your sautéed veggies, a third of your shredded cheddar cheese and chicken. Stir everything together and bring to a boil. Reduce heat back down to medium/low and simmer for 20 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350 F. Chop cilantro and green onion.
Remove chicken from the pot and place on a cutting board. Use two forks to shred and place in a mixing bowl. Add half of your remaining cheddar cheese (reserving the rest to sprinkle on top before baking), remaining sautéed veggies, and half of your chopped cilantro/green onion. Mix everything together.
Puree sauce mixture with an immersion blender. *You can also carefully transfer ingredients to a regular blender if you don't have an immersion blender.
Cover the bottom of a 9×12″ baking dish with a thin layer of sauce. Portion shredded chicken mixture into tortillas, roll them up and line them in your baking dish. Pour sauce on top of the rolled tortillas and sprinkle with remaining cheese, cilantro & green onion. *Avoid drenching enchiladas too heavily with sauce before baking to avoid soggy tortillas. If you have a lot of extra sauce, reserve it as a topping.
Place dish in the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes (until the sauce is bubbling). Allow enchiladas to cool, then serve with desired toppings!

Tips

Hatch green chilies/Anaheim peppers: if you can’t find fresh peppers/chilies in the produce section you can use canned hatch green chilies! Instead of sautéing them, open one small can of chilies and add half to your sauce (just before blending) and half to your shredded chicken.
Chicken broth: I recommend purchasing a box of broth when you do your grocery shopping for this recipe. A box typically contains four cups of broth, but they’re lidded and this makes for easy storage of excess. Two 14.5 oz. cans of broth equals a little over 3 & 1/2 cups and storage of extra liquid is more difficult.

Comments

Sheila Williams on Oct 19, 2021

Instructions about the chicken are unclear to me. Why do yo7 only cook 1/3.

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- See 1 previous
- Vickie on Oct 19, 2021
  
  I believe it mean 1/3 of the cheese and all of the chicken.
  
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- Garlic Salt & Lime on Oct 19, 2021
  
  You will cook all of it. I just cut each chicken breast into thirds so it cooks faster!
  
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Angela Helfrich Daugherty on Nov 06, 2021

Step 3 says:Add pepper, cumin, lime juice, three quarters of your sautéed veggies, a third of your shredded cheddar cheese and chicken but later it says remove chicken and shred so at step 3 you havent shredded the chicken yet. confusing

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- See 1 previous
- Garlic Salt & Lime on Nov 07, 2021
  
  In step 3 you cook the chicken. In step 5 you remove and shred it. Sorry for the confusion!
  
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- Anne on Nov 10, 2021
  
  1 line steps would be helpful in following along all the steps of the recipe which appears too complicated in following, therefore I am passing on what may be have been an excellent recipe.
  
  Like