Chicken enchiladas ~ Semi Homemade

Enchiladas is one of the common dishes I order at a Mexican restaurant. What I like about it?...everything....I like the sauce they pour over it, the cheesiness, the sides....

At home, I usually end up making chicken enchiladas, but you surely can make vegetable enchiladas, using sauteed mushrooms, green pepper, asparagus, zucchini etc., and I am telling ya....its yum! Had that once at a restaurant and it was fantastic! Or try it with minced soya nuggets or granules.

I have made chicken enchiladas mainly using all the store bought sauces, to make life easy by just assembling them together and you get a perfect semi-homemade enchiladas, without even spending much time on it!

I used ground chicken, but you can surely use pulled chicken from rotisserie, if you like chunky pieces. And the whole process would be same, only since the rotisserie chicken would be already cooked, cooking time would be less.

I like using the McCormic enchilada sauce mix packet, by which we can make the red sauce without any hassle. For the green sauce or salsa verde and chunky salsa, I used the bottled Pace and Herdez sauce. Please feel free to use any sauce you like and prefer. Thats what makes it taste yummy and hearty too!

To make it more healthy, use corn tortilla instead of the flour tortillas. It gives a unique taste and much much more healthier for sure.
Serve with Mexican rice, guacamole or with any salad to get a perfectly put together meal.
Go easy on the cheese or add no cheese if you don't prefer it too much!
I added only black beans, but you can add bell peppers, corn or any other veggie you prefer.

McCormick enchilada sauce requires:

1 1/2 cups water
8oz tomato sauce

Method for sauce:

Whisk the tomato sauce, water and the enchilada mix together. Bring to a boil and simmer for about 5 minutes.


Ingredients for Chicken:

1lb chicken
1/2 cup black beans and corn (I didn't have corn, but I wish I did) (canned or frozen)
2 oz tomato sauce
1/2 cup enchilada sauce
4 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 tsp chilli powder
1 small onion
coriander garnish
salt to taste
pinch of turmeric (making it indianized)
1-2 tbsp of oil
chopped coriander leaves

Method for ground Chicken:

Heat the oil in a open pan.
Saute the onion and chopped garlic.
Add the chicken and saute for 5 minutes with salt. Break it down as much as possible.
Add the tomato sauce and enchilada sauce. Cook for 3-4 minutes
Add the chilli powder and turmeric. Cook for 3-4 minutes.
Add in the black beans and corn. Cook for 5-6 minutes
Cook till everything comes together and no gravy is left.
Add in the coriander leaves.
Mix well. Remove from heat.


Ingredients for Enchiladas

Cooked chicken curry (as above)
8-12 flour tortillas
(I used 8 flour and 2 corn tortillas)(Using corn is optional, I made that especially for myself)
salsa verde, store bought
chunkey salsa, store bought
Shredded Mexican cheese
9x13 in baking tray or dish

Method of assembly:

Pour salsa verde, just to coat the bottom of the tray.
Add little bit of chunky salsa.
Heat the tortilla about 10 sec.
Coat it with the enchilada sauce.
Put chicken in the center.
Roll it and place carefully in the 9x13 inch baking dish.
Repeat same with others, even the corn tortilla if using that.
Pour the remaining enchilada sauce on top of the rolled tortillas.
Sprinkle required amount of cheese on the top
Bake @ 350 for 20 minutes.
Remove and serve hot with mexican rice, guacamole, salad or as is.
Enjoy!!!