This is one of my family’s favorite recipes I’ve made to date. It’s packed with flavor and you can make it as spicy, or in my case as mild as you wish. When serving young children or those with a sensitive palette to spicy foods (like myself), it’s best to go the mild route with this. ENJOY!
“REDNECK” Chicken Enchiladas
Ingredients:
- Boneless chicken breast (1 breast per adult)
- 2-4 C grated mozzarella cheese (or finely grated Mexican cheese)
- Garlic salt or 1 clove of fresh garlic clove (crushed)
- 1 Tbl. of fresh cilantro or ½ tsp dried cilantro (fresh is always best)
- ½ onion-finely chopped
- 1 tsp Greek seasoning (optional-I just like the flavor myself)
- 1 can of refried beans
- Corn or flour tortillas (make sure you soften them up in the microwave first to make it easier to work with them, don’t overcook or they’ll be too dry, however)
- 1 can Enchilada sauce (I’m a wimp so I prefer mild)
- 1 small container of Sour cream
Directions:
- Cook on medium-high in a large skillet and add the following:
- Chicken, chopped onion, sprinkle to taste: garlic salt (or freshly crushed garlic clove), cilantro (fresh or dried), Greek seasoning (optional). Continue cooking until the chicken is cooked thoroughly. (I like it a little on the charbroiled side for flavor). Set aside.
- Heat a can of refried beans till warm. (add a clove of crushed garlic if you like). Set aside.
- Warm up tortillas just before you are ready to add ingredients to soften them.
- This part is optional and it’s a trick my Mom taught me for those of us who can’t take too spicy of a sauce. If you’re serving this to kids it’s a good idea too:
- Mix one can of enchilada sauce with one small container of sour cream. It makes a nice creamy sauce that even the pickiest kids will eat. Otherwise, you can just dollop the sour cream on everyone’s servings once it’s served if preferred.
In a 9×13 pan (spray with non-stick spray first) place the rolled-up tortillas filled with one spoonful of each of the following: heated refried beans, cooked chicken mixture, enchilada sauce, sprinkle with grated cheese. Then roll up each tortilla **enchilada style. After the pan is full of tortillas pour the remaining enchilada sauce over the tortillas covering them up as much as possible in the sauce. (I think this keeps them from getting dried out while baking). Then sprinkle the desired amount of grated cheese on top. We like LOTS of cheese on ours.
- Cook in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for about 30-40 min.
**P.S. This is how you fold up a tortilla “enchilada style”. Once you have it filled on a flat surface or plate roll the tortilla until it’s just touching the filling, then fold in one side, then the other, and continue rolling the tortilla while tucking in at the same time. This is similar to the “burrito style” of folding except you fold both sides to keep contents intact. It takes practice for some, but it’s not hard. Make sure you place the tortilla seam side down to keep it from falling apart. If this was done in a true “Mexican” style they would soak each tortilla individually in the enchilada sauce, however, this is a “Redneck” version for a reason, it’s faster and tastes just as good and not so spicy.