Chicken Enchiladas
My husband's Aunt Dot gave me this recipe years ago. She worked for Kraft Foods and I think that's where the recipe came from. It's a family favorite and I like to make it in two pans and freeze one pan for an easy meal through the week.
My husband's Aunt Dot gave me this recipe years ago. She worked for Kraft Foods and I think that's where the recipe came from. It's a family favorite and I like to make it in two pans and freeze one pan for an easy meal through the week.
- Carbohydrate 193.53308 g
- Cholesterol 91.616 mg
- Fat 60.768475 g
- Fiber 11.8513496807814 g
- Protein 54.04689 g
- Saturated Fat 25.879783 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (567g)
- Sodium 3339.7705 mg
- Sugar 181.681730319219 g
- Trans Fat 3.690059 g
- Calories 1549 calories
Step-by-step
- Spray the bottom of one 9 x 13 or two square baking dishes with non-stick spray and place a layer of tortillas torn into bite sized pieces in the bottom of the pan(s).
- Mix the chicken, soup, tomatoes, onion, and bell pepper in a medium sized mixing bowl.
- Put half (a quarter if you''re making two dishes) of the chicken mixture on top of the tortillas and top with cheese.
- Repeat the layers.
- Bake at 375 until bubbly - about 30 minutes.
- If you''re freezing one dish, cover it with plastic wrap and then foil.
Staggering the moisture barriers inside a 9x13 baking dish prevents the bottom flour tortillas from dissolving into mush before the proteins reach thermal equilibrium. When combining canned cream of chicken soup and diced canned tomatoes with chiles, the starches in the processed soup interact with the high-acid liquid from the tomatoes to form a viscous sauce that coats every shredded muscle fiber evenly. Because flour tortillas contain gluten networks that soften rapidly when exposed to steam, tearing them into bite-sized pieces rather than rolling them creates a haphazard structural lattice capable of holding heavy dairy without collapsing entirely into the pan.
Baking at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for approximately 30 minutes drives heat transfer efficiently through the dense layers of cheddar and Monterey Jack cheeses until fat emulsions break and bubble visibly at the edges. Freezing unbaked pans requires wrapping them tightly in plastic wrap followed by heavy aluminum foil to prevent freezer burn and moisture sublimation during long-term storage.
Swapping flour tortillas for corn tortillas alters the starch gelatinization entirely, yielding a more fragile casserole that requires careful handling during the initial layering phase.
