Chicken Enchiladas
A great way to use leftover chicken. Even kids love these! The best enchilada recipe ever tried! Many variations exist, including using rotisserie chicken, corn tortillas, and different sauces.
A great way to use leftover chicken. Even kids love these! The best enchilada recipe ever tried! Many variations exist, including using rotisserie chicken, corn tortillas, and different sauces.
- 1/2 cup chopped green onions
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup
- 1 (4 ounce) can diced green chiles
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese divided
- 1 1/2 cups cubed cooked chicken breast meat
- 6 (12 inch) flour tortillas
- Carbohydrate 64.6294004175671 g
- Cholesterol 64.5401041744314 mg
- Fat 24.3269368775554 g
- Fiber 3.81959989039103 g
- Protein 27.5375739589714 g
- Saturated Fat 10.317146668253 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (275g)
- Sodium 1290.07941668087 mg
- Sugar 60.809800527176 g
- Trans Fat 2.26650520849796 g
- Calories 594 calories
Step-by-step
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a large baking dish.
- In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter and saute the green onion until tender (about 3 to 4 minutes). Add the garlic powder, then stir in the green chiles, cream of mushroom soup and sour cream. Mix well. Reserve 3/4 of this sauce and set aside. To the remaining 1/4 of the sauce in the saucepan, add the chicken and 1/2 cup of shredded Cheddar cheese. Stir together.
- Fill each flour tortilla with the chicken mixture and roll up. Place seam side down in the prepared baking dish.
- In a small bowl combine the reserved 3/4 of the sauce with the milk. Spoon this mixture over the rolled tortillas and top with the remaining 1/2 cup of shredded Cheddar cheese. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until cheese is bubbly.
Operating under the strict pantry constraint of utilizing leftover cooked poultry and shelf-stable canned soup, this method builds a rich casserole without requiring scratch-made roux or long-simmered stocks. Budget cooks often rely on condensed mushroom soup to supply body, starches, and consistent sodium levels that would otherwise take hours of reduction to achieve on the stovetop. When butter meets medium heat in the saucepan, keeping the temperature moderate prevents the milk solids from burning while sweating out the green onions for three to four minutes until translucent.
Fresh alliums and canned chiles bring contrasting aromatic profiles that canned soups alone lack, replacing flat saltiness with bright, vegetal pungency. Raw green onions soften quickly, releasing volatile sulfur compounds that meld into the dairy fat, whereas preserved green chiles contribute distinct acetic tang and capsaicin warmth without adding excess moisture to the filling. Balancing these fresh inputs against processed components dictates whether the final sauce tastes vibrant or muddy, making gentle sautéing an essential step for driving off raw pungency.
Textural degradation represents the primary hazard when baking flour tortillas encased in heavy dairy sauces, as excess liquid quickly transforms pliable dough into a pasty, gummy exterior. Thinning the reserved three-quarters portion of the sauce with exactly one quarter cup of milk lowers its viscosity just enough to coat the exterior evenly without pooling into a soggy swamp at the base of the baking dish. Baking at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for thirty to thirty-five minutes allows the moisture to steam the interior while the remaining cheddar cheese on top renders into a blistered, golden crust.
Retaining structural integrity in rolled baked goods depends heavily on sealing techniques and thermal management during the final resting window. Placing each stuffed tortilla seam side down ensures the weight of the filling prevents unrolling during the thirty-minute oven dwell time. Allowing the casserole to rest for ten minutes after extraction from the oven permits the internal starches to set, yielding clean slices rather than an untidy collapse upon plating.
