Not to long ago I came across this recipe for Chicken Enchiladas on the Pink Parsley website. I took one look at the picture and just knew I had to try these. When it comes to cooking for a boatload of kids one thing I have come to learn is that there are certain foods that are more inclined to feed more. Pastas and most Mexican foods are already thought of with big families in mind so they translate well to doubling and tripling ingredients. This is one of those recipes that next time I will make double what I made this time. Just to put it in the freezer for later I changed up a little thing or two from the Pink Parsley, but it still turned out AHHHMAZING! Not one bite was left over, and all of the kids ate it up like it was no bodies business. Do you know how hard it is to find something all 8 kids will eat?!
Please keep in mind that this is a super sized recipe for a larger family! You can simply cut ingredients in half or make a big batch for freezing.
Ingredients:
2 medium onion, chopped fine
4 jalapenos, seeded and chopped fine
2 teaspoon canola oil
5 medim cloves garlic, minced
5 Tablespoons chili powder
3 teaspoons ground cumin
2 Tablespoons sugar
2 15-oz can tomato sauce
2 cup water
2.5 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts (4-5 large breasts)
2.5 cups mexican shredded cheese (I use the one with the most variety of cheese in it)
24 (6-inch) soft corn tortillas
salt and ground black pepper
Cooking:
Preheat oven to 400.
Combine the onion, jalapeno, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and oil in a large saucepan. cover and cook over medium-low heat, stirring often, until the onions and peppers have softened. Stir in the garlic, chili powder, cumin, and sugar, and cook until fragrant (this only takes about 30 seconds to a minute). Stir in the tomato sauce and water. Bring to a simmer, and cook until slightly thickened.
Put the chicken into the sauce. Reduce heat to low, cover, and cook until chicken is cooked through. Transfer the chicken to a plate.
Shred the chicken into bite-sized pieces. Add 1/4 cup of the enchilada sauce (make sure you get the onions/garlic/jalapeno mix in there!), 1 cup cheese, and the cilantro. Toss to combine.
Add a little sauce to each of the 9×13 pans. Enough to coat the bottom.
Place some of the chicken mix in a tortilla, roll tightly, and place seam side down in a 9×13 baking dish. I did 12 per dish.
Pour sauce evenly on top. Top with the remaining cheese. Cover dish with foil, and bake 20 minutes, or until heated through.
Remove foil and bake just until cheese browns. Remove from oven and let stand 10 minutes before serving (It is worth it to let it stand!).
Serve with your favorite toppings (sour cream, salsa, ect.)
The main change I did to this recipe is that I didn’t add chopped tomato the sauce. I also didn’t strain the sauce for the onion mix. I just scooped out some of it to mix with the chicken. The rest ended up in the pain with the sauce. We also had quite a bit of sauce left over that would have made an excellent base for a chili. The sauce was just spicy enough to give it a kick on the back of your throat but not too much to keep the kids from eating it up like vultures! Sorry for the lack of end result pictures. It was a last thought after we had already started eating.
