Chicken Enchiladas in Green Sauce

prep time:: 25 min
total time:: 45 min

Makes 12 enchiladas

Kelli Richmond

ingredients

1 medium onion (white or yellow) chopped
2 cloves garlic chopped
3 chicken breasts – chopped into 1/2 inch pieces
2 tbsp cooking oil
12 corn tortillas – 10 inch
1/2 cup – 3/4 cup cooking oil
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 16 oz. can green enchilada sauce (found in Hispanic food section of grocery store)
13x9 inch glass baking dish

directions

1
Heat 2 tablespoons of cooking oil in frying pan over medium heat. When oil is hot, add onions. Cook until translucent. Add garlic for 30 seconds or until fragrant. Add chopped chicken and cook thoroughly.
2
While chicken is cooking, shred cheese. Place into bowl. Open enchilada sauce and pour into a large bowl. Pour the additional cooking oil into a small shallow frying pan or pot. Heat oil over medium low heat once chicken is completely cooked. Be careful, oil will become hot! You can test whether the oil is hot enough (or too hot) by wetting your fingers and flicking a small amount of water into the oil. The oil should crackle, but only slightly.
3
Create an assembly line with your ingredients: Tortillas, cooking oil, enchilada sauce, cooked chicken, cheese, glass baking dish. This portion is done best with two people. One person will be stationed at the tortillas; the other person will be stationed at the enchilada sauce. With tongs, place a single tortilla into the heated oil. The tortilla only needs to be in the oil for a few seconds. Once the skin begins to bubble, remove from the oil – with the tongs – and place into the enchilada sauce. (Caution: The oil will cause the tortilla to become soft and it may rip while you are transferring it from the oil to the sauce, so this task is done gently). The enchilada sauce should cool the tortilla. Pick up the tortilla with your hand and wipe off excess sauce. Fill the tortilla with chicken and cheese. Roll the tortilla and place in the glass baking dish, seam side down. Repeat this process for all the remaining tortillas.
4
You may need to be creative arranging your tortillas if all twelve will not fit in a straight row. Squish two on top of the row if needed. This recipe is more about taste than presentation.
5
Pour the remaining enchilada sauce from the bowl over the tortillas in the baking dish. Cover the tortillas with additional cheese. Bake for 20-30minutes at 350 degrees. Serve warm with sides of Spanish rice and whole pinto beans.

notes

This recipe is great for potlucks and can be doubled for large groups. Prepared the same way, beef can be substituted for chicken and paired with a red enchilada sauce instead of the green sauce.

Source: Rachel Perez, Sarah Perez's Mother-in-Law