If my kids ask, “What’s for dinner?” and I answer with, “Enchiladas”, the whooping and fanfare ensues.

These enchiladas are good. They are really, really good. 

I wish I could just give you a plate and let you try a bite for yourself. Think steamy hot, creamy chicken tomato green pepper flavors pouring out of a homemade, whole grain tortilla topped with a bold, dark, deep, spicy enchilada sauce, covered in bubbling cheese and garnished with a squirt of cold fresh lime, cilantro and sweet, crunchy diced bell pepper. 

Nobody said it was a quick meal, but if you don’t mind being in the kitchen, this meal will earn a really special place in your heart. 

Let’s talk about the chicken

I first made these enchiladas in an attempt to creatively use some left-over chicken picked from a whole roasted chicken that we’d had for dinner the previous night. I don’t know when, but sometime back I quit buying cut chicken and only buy them whole. The price per pound is a bargain compared to cut pieces and the bone-in flavor is incomparable to a boneless, skinless chicken breast.

Just now, thinking of boneless-skinless-chicken-breast, I am reminded of a character named “Motty” from the book Jeeves and the Unbidden Guest …

“Motty, the son, was about twenty-three, tall and thin and meek-looking. He had the same yellow hair as his mother, but he wore it plastered down and parted in the middle. His eyes bulged, too, but they weren’t bright. They were a dull grey with pink rims. His chin gave up the struggle about half-way down, and he didn’t appear to have any eyelashes. A mild, furtive, sheepish sort of blighter, in short.”

-P. G. Wodehouse

You get me?

About once a week I roast a whole bird in the oven, a very easy meal with a few sides, and then after dinner I pick the remaining tidbits of meat from the bones and put them in the fridge. It doesn’t end there, though. I then put all of the scraps, bones and anything else, in a pot and render down some hearty bone broth overnight, which will become a soup in a dinner to come.

So not only was the per pound price better, but I’ll get THREE meals off of one chicken for a family of five! (Four meals, if you count the leftover enchiladas my husband takes to work the following day in his heated lunchbox!)

And with leftover chicken happening regularly, I look for ways to use it up that don’t feel like recycled scraps for dinner. These enchiladas are the answer. In fact, now days I make a whole chicken for dinner with the ulterior motive of making enchiladas the next day!

But don’t get me wrong, you don’t need to go out and buy yourself a whole chicken to roast before you can make this recipe, it’s just the way that makes sense for my meal planning. Do what works for you! Use some other left over chicken or beef, or cook some up just for this, or grab a rotisserie from the store on your way home.

The Tortillas

The tortillas cannot be underestimated. They may not be the main character in this dish, but they do bring a texture value that is worth while. I’ve made these enchiladas with store-bought and with homemade tortillas, and the difference was surprising. I encourage you to try making them yourself, it’s actually pretty fun once you get the hang of it! I made a separate post for this recipe to simplify things.

Note: I recently had homemade tortillas at a friend’s house which she made with regular all purpose flour, and they were amazing too, so chewy and fresh. Either way, get in there and try it.

The Sauce

Like I said, it’s a deep, robust, spicy and aromatic. I love pouring all of the spices into the pan and watching the colors meld together, vibrant and saturated. (I find this CENTO double concentrated tomato paste is SO flavorful. And the tube is much nicer than opening a little can and then living with a vague sense of guilt for not using it all.) 

Finally, it’s just a matter of assembly and cheese!

I love to serve these enchiladas with lime, cilantro, diced, raw, bell pepper and sometimes a few, thin slices of raw purple cabbage. The colors are almost as bright as the flavors!