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 tortilla, smothered 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. 

Was that enough adjectives or should I go on?

It’s not “quick and easy”, but it is “simple and satisfying.” If you have the time to spend in the kitchen, this meal will earn a really special place in your heart.

BOGO

Another great thing about this dish is that it’s relatively easy to double all of the ingredients and make two batches at once. Simply prepare and bake one as the recipe describes and prepare the other in a freezer friendly dish and put it in the freezer instead of the oven. Now you have an extra meal on hand for whenever you need it! Just let it thaw when needed and bake it at 300F until heated through. It might be a good idea to cover it with a piece of parchment paper. (I make mine in a casserole sized disposable aluminum pan lined with parchment paper. I wrap it well in Press’nSeal and label it with a sharpie.) 

Chicken or Beef?

If you know me, you know I’ll choose beef, every time. And I’ll be sure to dedicate a post to beef enchiladas.

But for the sake of being well rounded with our proteins, about once a week I roast a whole bird in the oven. A whole roasted chicken is a very easy meal when paired with some garlic mashed potatoes and a salad with creamy ranch dressing and leftover sourdough bread croutons. After dinner I ceremoniously pick the remaining meat from the bones and give them a rough chop for size uniformity and store them in a covered dish in the fridge. This meat might become chicken salad, chicken soup, chicken & rice, or, you guessed it, chicken enchiladas. 

It doesn’t end there, though. Anything else left from the roasted bird (bones and other nondescript tidbits) go in a pot to render down overnight into wholesome, hearty bone broth.

I first resorted to making enchiladas to use up left-over chicken that didn’t feel so much like reinvented leftovers. But they became such a beloved meal that now days I roast chickens as a prelude for enchiladas!

But don’t get me wrong, you don’t need to raise a bird and hand feed it organic flowers until it’s old enough to roast before you can make this recipe. Do what works for you! Use some other left-over protein, or cook some up, 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 deep, robust, spicy and aromatic. I love pouring all the spices into the pan and watching the colors meld together, so vibrant and saturated. It’s the grown-up version of finger painting. 

And really, why not make your own sauce? Tortillas I can understand not having time for, but this part is so simple and so good. It’s a matter of pouring spices into warm oil, whisking in flour and tomato paste and then following up with the liquid. It needs to be done quickly, so have your things gathered and on stand-by. Hot oil will not wait for you to dig in the cabinet for cumin. 

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.

If you were able to render some broth from the bones of a roasted chicken, this is its time to shine! It brings such a richness to sauces. If not though, no worries, water will do the trick. 

The filling … guts? The good stuff. The soul.

If tortillas are the body and the sauce is personality, then the filling is the soul of these enchiladas. (I don’t know what we’ll call the cheese and garnish, maybe good hair and a cute outfit?) 

It’s what’s on the inside that matters, right?

Here’s what’s on the inside: that chicken we talked about earlier, a few small cans of ro-tel and a block of cream cheese. I know, I know, I just went really white girl on you. But wait, before your countenance falls, there will be warmth and spice here too. The green chiles in the ro-tel give a great background heat, and the cream cheese makes this thing dreamy, but we’ll also pour a healthy scoop of the sauce into this pot which brings flavor deep into the dish. Let this come just to a simmer and you’re golden. 

Let’s bring it all together

If the moon is just right, and there are no flies in the kitchen, and my children are quietly reading books, then I might individually fill my wholesome tortillas the way I have in these photos. But if there are sounds of general pandemonium, a bird flying through the kitchen, a robot vacuum at my feet and a hungry man digging in the fridge, which is quite often, then I will slap this thing together in fast and loose layers like an irreverent lasagna. And to tell you the truth, once it’s covered with cheese, baked and plated, nobody knows …but me. 

That’s a line in a Johnny Cash song.

I also feel like this principal applies to good hair and a cute outfit covering a disarrayed body and soul. But I’m not advising it. Just an observation. 

Pour forth that sauce with motherly pride and sprinkle cheese abundantly. I like pepper jack. 

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