Creamy Chicken Enchiladas
Pull up a chair and taste the most savory and flavor packed Creamy Chicken Enchiladas! These are excellent sources of protein while being a party for the taste buds!
To help you be as prepared as possible, I have whipped up a little shopping list to make sure you have what you need. Screen shot the list and check you pantry before you head to the store. Gotta save those pennies!
I am one of the people who finely dices and chops. I like to distribute as much flavor as possible to each bite. This dish I finely diced the onions, and green chilis (I buy them diced and run through a quick dice to make extra sure they are nice and small). When it comes to the chicken, I do a bit more of a chunky shred like you see below.
If you're wanting more of an O.G. type enchilada you can omit the cream cheese and add some enchilada sauce before the mixture. That will bring more of a kick and cut down a bit on the creamy. Adding in the cream cheese or sauce (or both!) really helps the flavors to blend perfectly!
I am a firm believer in stuffing an enchilada with as much filling as possible. You just need to be able to do one full roll. As I roll the enchiladas and place them in the pan, I will use a cup or something heavy enough to keep the enchilada from unrolling. Once I have loosely filled the pan I squeeze in a few more enchiladas. Pack it nice and tight. It should look something like the photo below. Some filling will come out the ends, it is just fine!
When its time to pour the sauce on top, I pour it all down the middle of the enchiladas and then use a rubber spatula to spread it to the sides. I will usually poke/bend the sides down so sauce can get to the sides and bottom of the pan.
In my Beef Enchilada Casserole, I discovered adding cumin and chili powder to the cream cheese for a little somethin, somethin. It was amazing! It would work great with this recipe as well.
I have have been told by a lot of people that these Enchiladas are an absolute hit, with those who have claimed to not like Enchiladas in general! Because these are so creamy and the spice level is mild at most, these provide a fun and different enchilada experience!
SUGGESTED SIDES:
- Elote, canned corn, corn on the cob or creamed corn always pairs well with this dish
- Spanish Rice. We love the Rice-A-Roni Spanish Rice as a quick and easy side dish.
- Garden Salad. You can never go wrong with a nice colorful salad. There are a lot of fun dressings that tie into a yummy enchilada:
- Cilantro Lime
- Chilie Ranch
- Jalapeno Ranch
- Guacamole Salsa with some fresh Pico is DELISH!
- Chips and Salsa are always an excellent side dish or appetizer.
- Turkey for chicken. Tastes amazing and is a great use of Holiday leftovers!
- Black beans can be swapped for pinto beans, great northern or any bean you prefer!
- Chili Powder and Cumin can be replaced with taco seasoning. I don't recommend combining the taco seasoning with either chili powder or cumin. If you don't have one of those, just swap out for taco seasoning. Half a packet is all that would be needed.
- You can sub the flour tortillas for corn and make a layered casserole. The link above titled "Beef Enchilada Casserole" has instructions on layering the ingredients if you opt for corn tortillas. You can also use any kind of low calorie/gluten free tortillas.
- There isn't really a good substitution to cream cheese, so I would go with out instead of finding a substitute.
- The shredded can be any shredded cheese really. I would recommend the Mexican blend as the goal. The first option for backing up would be a mixture of half mozzarella and cheddar, then cheddar then mozzarella. Avoid parmesan cheese. It just doesn't offer what most other cheeses do.
