Salsa Verde Chicken Enchiladas
Salsa Verde Chicken Enchiladas are the perfect weeknight meal and packed with great flavor! Our kids love Taco Tuesday! In fact, they rarely will let a Tuesday go by without asking for tacos. Since tacos can get ho-hum (at least for some of us), I love to shake things up on Tuesday’s with another Mexican food idea.
I make regular enchiladas with red sauce, but I prefer the flavor of the tomatillo salsa. It’s tangy, spicy…I’m pretty sure I could eat it with a spoon. This recipe is super easy, totally do-able for a busy weeknight or weekend. For a quick shortcut, buy a cooked Rotisserie Chicken from the store to shred. They are so reasonable, often it will cost less than cooking one yourself and a huge time saver. I love the ones at Costco, they are a great size and cost about $5-7, you can’t beat it!
I use this salsa verde/tomatillo salsa for so many dishes, I just love it. If you have leftovers or you want to make a double batch, you can use it for a dipping salsa with chips or as a topping for Carnitas. I have a great recipe for Carnitas Bowls on my blog. It was the same recipe that won when I was featured on ABC’s The Chew in the Recipe Showdown, it’s a keeper!
You need to make these Salsa Verde Chicken Enchiladas, delish! Let me know what you think!
Prep Time
30 minutes
Cook Time
30 minutes
Total Time
1 hour
Course
Entree
Cuisine
Mexican
Servings
6 servings
Ingredients
1 Tbs. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 Yellow Onion diced
5 Garlic Cloves minced
Salt & Pepper
12 Tomatillos husked, rinsed and cut in half
1 Jalepeno cut in half (without ribs and seeds for less heat)
1 Lime juiced
1 Tbs. EVOO
Salt & Pepper
1 Rotisserie Chicken Store bought or Roast yourself if you want
3 Tbs. Cilantro Fresh chopped, divided
8 oz. Motzarella Cheese Shredded and divided (or Monterey Jack)
12 Corn Tortillas small street taco size
1/4 cup veg oil
4 oz. Cotija Cheese shredded
Sour Cream for serving
Chopped Red Onion for serving
Instructions
Add EVOO to a large skillet over medium heat, add onion and sauté until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add minced garlic, salt and pepper and stir for one minute. Remove from heat and reserve for later, divide in half.
Heat oven to broil while you prep the tomatillos and peppers. You can always remove the ribs and seeds from the peppers if you want less heat, or cut it down to one pepper. Toss the prepared tomatillos and peppers in more EVOO and spread into a single layer on a parchment lined sheet tray. Broil on top rack for about 5 minutes until they get slightly charred, flip over and broil 3 more minutes. Remove and Reserve.
Prepare the chicken. Remove skin and bones from a rotisserie chicken and shred with your fingers into a separate bowl. Use the leftover bones to make chicken stock if you desire, or freeze to make it at a later time.
Add cooked tomatillos, peppers, all reserved juices from the sheet tray, one lime juiced, half of the onion and garlic mixture and salt & pepper to a blender and blend until smooth. Set aside until needed.
To the bowl with the shredded chicken, add the remainder of the onion and garlic mixture, salt, pepper, 2 heaping spoonfuls of salsa verde, mozzarella cheese and freshly chopped cilantro, stir to combine.
Get a rack set up over a sheet tray ready to drain the tortillas. Also prepare a large baking dish with a large ladle full of the salsa verde to cover the bottom so you are ready. Preheat your oven to 375F.
In another skillet, add veg oil to another skillet so it completely covers the bottom, about 1/4 cup, heat over medium high heat. When oil is hot, fry the tortillas quickly, about 10-15 seconds per side so very lightly golden and pliable. Remove from oil, drain on a rack.
From there, quickly dip the tortilla in the baking dish with salsa verde and add about 2 Tbs. the chicken mixture to the center of the tortilla, roll and place seam side down back into the baking dish. Repeat, fitting the enchiladas snug against each other. You may need a second baking dish if you want to make all 12.
Top with another few ladles of salsa on top of the enchiladas and more mozzarella cheese. Bake at 375 for about 20 minutes, or until the cheese is bubbly and enchiladas are golden brown.
Remove the enchiladas, top with cotija cheese, sour cream, chopped red onions and fresh cilantro....enjoy!
Notes
As another option for the salsa verde, quarter the onion and broil along with the jalepeno and tomatillos. Place the garlic cloves in foil, drizzle with EVOO, crimp closed and place in the oven on middle or lower rack while the other veggies are broiling, this will bring out some of the natural sweetness, just watch it so it doesn't burn. Add onion and garlic to the blender/vitamix to blend together. Add 2 huge spoonfuls of the salsa verde to the shredded chicken mixture and reserve the rest to spoon over the top of the enchiladas.