I’ve been looking forward to making these chicken enchiladas for quite sometime, and they did not disappoint. I absolutely love these chicken enchiladas with the traditional red sauce, and these shrimp enchiladas are out of this world, so I wasn’t sure the green sauce would be able to live up to those. I searched for weeks to find the perfect recipe but ended up finding several different methods that sounded promising. So armed with what seemed like the best of the best from the foodie world I finally headed into the kitchen to try to create a Chicken Enchiladas Verdes I could be proud of.
This was a risky adventure on two fronts. One, I’d never made a green sauce in my life. And two, John has a disdain for anything cooked with a green sauce, in addition to a strong dislike for corn tortillas as a whole. But as with most of his food issues, I take that as a personal challenge. I have an unexplainable need from within my soul to make him like foods he doesn’t really like. He of course had no idea about this when we got married, poor guy.
When he came into the kitchen to see what I was pulling from the oven on this particular day his exact reaction was “That does NOT look like it’s in my wheelhouse”. The deck was stacked against me, and honestly this time I had no expectations. I was prepared for this to be my first failure. It wasn’t going to stop me though, because I was already loving these enchiladas and wasn’t about to let him bring me down. But wonder upon wonders, the man actually liked it. I’d say loved it even. So not only did I lick my own plate clean, I did a little victory dance at the same time. Yay!
A few words about the ingredients: I used one seeded jalapeno, and found there was plenty of heat, but not an overwhelming spiciness. If you are cooking these for a more sensitive palate, such as children, you may want to substitute a poblano pepper instead of the jalapeno, or alternately just use less of the jalapeno. I always suggest starting with a small amount, then after blending the sauce take a big taste and see if you want a little more heat. If so, simply throw in more jalapeno and blend again. If you go the opposite way and it gets too hot, you can try adding a few tablespoons of water and a teaspoon of sugar to bring the heat level back down.
Chicken Enchiladas Verdes
makes 12 enchiladas
1 pound tomatillos, husked and sliced in half
1 large green bell pepper, seeded and sliced in half
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and sliced in half (don’t touch inside of pepper with bare hands)
5 cloves garlic, whole, unpeeled
1 white onion, peeled and quartered
1/2 bunch of cilantro, about 2 cups, plus more for garnish
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs or breasts
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sour cream
12 corn tortillas
canola or grape seed oil for frying
1 cup cheddar cheese, grated
Preheat broiler and arrange the top oven rack so that it is 6″ from heating element. Place tomatillos and both peppers on a baking sheet cut side down. Add garlic cloves and onion to baking sheet alongside the peppers. Place on top rack and broil for about 5 minutes, until tomatillos and peppers begin to char and turn black. Remove from oven and let cool completely. Peel garlic cloves. (They should slide easily out of the skin.)
Meanwhile, place chicken thighs in a large sauce pan or stock pot so that they fit in the bottom without overlapping. Cover with water by 2″. Season water with salt. Cook over medium heat; once water begins to boil reduce heat to a low simmer and cook until chicken is done, about 10 minutes for me. Remove chicken from water and set aside to cool.
When vegetables have cooled, add them to a blender along with the cilantro and salt. Blend until smooth. Taste and season accordingly. Set aside. (You can make this sauce a day ahead if desired and store in the refrigerator.)
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Shred chicken using two forks. Place shredded chicken and sour cream in a bowl and stir to combine. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
(Now, for the tortillas – this is a key step for anyone who doesn’t like dealing with corn tortillas because they tear so easily. Not a single tortilla tore, and the flavor was much better than without frying. I believe this was the key to my victory.) Heat 2 teaspoons of the oil over medium high heat. Place one tortilla at a time in pan and fry each side until it begins to puff. Remove tortilla from pan and place on paper towels to cool. Repeat with all 12 tortillas, adding more oil as needed.
Spoon chicken and sour cream mixture evenly into each tortilla and roll up. Place in a 11×9 baking dish with seam side down. Spoon green sauce evenly over enchiladas. Sprinkle evenly with cheese. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until completely heated through and cheese is melted.
Serve warm with more sour cream and chopped cilantro at the table.
recipe adapted from: Simply Recipes
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I have tried this with my tuna casserole recipe that calls for 2 cans of cream of chicken soup-it came out unbelieveably well! I have been searching for a substitute for the canned stuff for years and have never found one that comes as close as your recipe. Fantastic!
I’ll try to move it if I can figure out a way
Thanks for letting me know that it turned out well in your tuna casserole! There’s no higher compliment than when you update an old favorite and still love it!
Hi there,
My comment for cream of chicken soup was supposed to go with that recipe, for some reason i see it posted under chicken enchiladas? Can you modify before posting? Thanks! Love your site, have used many recipes!