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Chicken Enchiladas With Salsa Verde
![Chicken Enchiladas With Salsa Verde](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2019/01/08/dining/08CHICKEN-ENCHILADA/08CHICKEN-ENCHILADA-articleLarge.jpg?width=1280&quality=75&auto=webp)
- Total Time
- 1 hour
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
- 2pounds bone-in chicken thighs or breasts, or a mixture
- 1small white onion, cut in half
- 4cloves of garlic
- 1tablespoon kosher salt
- 1pound fresh tomatillos, husked, rinsed and cut into quarters (use canned if you can't find fresh)
- 1small white onion, peeled and chopped
- 1clove of garlic, peeled and chopped
- 2serrano chiles or more to taste, seeds removed if you want it less spicy, stemmed and roughly chopped
- 4 to 5tender stems of fresh cilantro, with leaves, roughly chopped
- Salt to taste
- ½cup neutral oil, like canola
- 12yellow corn tortillas
- 1cup crumbled queso fresco or cotija cheese
- 1cup Mexican crema, or use crème fraîche or sour cream
- 1medium-size white onion, peeled and chopped (optional)
For the Chicken (or Use 1 1/4 Pounds Leftover or Store-bought Roast Chicken)
For the Salsa Verde
For the Enchiladas
Preparation
- Step 1
Prepare the chicken: Place chicken parts in a large saucepan with onion, garlic and salt, and cover with water. Heat pan over high heat until liquid comes to a boil, then reduce heat to medium and let simmer until chicken is cooked through, about 20 to 25 minutes. Remove chicken and let cool, reserving stock for another use. Using your fingers or two forks, shred meat from chicken and reserve, discarding skin and bones. (Alternatively, shred meat from leftover or store-bought roast chicken and set aside.)
- Step 2
Meanwhile, heat oven to 375, and make the salsa verde: Combine tomatillos, onion, garlic, serranos and cilantro in a blender or food processor and purée until smooth, adding water as needed to thin it out a little. Season with salt to taste.
- Step 3
Prepare the tortillas: In medium sauté pan set over medium-high heat, heat oil until it begins to shimmer. Using tongs or a wide spatula, place a tortilla in the hot fat; it should start to bubble immediately. Heat tortilla for about 10 seconds a side, until soft and lightly browned. Remove tortilla and set on a rack set over a baking pan, or just on a baking pan if you don’t have a rack. Repeat with remaining tortillas, working quickly.
- Step 4
Assemble the enchiladas: Use a ladle to put about ½ cup salsa verde in the bottom of a 9-by-13-inch baking pan and spread it out a little. Roll a few tablespoons of shredded chicken into each tortilla with a teaspoon or so of salsa verde and place it seam-side down in the pan, nestling each one against the last. Ladle salsa verde over top of rolled tortillas and sprinkle with about half the crumbled cheese.
- Step 5
Transfer to oven and bake until sauce bubbles and cheese is melted, about 15 minutes. Dot with crema, sprinkle with remaining cheese and, if using, chopped onion, then serve immediately.
Private Notes
Cooking Notes
I have been making fabulous enchiladas from leftover roasted chicken breast for years. Store bought green enchilada sauce ishard to beat, particularly Hatch brand. An important step is, after browning the tortillas, to drag them through a shallow bowl of the green enchilada sauce.
Mix the shredded chicken, some green sauce, some onion, and some cheese before filling.
Instead of dipping each tortilla in oil, you can instead microwave the stack of tortillas for 10-20 seconds, which will soften them up. Keep the stack covered with a kitchen towel to keep them moist as you take each one to roll up with the filling.
If you have the time, roast the tomatillos, onion, and garlic in the oven until lightly charred. Greatly improves the flavor of the sauce.
Queso Fresco is not meant to melt- it is often sprinkled over finished dishes for added flavor and texture. It is meant to have the same type of consistency as Feta cheese. In Mexican cuisine it is often served crumbled over black beans, enchiladas, soups, Chilaquiles, sopes, etc.
It is so much easier to layer the tortillias with the meat like a lasagna, I usually do three layers cutting the tortillians in half and quarters to fit the pan. I've made it with beef and red mole sauce, and have used chicken and shredded pork butt with the chile verde. one square is the equivalent to three enchaladas.
I have added spinich or chard to the sauce before I blend it other favorites are frozen corn and mushrooms. It's a winner every time!
Had no chicken--smashed up a can of pinto beans; no fresh chilis--used a can of Hatch fire-roasted chilis. Mixed the chilis and beans, seasonings, put a spoonful on a softened corn tortilla, added shredded cheese, rolled it up, into a greased baking dish, kept on until out of cheese, beans, and tortillas. Poured Hatch green enchilada sauce over it. Crumbled up queso fresco, put it on top. Baked at 350 for 30 minutes. HEAVEN! Ya use whacha got in the cupboard, right? =)
They turn to mush without oil and so don't come out of the pan whole.
I put my cooked chicken breasts in the stand mixer, with paddle attachment, and it makes for perfectly shredded chicken. I do this for shredded pork as well.
Tomatillos are best once they are charred in cast iron pan or in the oven along with onion, garlic, Serrano Chiles then processed. Put back in pan with some fat and fry a little to give it more dimension. Always fry tortillas to stand up to sauce and for texture. No melting cheese, top with Queso Fresco, onion and radish slices. Let sauce shine through....
I have on a couple of occasions used shredded Monterey Jack cheese, which melts well and has a nice flavor that marries well with the tomatillos.
One of the people I was cooking for has the soapy taste problem with cilantro so I omitted it, but the sauce still needed something, which turned out to be lime juice. I added about a tablespoon, which worked beautifully - apparently this is the best thing I've cooked in months, or so says my family. I'll definitely make it again.
Not sure why the recipe calls for waiting until the cheese melts. Neither queso fresco nor cotija are melting cheeses - they're closer to cottage cheese or feta (respectively) that way.
I always toss all the tomatillos, onions and garlic together, place on a foil lined sheet pan, and roast at 375 for 30-45 minutes. Then, put everything in a deep bowl, add the chiles and cilantro, and blend with an immersion blender. Makes cleanup easier. Roasting releases all the juices in the tomtillos and really perks up the flavor. Also, I always opt to triple the sauce. But I like it saucy, so just a personal preference. Good recipe that I have used many times!
The oil isn't to prevent the tortillas from sticking to the pan, it's to provide a binding for the sauce to the tortilla, without having the sauce penetrate the tortillas, so they don't get soggy. It's about layering flavors. Use the oil!
In Austin we love enchiladas! This dish, however, is much easier as a layered casserole. Other weeknight hacks: canned tomatillos and a rotisserie chicken. Spread some of the tomatillo sauce in the baking dish. Follow with 4 tortillas, 1/2 the chicken, and 1/3 of the cheese, 1/3 of sour cream, and 1/3 of remaining sauce. Then 4 more tortillas and repeat. Top with final 4 tortillas and last 1/3 of cheese and sour cream. You can have this in the oven in 15 minutes. Fantastic and easy.
Made again 8/25/24. Used flour tortillas b/c corn tortillas crumbled the first time. Did not cook in oil, used straight out of package, and they were FINE, -- did not fall apart or get mushy. SO much easier, and fewer calories. No tomatillos in store -- used 2 jars good-quality salsa verde Excellent. Store was out of cotija and queso verde; used ricotta salata and it worked well. This is a very forgiving recipe and it tastes very good. Please, no haters! Cooking is about ad libbing.
Cojita cheese does not melt!
We very much prefer a cooked tomatillo sauce before assembling the enchiladas. This has an unpleasant consistency.
Added a small can of green chili’s to the chicken mixture. Used a rotisserie chicken, shredded. Followed a recommendation and toasted corn tortillas sprayed with avocado oil, in 350° oven for 5 min( flipping half way). Layered tortillas, chicken moisture enchilada sauce) store bought) shredded cheese, repeated three times. Baked at 350 for 30 minutes. Topped with salsa verde, cheese, crumbled cheese. Sour cream and more salsa.
I added a head of rainbow chard ribboned and diced to the onion. This added a rich flavor to the enchiladas which I’ve been having as leftovers for several days now. Hasn’t gotten old. Next time, I might add two heads of chard to increase the vegetables. I also loved using the dough blade of my food processor to break apart pieces and make shredded chicken in 20 seconds.
I made them differently 2nd time. Made half more salsa verde than called for. The sauce is delicious and my family wanted more of it. They also wanted a cheese that melted over the enchiladas so switched out queso fresco for monterey jack. Declicious!
I made these last night and roasted the onions, tomatillos, and garlic first at 450 for about 15 minutes. The sauce is heavenly! Frying the corn tortillas briefly as noted really added a nice flavor- I had never done this before and had just warmed tortillas first. The difference was really noticeable- a slightly sweet and nutty flavor from the frying. I smoked a chicken the day before on the BBQ which added a nice flavor as well. Great recipe.
Where on earth do you find large corn tortillas? Nothing but the small ones around me and given number, size of dish, and photo, it looks like these were at least 8inch tortillas.
Used the lasagna method and worked well! Less work, but just as tasty!
Could this be made ahead and frozen?
We keep green chilaquiles sauce in the freezer and leftover chicken, so this came together super fast. Next time I might add chopped onion and maybe some sliced mushrooms. Tasty and fast!
Bland and thin. So much better when tomatillos are roasted with vegetables and then puréed with chicken stock enriching the sauce and mixed with meat before rolling uo
How much salsa verde does the recipe make - in terms of substituting with store-bought salsa verde?
These are a great use for the huge batch of tomatillo sauce that I made during summer and froze in jars. Straightforward, delicious recipe!
This was really bad. Tossed the leftovers. The sauce using roasted tomatillos went south with the addition of the serrano chili. And I love hot. Perhaps another pepper would have been better. Will not bother making again. Would double the tomatillos and substitute good flour tortillas if I did.
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