Chicken Enchiladas with Homemade Enchilada Sauce

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I know we have established that Mexican Food is a favorite in our house and chicken enchiladas are most definitely included on that list! I usually take a shortcut and just layer everything kind of like an enchilada lasagna because, well, it saves soooooooo much time! Cooking everything from scratch has always been a huge part of my life, but when we made those life changes years ago it became even bigger. Add the cooking with the normal day to day life/mom/home things with homeschooling the kids and those few extra minutes saved from rolling each enchilada are usually welcomed and appreciated! Now anytime I actually roll each enchilada instead of layering like an enchilada lasagna the kids both give me a crazy look and inform me “ummmm Mom, you made the enchiladas wrong!” However, regardless of individually rolled or layered they have the same amazingly fresh, delicious, taste that makes the family happy!!

Enchilada Sauce:

• 5-6 Anaheim Peppers

• 1-2 jalapeños (optional, if you like spicy)

• 1 large yellow or white onion

• 4 cloves garlic

• 2-3 tablespoons olive oil

• 1 - 1 1/2 cups chicken or vegetable stock

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon black pepper

1. Turn oven to broil

2. Cut stems from peppers; cut both “ends” from onion, remove skin, quarter; peel garlic cloves

3. Place peppers, onion, and garlic into a pan that is safe to go under the broiler; drizzle with olive oil and use hands if needed to coat peppers 

4. Broil until peppers have browned and blistered, rotate, continue under broiler until all sides have browned and blistered; it only takes a few minutes for each side

5. Remove from the oven and let cool for a few minutes before transferring cooked peppers, onions, garlic, and drippings/oil at bottom of pan to a blender or food processor 

6. Add salt, pepper, and 1 cup of stock; blend until smooth; add remaining stock slowly as needed to get a smooth consistency but not be too liquid-y/runny

Chicken:

• 2 lbs chicken breasts

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon black pepper

• 1 teaspoon chili powder

• 1 teaspoon ground cumin

1. Place chicken into medium size stock pot, cover with water, add spices

2. Bring to a boil over high heat with the lid on, continue to boil for about 30-40 minutes until chicken is done and will shred easily with a fork; or reduce heat slightly and let chicken simmer until tender and easy to shred

3. Remove chicken from broth, reserve cooking liquid (seasoned broth) to use in Mexican Restaurant Style Rice

4. Let chicken cool for a few minutes before shredding

Enchiladas:

• Enchilada Sauce (above)

• Chicken (above)

• ~ 4 cups cheddar cheese, shredded

• ~ 1/2 cup sliced black olives

• 12-14 corn tortillas 

• 1/2 cup sour cream

1. Preheat oven to 350*

2. Combine shredded chicken, sliced olives, sour cream, and 1 cup enchilada sauce in a mixing bowl

3. Pour approximately 1 cup enchilada sauce into the bottom of a 9x13 pan, use this sauce to coat both sides of all tortillas; after coating tortillas, set to the side

4. Place some chicken mixture into the middle of a tortilla, add a small amount of shredded cheese and spoon a little enchilada sauce on top, roll and place overlapped seam side down into the pan; continue with remaining tortillas

5. Evenly pour remaining sauce over enchiladas, top with cheese

6. Bake at 350* for 30-45 minutes, until bubbly

*You can cover with foil before baking if you would like, or use a baking dish with an oven safe lid; we like the top cheese a little browned so I bake uncovered

ALTERNATELY- to save time you can do a layer of tortillas on the bottom, top with part of chicken mixture, add shredded cheese and spoon some enchilada sauce over top; repeat layers (basically like an enchilada lasagna); make sure the “top” layer is tortillas/remaining sauce/cheese