Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas |

The story behind how our family began making these green chile chicken enchiladas begins with my sister-in-law and brother-in-law who lived in New Mexico for a number of years. They developed a certain amount of admiration, I suppose, for the green chile – which New Mexico is famous for. I think they learned to make these green chile chicken enchiladas from a friend in New Mexico. Actually, I am not exactly sure where their recipe and technique came from, but am assuming a friend. Anyway, I learned to make this delightful dish from them and have added a few additions over the years. We lived with them in the Chicago-land area for a while a number of years back and this made it to our dinner table a numerous times.

Disclaimer: this dish is by no means healthy AT ALL for you, but oh-so-good. I have tried to make it just a little bit healthier from the original way I learned. We used to briefly fry the corn tortillas in hot oil before layering them in the dish. I’ve since cut that out, and just layer the tortillas without all of the excess oil and it works out great. But still, I believe it is one meal that should only make it’s way to the dinner table once in a very great while! My mother-in-law put in a special request for this dish, and since we just roasted up a bunch of green chiles that we recently harvested from the garden, it was a timely dinner! Enjoy! -Shelley

Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
Bake time: approximately 45 minutes
*Makes 1 – 9 x 13 dish

1 pound chicken breast, cut into small cubes
1 c chopped onion
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 c chopped cilantro
1/3 c chopped roasted green chiles {I figured this is about the size of a small can of green chiles}
1 packet “Sazon” seasoning {orange packet}
black pepper – to taste
2 cans cream of chicken
1/2 c salsa
1/2 c – 3/4 c milk {or enough to thin out sauce a bit}
corn tortillas {a pack of 30 should be more than enough}
1 pound shredded cheddar cheese
olive oil – for sautéing chicken and greasing pan

corn – optional
black beans, rinsed and drained – optional
hot sauce – optional

Gather and prepare all ingredients. These are in the list of what you need. Let’s not forget the cilantro though! If you want to add corn and black beans, throw those in the mix as well!

Start by heating a large skillet on medium-high heat. Add oil and chicken, onions and garlic. Cook for a few minutes.

Add black pepper and Sazon seasoning packet. Stir spices in and allow chicken to almost cook through.

When chicken is almost cooked add green chiles and mix to combine.

When chicken is cooked through add cilantro…

Add cans of cream of chicken and give a good stir… {I doubled this recipe and the only cans that were in the cupboard were: 1 cream of chicken, 2 cream of mushroom, and 1 cream of celery. Oh well…sometimes you have to roll with the punches!}

Add salsa and mix…

Next, slowly add milk and stir until it thins the sauce mixture out a bit…

Heat the mixture through and then give a little taste to test for seasoning. At this point I added a few dashes of hot sauce to heat it up a bit.

Next, it’s time to assemble. Line all of the ingredients up in an accessible manner…

Grease the bottom of the 9 x 13 inch baking pan with a little bit of oil and sauce. Spread it around a bit. This will help keep the tortillas from sticking to the bottom of the pan.