Standard (But Awesome) Chicken Enchiladas

I realized when making these Beef Enchiladas that I haven't made plain old, standard chicken enchiladas in I don't know - Ever. I always make green chili with some our cream based sauce. While I LOVE those enchiladas, I wanted to make a straightforward, no frills, red sauce based version.

They turned out awesome.

Standard (But Awesome) Chicken Enchiladas

Chicken:

1 pound mixed chicken breast and thigh (I used 1 boneless thigh and 4 tenders)

1 onion, diced

1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper

Sauce:

1 Tablespoon oil

1 Tablespoon AP flour

1 (10 oz) can of enchilada sauce

1 cup chicken broth

1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce

1/2 teaspoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon cumin

Assemble:

8-10 corn tortillas

10 oz Mexican cheese blend

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I like using a mix of light and dark meat for this recipe but you can sub either all dark or white. It's up to you.

We're just going to cook the chicken through in a pan after seasoning it liberally with salt and pepper.

When the chicken is done, let it rest until cool enough to handle.

Dice the chicken pretty finely. Like 1/4 cubes or even smaller if you can manage. I think the shape of the small cubes really works for these enchiladas versus the normal "shredded" approach.

In the same pan, toss in your diced onion. Season with a pinch of salt.

Toss in a splash of water to deglaze the pan and cook your onions until they just start to caramelize. Shouldn't take more than 10 minutes.

Add the chicken to the onions and combine.

Cook until the chicken is heated through and remove from the heat.

==

Make the sauce by adding 1 Tablespoon each of oil and flour to a sauce pan.

Cook until light yellow over medium heat.

Add your can of enchilada sauce.

Add 1 cup chicken broth, 1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce, 1/2 teaspoon chili powder and 1/2 teaspoon cumin.

Whisk well to combine and bring to a boil.

When you reach a boil, drop the heat to low and leave it be for now.

Pour about a cup of the sauce into the bottom of a 9x13" baking dish.

Dip each tortilla into the sauce to get it pliable. Don't let it sit or it'll disintegrate.

Add about a 1/4 cup of the chicken & onions to the center.

(Doing this over parchment paper helps with clean-up btw.)

Add a pinch of cheese and roll it up.

Place in your dish.

Repeat for the remainder of your chicken. This may be different depending on the size of your tortillas but I fit 9 into my dish.

Cover with the remaining cheese.

Back for 20-25 minutes or until it starts bubbling sauce on the edges of the dish.

Serve with some cilantro, sour cream, hot sauce, etc.

These enchiladas were outstanding. The caramelized onions and simply prepared chicken were an amazing sweet compliment to the smoky sauce. Everything seemed very well balanced and were a joy to eat.

I will be making these again.

Enjoy!