Easy Chicken Enchiladas
This Easy Chicken Enchiladas recipe embraces warm and bold flavors, perfect for a cold evening! It is simple, yet packed with flavor.
Ingredients
- 2 boneless chicken breasts
- 3 cups enchilada sauce
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 2 cups shredded cheddar jack cheese
- 8 flour tortillas
- salt
- ground black pepper
- fresh cilantro roughly chopped, for garnish
Instructions
- Reserve 3/4 cup of enchilada sauce and set aside. Pour the rest of the enchilada sauce into a deep pan and add in the minced garlic. Let it simmer for four minutes.
- Season the chicken breasts with salt and pepper on both sides. Place the seasoned chicken breasts into the sauce and reduce heat to low. Cover and cook for 15 minutes until the chicken is cooked through. Flip the chicken about 8 minutes in so that each side cooks evenly.
- Once the chicken is cooked through, take the pan off of the heat. Next, place the chicken on a cutting board and leave the sauce to slightly cool in the pan.
- Cut the chicken into smaller pieces. Use two forks to shred the chicken. Pierce the smaller chicken pieces with one fork while scraping backwards with the other.
- Coat a 9 by 13 inch baking dish with cooking spray and set aside.
- Put the chicken, the reserved 3/4 cup of enchilada sauce, and 1 cup of cheese into a large bowl. Mix well and add in chopped cilantro if you'd like, for freshness.
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
- Warm the tortillas by placing them on a plate between two damp paper towels. Microwave for 20-25 seconds.
- To assemble the enchiladas, place about 1/3 cup of the shredded chicken mixture into the center of the enchilada. Spread out the mixture long-ways so that you get delicious flavor with each bite. Roll up the enchilada and place into the baking dish with the seam-side facing down.
- Finish this process with the other seven tortillas.
- Brush the tops of the enchiladas with olive oil. This helps give them a nice golden brown color and a slight crunch.
- Place the enchiladas into the oven and bake for 10 minutes until the tops are golden brown.
- Reduce the oven temperature to 400 degrees. Remove the dish from the oven and pour the remaining sauce on top of the enchiladas. Evenly sprinkle 1 cup of shredded cheddar jack on top as well.
- Cover the dish with aluminum foil and bake for another 20 minutes.
- After 20 minutes, remove the aluminum foil and bake for an additional 6 minutes.
- Garnish with freshly chopped cilantro, guacamole, sour cream, or pico de gallo.