Years ago my dear friend Tessa gave me her recipe for Chicken Enchiladas. It’s been our family “go-to” recipe since. I promised to post this recipe last year when I made Cream Cheese and Chicken Enchiladas, and I’m just now getting around to it.
I’ve made these for everything from Sunday dinners to team dinners. One of those tried and true, never disappoint recipes. What makes these different from the hundreds of other enchilada recipes out there? The secret ingredient: coriander. It gives the sauce a distinct, but subtle flavor. Tessa’s recipecomes out of the BH&G red checkered cookbook – you have one in your kitchen, right?
This is a recipe that’s sure to become your fam favorite too.
Stay warm and have a great weekend.
Family Favorite Chicken Enchiladas
adapted from Better Homes and Garden cookbook
print recipe
8 flour tortillas, regular, not burrito size* at room temperature
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
1 cup chopped onion, I like sweet onions such as Walla Walla or Vidalia
1 teaspoon coriander
2 cloves garlic, minced
ground pepper
3 tablespoons flour
8 oz sour cream regular or low or non fat
2 cups chicken broth
1-4 oz can chopped green chilies, not drained
3 cups grated colby-jack cheese, divided
3 cups chopped chicken
olives, mushrooms, tomatoes, green onion optional, for topping enchiladas
Prepare Sauce:
Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium high heat. Place onion and coriander to melted butter and cook for about 5 minutes or until onions are softened. Lower heat to medium and add minced garlic. Cook for an additional minute until fragrant. Be careful to not burn garlic. Add pepper.
Stir flour into sour cream and add to onion mixture in pan. Stir in broth and green chilies and continue to cook until thick and bubbly. Remove from heat and add 1/2 cup of grated cheese.
Filling and Assembly:
Put about 1/2 cup of sauce into a 9×13 greased pan, using a spatula spread sauce over bottom of pan.
Stir 1/2 cup of sauce into chopped chicken in bowl. Place about 1/4-1/3 cup filling onto each tortilla and spread filling to cover length of tortilla, sprinkle with a couple of tablespoons of grated cheese. Roll up tortilla and place in prepared dish, seam side down. After all tortillas are filled and rolled, top with remaining sauce. Cover pan with foil and bake in 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes.
Remove pan from oven. Remove foil and top with remaining grated cheese.
Bake for about 5-10 additional minutes, or until heated through.
Let sit for 10 minutes before serving to allow cheese and sauce to set up.
Tips:
-Do not purchase no-fat tortillas. They will not roll well and will break apart in assembly. It is best to have tortillas at room temperature and not refrigerated for easiest assembly.
-I have made this recipe using non-fat and low-fat sour cream with great results.
-I usually prepare the chicken the day before. I place seasoned (salt and pepper) chicken breasts in a crock pot on low for 4 hours. Pour a bottle of green chili salsa (about 8-10 oz) over the chicken before cooking. When I make the sauce for the enchiladas above, I use the juice from the cooked chicken breasts instead of the chicken broth called for in the recipe.
-If you double this recipe, it fits well into a jelly roll pan.
-This recipe also freezes well. Make up to the point of baking and freeze, covered tightly with foil. When ready to bake, do not thaw, bake at 325 for about 1 hour 15 minutes, covered in foil. Proceed with last step of removing foil and covering in additional cheese, bake for 5-10 minutes or until hot and bubbly.
bridetobeisme says
Made this for my family of 7, doubled it of course, but it was a hit! Super yummy! Tip: I used the ready made hot whole chickens from the store which saved time and kept hungry hubby and 1 teenager busy while I prepared other ingredients.
lindsay kjar says
chicken enchiladas, made by a mormon mama, with no condensed soup…yippee!! we didn't have green chilis on hand (sacrilege, i know), so i used my father in law's salsa (well he made it, and gave it to us that is…don't want you to think i was out of green chilis AND salsa…how sad:( ) and with stars aligned and fingers crossed, it still tasted really great. thanks for sharing and getting me out of the "chicken enchiladas made with a can of hoo-ha" rut i was in.
Lori Morgan says
Soooo excited to see this recipe! I made this prob 20+ yrs ago and I’ve never forgotten this recipe or how delicious it is and different thanks to the coriander! It was out of my bhg cookbook and it has always been my favorite with the white sauce! This recipe hooked me on ground coriander. Thx so much for posting!!, I’ll be making this again soon !
abountifulkitchen says
Lori,
It’s an oldie but a good one! Im making this tomorrow for my son’s birthday. This is one of my most requested recipes from our kids!
Have a great day,
xo
Si
patty says
I made this for my husband and I. It was so yummy!! I was missing tortillas so I made some from scratch, I added Sriracha hot chili sauce over the enchiladas totally made them awesome!! I haven’t eaten anything that tasted so good to me in a long time!
Si Foster says
Patty,
I’m so glad you loved this recipe – with homemade tortillas! YUM. One of our favorite recipes.
Thanks for reading ABK!
xo,
Si
Brittany says
Where do you buy your green chili salsa? We can’t find it anywhere in our stores.
Si Foster says
Brittany,
Look in the Mexican Foods section of your local grocery store – Walmart, Smiths Harmons all have it here. Green Chili Salsa is also known as Salsa Verde. I also found it on Amazon.
I hope you enjoy that recipe. Thanks for reading ABK.
xo,
Si