Adapted from Rachael Ray on foodnetwork.com, this Chicken Enchiladas recipe is perfect for families who love Mexican food. Make sure to use corn tortillas for maximum authenticity. Be sure to double this recipe and eat one casserole and freeze the other for later.
The key to making this dish “real food” is ensuring that the corn tortillas you use are 100% whole-grain. Reading food labels can be confusing as it is, but trying to figure out what products are truly 100% whole-grain is especially hard. Very few food labels say “whole corn” as the main ingredient so you either have to keep looking or make the tortillas yourself (with Masa Harina and a tortilla press). I’ve searched grocery stores high & low and was able to find one brand of corn tortillas that proudly states they are made with “whole corn.” They are located in the freezer section of Earth Fare next to the other frozen breads products and they are called: Food for Life Sprouted Corn Tortillas.
Chicken Enchiladas
Adapted from Rachael Ray on foodnetwork.com, this Chicken Enchiladas recipe is perfect for families who love Mexican food. Make sure to use corn tortillas for maximum authenticity. Be sure to double this recipe and eat one casserole and freeze the other for later.
Print Recipe
Servings: 4 people
Ingredients
- 12 corn tortillas
- 1 whole chicken (rotisserie, or boiled)
- 1 cup brown rice (cooked)
- 1 cup frozen corn
- 3 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon chili powder (plus extra 1 1/2 teaspoons)
- 1 teaspoon cumin (ground)
- 3 cups tomato sauce (with no salt added if you can find it)
- 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (or more)
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 1/2 cups Monterey Jack cheese (grated)
Optional Toppings / Add-Ons
- sour cream
- cilantro
- avocado
- guacamole
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 275 degrees F.
- Wrap corn tortillas in foil and warm in the oven while you prepare everything else.
- Shred cooked chicken using forks. Mix in 3 tablespoons tomato paste, ½ cup grated cheese, rice, frozen corn kernels (no need to defrost them), 1 teaspoon chili powder, and 1 teaspoon ground cumin.
- For the sauce combine 3 cups tomato sauce, cayenne pepper, ½ teaspoon cinnamon, 1 ½ teaspoons chili powder and heat through, keeping warm until needed.
- Remove tortillas from oven and switch on broiler to high. Now with most enchilada recipes you have to individually wrap up each tortilla with the filling, but why go through all of that effort when you can just layer it like lasagne and the end result still tastes the same?
- Using two separate square baking dishes ( or 2 round baking dishes) start to distribute the ingredients in the following order: 1. Sauce (spread a little out on bottom of baking dishes), 2. Tortilla layer (I used 2 for each tortilla layer), 3. About a quarter of chicken mixture (for each dish), 4. More sauce, 5. Another tortilla layer, 6. The rest of chicken mixture, 7. Another tortilla layer, 8. The last of the sauce, 9. Grated cheese on top.
- Now, for the extra casserole that you are going to freeze go ahead and stop here. Cover it, label it, and throw it into the freezer. When you decide to defrost it later then you can pick things back up with the last broiling step below (after it has been defrosted).
- Put the casserole under the broiler and broil for about 5 minutes or until the cheese melts and it is heated through.
Serve with cilantro, avocado/guacamole and enjoy!
Notes
We recommend organic ingredients when feasible.
Nutrition Facts
Nutrition Facts
Chicken Enchiladas
Amount Per Serving
Calories 600
Calories from Fat 153
% Daily Value*
Fat 17g26%
Saturated Fat 9g56%
Cholesterol 38mg13%
Sodium 1333mg58%
Potassium 1187mg34%
Carbohydrates 94g31%
Fiber 11g46%
Sugar 10g11%
Protein 23g46%
Vitamin A 1660IU33%
Vitamin C 18.8mg23%
Calcium 428mg43%
Iron 5.1mg28%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
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Made this tonight, it was amazing! Better than going out to eat at a Mexican restaurant! Even my kids and 19 month loved it. I added black beans and onions, and used flour tortillas, only cause kids don’t like corn tortillas. Would highly recommend! Thank you!
Just came across your site and love all of the information! I use as much non-processed food in our family meals as possible and am excited to try some of your new recipes. I was wondering if you had any thoughts on rice and the recent information on it containing arsenic. We used to eat rice a lot until I heard about that. Unfortunately, I read that whole grain rice had even higher levels of arsenic than plain white rice. Not sure if organic rice is safe or if you have any other ideas. I like this recipe but was hesitant because it called for rice.
Thanks in advance!
Hi Aimee. I hear your concern. There is so much conflicting information out there. A great substitution for rice is quinoa and it is wonderfully nutritious! Maybe giving quinoa a try will help ease the worry. ~Amy
I just made this last night, my hubby and I loved it! I made my own corn tortillas using King Arthur Masa Harina and we have extras in the freezer. Thanks Lisa!
I made this dish 3 times. It has become one of my go to weeknight meals. It is so easy and a great use for leftover chicken breasts. It is equally as good the next day even when microwaved.
I am in the midst of eating this right now! Made it tonight for dinner. DELICIOUS!!! The cinnamon just brings it all together. My 3 yr. old asked for seconds which is rare! My picky eater said it was alright, but my teenager, myself and my husband loved it!
Hi! I’m loving all the great information and recipes provided on the site, like this one. I was wondering what the portion size was this dish? Also, nutritional information would be great for those of us trying to keep track of the calories we are consuming. Thanks so much!
Hi Nicole. We don’t track the nutritional information for our recipes and here is a little bit of additional information as to why…https://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2011/04/29/mini-pledge-week-8-stop-eating-when-you-feel-full/. Jill
I made this tonight and it was pretty easy to make and I thought it was really good. I put some medium Wholly Salsa on top. I would definitely make it again.
Can I use left over Quinoa instead of the brown rice?
Hi Julie. You could certainly give it a try. Jill
I liked everything but the sauce. It was too sweet, and pretty bland for our tastes, even though it was spicy enough with the cayenne. I’m from Texas though, so I’m used to Tex-Mex. I will probably sub salsa next time, or play around with another red sauce (or maybe sour cream sauce). The chicken filling was so good!
Would this taste good with ground beef?
Hi Jill. I have not tried it, but, I don’t see why you couldn’t. Good luck. Jill
My oven has a seperate drawer for broiling and its not very deep. What temp do you recommend for cooking it in the oven without using the broiler?
Hi Andrea. I would cook it at 500 then. Jill
What are you guys freezing the extra dish in? I’ve been told not to freeze glass??
Hi Leslie. I freeze mine in a pyrex with no problem. I would just wait until everything has cooled down first. Jill
I made this for dinner last night and it was awesome! My almost 2 yr old scarfed it down and was looking for more! It did take a while to prepare, but it was so worth the effort. We’re going hard core with the ‘october Unprocessed’ challenge and if all our meals were this tasty, it will be a breeze to stick to it!
This is great with homemade salsa verde (tomatillo sauce).
I made these last night & they were great! Everyone enjoyed them. I have half in the freezer for another dinner! I had a little extra filling but no tortillas left, so I grated a little cheese over top & warmed it for my lunch & it was still great! Thank you for all your efforts into a great site.
This is absolutely amazing! Made it tonight with the homemade whole wheat tortillas (refrigerated from earlier in the week). My husband can’t stop raving, my 2-year-old is scarfing it down and i’m watching the leftovers i planned on disappear! I’ve been using the recipes on this site a lot in the past couple weeks and love the resources to move toward more real food!
Just a note that I also found corn tortillas with ingredients listed as “whole corn, water, lime” – the 365 brand (store brand) at Whole Foods.
I wanted to stop by and leave a comment that I was able to find some whole grain tortillas.
The brand is Casa Valdez and in the ingredients it says “Whole grain corn, water and trace of lime.”
I think it helped that they are based in Caldwell, ID which is pretty local.
I’ve been making meals off your meal plans for the last two weeks and this has been our favorite so far. I left out the corn and only used 1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper, and that was spicy enough for me :) I’m so happy that I have another one of these in the freezer for a future meal. Thanks for the site and the great recipes!
Just made this recipe tonight and my husband and I loved it! I halved everything (but followed all ingredients/instructions as written) and just made one dish to try it out and see if we liked it. I will definitely be making this again – 2 separate dishes so I can freeze one to have on hand next time. It’s a must-try!
Could you please add a “pin it” button? Thanks so much :)
I made this recipe tonight. It was delicious! I put it all together in a big dish and baked at 350 for 15 minutes. Super good! Thanks for the yummy recipes! I also made the Jambalaya the other night and it was a huge hit with my husband! I agree with a previous post somewhere in your recipes: When is a cookbook coming out?? :)
This is a delicious recipe. I love using cinnamon in the Mexican recipes you post (Fajitias). It gives a pleasant and unique flavoring to the food. Thanks for sharing!
We made these the other night for dinner and they were delicious!! I’ve made enchiladas before, but they were always just okay. This recipe is a keeper! Thank you so much for posting healthy and delicious recipes!
I’ve been loving all your recipes and ideas. Thank you. I made the homemade corn tortillas tonight and I realize now they were too sticky so I’ll try adding a bit more masa harina next time. We found the enchiladas to be too spicy. Would you suggest that I simply cut all the spice measurements in half? Would love other recipes for the corn tortillas.
I wouldn’t cut all the spices in half…just the chili powder and cayenne pepper. Or alternatively you could leave out the cayenne pepper all together and keep everything else the same.
Made these enchiladas tonight! SO yummy. Thanks for sharing a great recipe! I also posted it to my blog to spread the love.
lisa, im curious as to what kind of tortilla press you have. as were eating healthy, i am finding i don’t have these helpful tools in my kitchen. i am starting my “wants” list such as a breadmaker and a tortilla press. :)
We have this one and it works great! http://www.surlatable.com/product/PRO-452797/Cast-Iron-Tortilla-Press;jsessionid=900289D486C6C2283FD3C69AFB22C1EB
What size casserole dishes are you using for this?
Catherine, I was wondering what size dish as well. I’m an amateur, so I’m not good at eyeballing and deciding. Guess it’ll be trial and error. :)
Two square dishes like an 8X8 or 9X9
Square ones…8X8 or 9X9
Yummy..this looks so good!
I just made the crock pot chicken! It turned out great, I can see how versatile this recipe is. I can’t wait to try it with some lemon and Rosemary! YUM! I’m going to try to make this tomorrow! As well as some chicken stock! I can’t wait!
I just found your site and am so excited to try this recipe tonight! Thanks for all the great information and experience.
For the commenter above – I use Pyrex (or Anchor, anything glass with plastic fitted cover) for casseroles and they go from freezer to oven with no problem, and no waste like disposables.
What kind of pan do you use that can go from freezer to oven? I had been doing dinner station and this is pretty much where it stopped. We used disposable pans, but I would prefer something more earth friendly…
I agree it is not earth-friendly, but the disposable aluminum pans with a plastic tight-fitting lid are convenient for freezing casseroles. You could maybe reuse them once or twice.
Hey Lisa, Which whole grain corn tortillas do you use, or do you make your own? If you make your own do you have a great recipe? Thanks!
I’ve started making my own with a tortilla press (haven’t posted the recipe yet…will soon, but I will tell you now that the press is a must), but I also found one brand in the frozen section at Earth Fare that I put on my supermarket “cheat sheet”: https://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2011/03/09/supermarket-real-food-cheat-sheet/
Hey there, long time reader and lurker here with my first comment! My only daughter is getting married to her lovely mexican boyfriend soon, and I’m tasked with preparing the wedding party! I thought enchiladas would be a good idea, so trying to find some good enchilada recipes. What do you think? Any other suggestions?? Anyway, thanks for your hard work as ever… I’ll try to comment a little more on future posts.
I think I’ve found some corn tortillas that are whole grain…The brand is “Food For Life” and they’re called sprouted corn tortillas. Ingredients list: organic sprouted corn, filtered water, sea salt, lime. I wasn’t sure what “sprouted corn” meant, but from what I’ve read it seems like it’s whole grain. Have you come across this in your research at all??
I’ve come across the sprouted grain options as well (although not the corn ones…just wheat) and they do appear to be whole grain. Did you find the corn tortillas in the freezer section with their other stuff? Also, here is an informative article on the Whole Grains Council website about sprouted grains: http://www.wholegrainscouncil.org/whole-grains-101/sprouted-whole-grains
TYVM you’ve soevld all my problems
I was at an International Market here in GA last night and I found corn tortillas, the brand is El Milagro, with the ingredients of just 3 things:
1- Stone Ground Corn
2- Water
and
3- Lime (Calcium Hydroxide)
It was a pack of 36 for only $1.29
Edit:
Right before posting this I saw you said that it needed to be whole corn. I went on this company’s website, and it says:
‘Quality is a word that is not used lightly at El Milagro. From the beginning, we have always made the best tortillas that we know how. Our corn tortillas start with whole kernel corn that is carefully selected and ground in our plant – we never use pre-processed corn flour.’
So is this a good thing or a bad thing? Do I need to be leery of this brand? Please do let me know if you can! I dont have a phone else I would call the company directly right now to figure this out o.o
Company’s site is here: http://el-milagro.com/main.html
I am finding that corn tortillas (and corn flour) are incredibly tricky to figure out if they are whole grain. The problem is that the corn flour often used to make corn tortillas (which is called Masa Harina) does not say “whole grain” on the package, although the whole grains council technically considers it to be whole grain. I don’t see anything that says whole corn or masa harina on the website you sent…did you see this page with contact numbers? http://el-milagro.com/contacts.html
Oh, wow! So glad you know this information. Thank you for replying and hopefully you/me/someone can figure out a tasty whole corn tortilla recipe or solution! :)
Also, check out this article I just posted that might provide a little more info on cooking with whole grain corn: http://thefoodillusion.wordpress.com/2010/07/29/understanding-grains-corn-wheat-multi-grain-etc/
Also, check out this article I just posted that might provide a little more info on cooking with whole grain corn: http:// thefoodillusion.wordpress.com/2010/07/29/understanding-grains-corn- wheat-multi-grain-etc/
I am going crazy over all your incredible recipes and advice!!! Question: could you substitute the corn tortillas with the homemade wheat tortillas?
Yes, I think you could although authentic enchiladas are made with corn instead of flour tortillas. I actually just got some new info about corn tortillas though, and I am probably going to have to change that part of this recipe. As entrenched as we are in this topic these corn tortillas are one of the half a dozen or so things that we did not initially realize are refined. The first ingredient says “ground corn” and apparently it needs to say “whole corn” if it were actually made with the whole grain. Sounds like I am going to have to work on a corn tortilla recipe that I will post soon!
Recipe review: the enchiladas came out great and delicious! I never thought there would be such a thing as a healthy enchilada. I can now eat these without guilt.
This looks so yummy! I can’t wait to try it. I’ve tried your quiche and and making the pizza crust this weekend. Love these recipes you keep coming up with!
I am so glad to hear that!