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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.
Be sure to make these Gluten Free Enchiladas too!
Chicken Enchiladas
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!
I have the masa & press, and can’t get into the taste of those tortillas. I think I’ve been ruined by the commercial ones! I keep making them, and forcing them down, but just can’t get into them. Any ideas as to what I can add to improve the flavor? Anyone?
Are you using enough salt? What about the fat you are using? Try a little lard or leftover bacon grease. FYI I don’t believe in a low fat diet, in case you can’t tell.
whole foods 365 organic corn tortillas are made with “whole corn”
I’m excited to try this recipe but I have one question: When using the tortillas to layer instead of roll up, have you ever rolled them out in a rectangle (with a rolling pin), instead of the normal circle (with tortilla press)? Obviously, this requires making the tortillas from scratch (which are the best!!!)
I made kale and corn tortillas this week (thanks Fresh20) and thought how nice it would be to make a sort of lasagne layer instead of rolling.It may be great.
Hi Tessa. We’ve not tried that method. Sounds like a good idea. :)
How much ground beef would work as a substitution for chicken?
Hi Kelsey. Let’s assume that 4 chicken breast would be about 1-1.5 lbs. I’d go with about the same. ~Amy
Are the above ingredients for making 2 dishes (freezing one), or do I double the above ingredients?
Hi there. It is enough for both. :)
It was too spicy for the children, but the grown-ups in the family enjoyed it.
This was excellent. My husband was not happy that it used rice and tomato sauce, but he LOVED it!
How does this need to be defrosted for the frozen pan? Thanks!!
Hi Nicky. Just defrost overnight in the fridge. :)
Where do you find whole grain corn tortillas?
Hi Katie. Lisa typically makes her own: https://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2010/05/26/recipe-whole-wheat-tortillas/. However, you can find 100% whole wheat tortillas at Trader Joes, Whole Foods, Earth Fare and other health food stores. Also, Ezekial brand can often be found in the freezer section of many stores. Most brands you find at conventional stores typically have VERY long ingredient lists. ~Amy
Loved this! Didn’t freeze the second one since my family asked for it tomorrow night!
Thanks for all the wonderful recipes! On this one: could I use whole wheat tortillas? (Corn allergy)
Hi Danna. Yep. Enjoy. ~Amy
This was amazing! Made it last night, we live in south Texas and like lots of kick to our food so I used 3 tsp of cayenne. Thanks again for this wonderful blog!
I am definitely going to try this recipe, but I just wanted to say that the sprouted corn tortillas mentioned above are sooo delicious! They are a bit pricey, but worth every penny.
We are on day 21 of real food and this is our favorite recipe so far!
We made a half batch because there are only two of us.
Here is the nutritional information if you are interested:
Per serving:
Calories: 439.29
Carbs: 29.47
Fat: 16.57
Protein: 28
Fiber: 5.25
Sugar: .9
Excellent meal before a long bike ride!
This was so, so yummy!!!! It tasted like we were at a restaurant. My husband and 3 boys devoured it, and I was happy to report that there was another pan in the freezer.
I liked this recipe a lot, all except the cinnamon. The smell threw me off. My husband thought it was “too tomatoey” but my kids loved it. I guess if you’re not a tomato lover, it’s not the recipe for you. It tasted better leftover for lunch than it did straight out of the oven, IMO. I served it with the refried beans recipe from this website. I can’t wait to eat the other casserole.
What a great recipe! I’ll definitely be making this again! I only had 3 chicken breasts, and I was worried that it might seem like it’s missing something in those layers, so I chopped up a small green pepper. This was very easy to make, and it tastes great. Thank you so much for the excellent recipes and tips. This blog really helps me change my cooking habits for the better. :)
Yummmmmmm! I’m new at clean eating. I’m also new at cooking. This turned out so delicious. I went easy on all the spices…but nxt. Time I will add more. I’m a timid cook :)
Making the crock pot chicken tonight and will be making the chicken Enchiladas tomorrow with the leftover chicken!
I made this last fall and have been craving it. I baked it last time for about 20 minutes and then ate it for a few days in a row (I did not tire of it). Half of it was cut into single servings and went into individual freezer bags. I kept taking out a piece every week or so and now I am out. I’m going to make it again this week. This is addicting! I love it and the cinnamon adds “real” Mexican flavor.
I was doubtful because the list of ingredients was so simple, but they turned out excellent! I added refried beans to the chicken mixture. I also used my pressure cooker to cook the chicken. And I love that I made an extra meal, on a weeknight no less! Thank you!
This was simple and great! I, too, cooked it on 350 for 20 mins. I put sour cream and jalapeños on it and served with a fresh salad. I especially loved that I now have one in the freezer for the holiday break!
Hi! How many servings does this recipe usually have?
Hi Abbey. Each dish should feed 4-6. ~Amy
These were soooo good! I used ONE 9X13″ dish for my family of 5 and it worked perfectly. My kids LOVED it!
I made this for my family tonight! We LOVED IT!!! My hubby even went back for seconds. I am so excited to know there is another waiting for us in the freezer. We added jalapeño jack cheese to the top. So yummy!!! Thank you for all you do!
As above mentioned just wanted to let y’all know I used orange pepper instead of corn and added pinto beans. Only bc I didn’t have any corn on hand and needed to use up my pepper! Turned out great.
I saw that someone asked about substituting ground beef. I’d like to try it and was wondering if you would substitute the same amount of ground beef as chicken (or more or less)???
Hi Janet. I would keep it at about the same amount of meat which I think is around 16 ounces. ~Amy
We loved this the first time around, and I just pulled the frozen second casserole out of the freezer for dinner tonight. What’s the best way to defrost it before broiling it? I’m guessing I just need to throw it in the oven for awhile, but I’m not sure of the time/temp combo that will work best for this…
Hi Danielle. Sorry, but we are rarely able to get through all comments in real time. We typically thaw our dishes overnight in the fridge. For cooking a frozen casserole, my rule of thumb is to cover it the first half of its cook time and uncover for the rest. ~Amy
Had to tell you how good this is. I made mine in glass pans and just baked it at 400 for about 15 min. It was just great. I can see this with onion, olives, beans or corn. I’ll be making these again, but since I made the extra one, we have one anytime we want!
Just made this and it was great. I couldn’t use my broiler so I stuck it in the oven for 20 minutes at 350 and it turned out perfect. Wishing I did make the extra casserole to freeze, definitely will next time. Thanks!
What type of dish do you prefer to freeze this casserole in?
what could i substitute the corn with? my husband isnt much of a corn person! :/
Hi Kirstin. You could try chopped peppers or black beans? ~Amy
I made these today and baked them in the oven at 350 for 20 minutes. We are vegetarian, so I substituted 2c of pinto beans for the chicken. Turned out wonderful!
Made this tonight and my family loved it, even my 3 year old and 1.5 year old.
Thanks for the menu plan and recipe ideas, it’s really helped me get more organized with healthy meal plans and i love the Food For Life tortillas :)
These were amazing! My husband didn’t know quite what to think of the cinnamon but the rest of us were in love. Will certainly make this as a regular meal though I may play around with different spices besides the cinnamon.
Lisa,
My glass pan recommends you not use it under a broiler. Can this recipe be done with the oven setting, and if so, what you recommend — 350 for 30 minutes?
Hi Leslie. We’ve not tried this recipe that way. If you do, please let us know how it turns out. ~Amy
What size containers do you recommend for this recipe? An two 8 x 8 square pans or maybe two pie sized circular dishes?
Hi Rachel. As Lisa mentioned, either should work fine. I’ve used square and rectangle. ~Amy
Just finished eating these for dinner and they were great! I made the whole wheat tortillas for the first time and they worked perfect in this recipe. I’m really enjoying so many of your recipes and my husband is now on board with eliminating processed foods. Thanks for helping us find great meals that we feel good about eating.
I can’t seem to find how much this serves? Thanks!
Hi Lauren. We do not typically provide serving size information but I can tell you that my vegetarian version of this serves recipe serves 6-8. ~Amy
Made these last night. Super easy. Super yummy. Husband loved. 6 y/o who has a history of hating corn tortillas and is obsessed with flour tortillas ate two servings. 3 y/o who has a long history of refusing to eat dinner (literally has gone to bed hungry every night for a year unless we have pizza) ate all of her portion with minimal complaints. This is HUGE! First real success moment with dinner and it happened with whole real food. Mommy could cry! Thank you Lisa and team :)
That is so great to hear! Glad your family enjoyed the recipe. The little victories with the kids can be very encouraging.