Recipe: Chicken + Spinach Enchiladas

These are not your traditional slathered-in-red-sauce enchiladas. They’re better.

When I first found this recipe and decided to try it, I thought the sauce sounded too simple. Milk, chicken broth, peppers, and spinach? Isn’t that going to be bland? Do I even like corn tortillas? As it turns out, this is one of my all time favorite recipes. I have been known to make it twice in a month because it’s so damn good.

I’ve tweaked the original recipe a little. If you want to see the untweaked version by Rick Bayless, it’s here: http://www.rickbayless.com/recipe/view?recipeID=167


Ingredients

  • 4-6 fresh poblano chiles
  • 10 ounces baby spinach leaves
  • 2 cups milk
  • 2 cups chicken broth or stock
  • 3 tablespoons butter
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 5 garlic cloves, peeled
  • 1/2 cup flour
  • salt + pepper
  • 2 tablespoons Picante Bufalo Salsa – You might be able to find it in the Mexican section of your grocery store, or at a Mexican market. It looks like Tabasco, but it’s not hot. If you can’t find it, don’t sweat it.
  • 3 cups coarsely shredded cooked chicken – I usually roast a chicken one night and make the enchiladas and stock with the leftovers, but you could also buy one of those rotisserie chickens.
  • 8 ounces queso fresco (Mexican crumbling cheese)
  • 15 corn tortillas
  • A little vegetable oil for brushing or spraying
  • 4 ounces queso Chihuahua
  • 4 ounces mozzarella cheese

Note: I make a whole batch of sauce at once, but after that I only assemble and bake as many of the enchiladas that will be eaten in one night. I keep the chicken, cheese, peppers, and sauce in separate containers ready to assemble for the next night. My reason is that I don’t like the way corn tortillas get soggy when left in sauce. If you aren’t picky about that, by all means, make it all at once!

  1. Roast the poblanos on a grill or under a broiler. You want the skin blackened and flaking off on all sides, so keep and eye on it while it roasts, making sure to flip as needed. When they’re good and blackened, put them in a paper bag or a bowl with a lid so they’ll steam themselves in their own heat. This will make the skin easier to peel off.
  2. Heat the butter and olive oil in a large sauce pan. Add the 5 gloves of garlic and saute for 1 minute over medium heat.
  3. Add the flour to the butter, slowly. Whisk until smooth. Continue stirring until the flour/butter mixture (called a roux) darkens slightly and gives off a nutty smell.
  4. Slowly stir in the milk. Again, whisk smooth.
  5. Whisk in the chicken broth and reduce heat to low.
  6. Peel the poblano peppers and remove the seeds. Add 2 of them (set the rest of the peppers aside) to the broth mixture along with the spinach leaves. Cover the pan.
  7. When the spinach leaves are wilted, blend the sauce with a stick blender, or in a regular blender (and be careful, it’s hot!) until smooth. Add the Picante Bufalo if you’ve got it. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
  8. Set the sauce aside for now (or on low heat).
  9. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Brush the corn tortillas on each side with a little oil (I just give them a spritz of cooking spray) and then put them on a cookie sheet and into the oven. This step is important. If you don’t do it, the tortillas will break when you try to roll them up, and they get soggy in the sauce. So don’t skip this step!
  10. While the tortillas warm, mix the chicken with enough sauce to coat it nicely.
  11. Slice the poblano peppers so you have 15 slices.
  12. Grease a glass baking dish and coat the bottom of the pan with sauce.
  13. When the tortillas have warmed and are nice and pliable, pull them out of the oven. Fill each one with a slice of the roasted poblano pepper, 1/2 ounce (about 2 TB) of the queso fresco, and a small scoop of the chicken mixture. Make sure you can close the tortilla. šŸ™‚
  14. Roll up the tortilla and place it seam side down in the baking dish. Repeat as necessary.
  15. Top the enchiladas with the remaining sauce and the Chihuahua and mozzarella cheeses. Bake until the cheese is melted and golden brown at the edges.
  16. Eat like a pig.

4 thoughts on “Recipe: Chicken + Spinach Enchiladas

  1. My husband and I made these last night! He’s a great recipe re-vamper, as well, so minor tweaks, but holy cheese, these were delicious. Thank you!
    I love your blog, especially your how-to videos. Thank you for all your hard work.

  2. Try these! They will taste better because there will not be any unnecessary flour in the recipe and not too mention faster. I used Pace salsa verde sauce but have yet to find it again. So try Herdez Salsa Verde it was just as good. I’ve also found a new Salsa Verde called 505 Southwestern. This was bought at Costco and turned out really good by itself so I can’t wait til I make it with this recipe.

    Salsa Verde Enchiladas

    From Good Housekeeping

    Serves: 8

    Yields: 2 casseroles

    Total Time: 1 hr 10 min

    Prep Time: 50 min

    Cook Time: 20 min

    Oven Temp: 350

    Ingredients
    U.S. Metric Conversion chart

    2 rotisserie chickens
    2 jar(s) (16- to 17.6-ounce) mild salsa verde
    6 green onions, thinly sliced
    1/4 cup(s) fresh lime juice
    1/2 cup(s) (loosely packed) fresh cilantro leaves, chopped
    16 (6-inch) corn tortillas
    1 container(s) (8-ounce) reduced-fat sour cream
    1/2 cup(s) reduced-sodium chicken broth
    1 package(s) (8-ounce) reduced-fat (2%) shredded Mexican cheese blend

    Directions

    Remove meat from chickens and coarsely shred; place in medium bowl (you will need 5 1/2 cups; reserve any extra for use another day). Discard skin and bones. Stir 1/2 cup salsa verde into chicken to evenly coat.
    Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease two 13″ by 9″ glass or ceramic baking dishes; set aside. In 12-inch skillet, heat remaining salsa verde, green onions, and lime juice to boiling on medium-high. Boil 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in 2 tablespoons cilantro; keep warm over very low heat.
    With tongs, place 1 tortilla in salsa verde mixture; heat 10 seconds. Place tortilla on waxed paper; top with about 1/3 cup shredded-chicken mixture. Roll up tortilla and place, seam side down, in prepared baking dish. Repeat with remaining tortillas and chicken mixture, arranging 8 tortillas in each dish.
    Stir sour cream and broth into remaining salsa verde mixture in skillet; spoon over filled tortillas. Cover one baking dish with foil and bake 15 minutes. Remove foil; sprinkle with 1 cup cheese and 1 tablespoon cilantro. Bake 5 minutes longer or until cheese melts. Meanwhile, sprinkle remaining cheese and cilantro over second casserole and prepare for freezing (see Thawing and Reheating Tips).

    Read more: Salsa Verde Enchiladas – Good Housekeeping

  3. Oh yes and if you don’t feel like rolling, no problem. I made this more like a lasagna , layer by layer and it made it even easier to make.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *