Sometimes when I am on a cooking roll, I do many meals at once or they are inspired by each other, I should say. This was that sorta day.
So this particular flurry of kitchen stadium activity was all about chicken. I had three lbs of frozen chicken breasts my stepmom wanted to use up, so I used it all and made several things.
First, I used the instantpot to make chicken stock for potato and leek soup, chicken noodle soup which we had the first night. I also used the cooked chicken for chicken salad for quick lunches on sandwiches or on it’s own. I love it on croissants, personally but I also love it by itself if you want to forego the carbs and keep it keto-friendly.
The rest of the chicken I shredded and used for the enchiladas. I don’t play. We had some good staples for the whole week and then some just by making my own stock using frozen chicken breasts in my instant pot. Couldn’t be easier.
I ended up making a square casserole of enchiladas for dinner with Dad the next night. I also made several small servings prepped in mini loaf pans which turned out were just the right size for freezing single-size servings. My stepmom doesn’t care for enchiladas so this was the perfect way to freeze them for quick go-to, single serve meals when she didn’t feel like cooking and Dad had a craving.
On to the enchilada show.
Ingredients:
- 20 pack of medium 6-8 inch flour tortillas
- 13 oz can of enchilada sauce
- ~1 lb shredded quesadilla or monterrey jack cheese
- ~1 lb cooked, diced or shredded chicken
- 8 oz cream cheese
- 1/2 cup of your favorite salsa
- 1/2 cup of half n half or heavy cream
- Garlic powder, optional
- Diced jalapenos, optional
- Chopped cilantro, optional
- Butter your baking dishes, whatever you decide to use. I used a pyrex square casserole and several mini loaf pans for freezing. You can use a rectangular casserole dish or whatever you prefer.
- Add just enough enchilada sauce to the bottom of your pan or pans to lightly cover the bottom.
- Spread about a tablespoon of cream cheese on a flour tortilla, working with one tortilla at a time.
- Add about a tablespoon of shredded cheese on top of the cream cheese, making a sort of line across the tortilla as opposed to sprinkling to cover the tortilla. This makes it easier to roll and distributes it better once it is rolled up.
- Following the “line” method, add a tablespoon of chicken, jalapenos and cilantro on top of your line of cheese. A tablespoon is really just a guide as you can use more or less to taste. The idea is to be consistent so you have a good ratio of ingredients but not so much you can’t roll them.
- Drizzle about a tablespoon of enchilada sauce over your meat and cheese and optionally, a very light sprinkle of garlic powder.
- Roll each tortilla up and place the rolled tortillas in the pan seam-side down, packing them tightly as you go.
- Mix the salsa and cream or half n half together in a mixing cup and pour over the top of the enchiladas.
- Sprinkle a final layer of cheese on top and bake uncovered at 375 F for 40-45 minutes or until the cheese is golden brown and bubbly on top.
- Remove from the oven and let cool for 5-10 minutes before slicing and serving. This allows the cheese to set so it doesn’t just slide off when serving.
Also, when freezing initially, I pre-freeze the entire pan for at least an hour before wrapping and sealing them for longer storage. I find it easier if the enchilada sauce is frozen as it helps me wrap and seal my cooking vessels without making a complete mess. I also use my vacuum seal bags to get an airtight seal on the whole pan or mini pans, if I can because these keep freezer burn at bay and helps keep odors out of the freezer. But you can certainly use saran wrap, followed by tin or freezer paper or glass, if you prefer once the enchiladas are semi-frozen. I use freezer-safe, oven-safe dishes when I do, obviously as you wouldn’t want to risk breaking a nice casserole if it isn’t tempered for cold to hot applications.
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