Stacked Chicken Enchiladas

24 Reviews
ADD YOUR REVIEW
Photo: Jennifer Causey; Styling: Ginny Branch 
Hands-on Time
45 Mins
Total Time
1 Hour
Yield
Serves 6 (serving size: about 1 1/4 cups)
By Julianna Grimes
March 2014
RECIPE BY Cooking Light

Because you layer this Tex-Mex dish, lasagna-style, instead of rolling each enchilada individually, you save time in the kitchen, and the results are ultimately healthier because the tortillas don't have to be fried or softened in oil before you assemble the casserole. Look for Mexican crema at Latin food markets or with the Mexican cheeses in the supermarket.

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons canola oil
  • 8 skinless, boneless chicken thighs (about 2 pounds)
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
  • 2 cups chopped white onion
  • 8 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 (15-ounce) can organic whole peeled tomatoes, undrained and crushed
  • 1 cup chopped fresh cilantro, divided
  • 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
  • 1 (7-ounce) can salsa verde
  • Cooking spray
  • 12 (6-inch) corn tortillas
  • 3 ounces shredded pepper-Jack cheese (about 3/4 cup)
  • 6 tablespoons Mexican crema

Nutritional Information

  • Calories 385
  • Fat 17.3g
  • Satfat 4.9g
  • Monofat 7.3g
  • Polyfat 3.7g
  • Protein 25.4g
  • Carbohydrate 32.2g
  • Fiber 4.3g
  • Cholesterol 111mg
  • Iron 1.9mg
  • Sodium 645mg
  • Calcium 151mg

How to Make It

Step 1

Place a small roasting pan in oven. Preheat oven to 425° (leave roasting pan in oven as it preheats).

Step 2

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add oil to pan; swirl to coat. Sprinkle both sides of chicken evenly with cumin, salt, and pepper. Add chicken to pan; sauté 3 minutes. Turn chicken over, and place in the preheated roasting pan. Add onion, garlic, and tomatoes to pan; bake at 425° for 15 minutes or until chicken is done. Cool. Shred chicken; toss with tomato mixture.

Step 3

Combine 3/4 cup cilantro, juice, and salsa verde; spread 1/4 cup salsa mixture in the bottom of an 11 x 7-inch glass or ceramic baking dish coated with cooking spray. Top with 4 overlapping tortillas, half of chicken mixture, and 1/4 cup salsa mixture. Repeat layers. Top with remaining 4 tortillas and remaining salsa mixture; sprinkle evenly with cheese. Bake at 425° for 15 minutes or until golden; sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup cilantro. Top each serving with 1 tablespoon crema.

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Ratings & Reviews

SkinnyJeans5's Review

Roey22
August 12, 2014
As written it is wonderful. To make it into a fast weeknight meal, I do the following and it is still wonderful. 1. Pre-Heat oven 375 2. cook chicken breast or thigh in skillet 3 minutes, turn, add onion and garlic, cook 3 minutes, add can of tomatoes, cover and cook 4 minutes (longer if you have really thick chicken). 3. spoon chicken mixture in food processor, pulse until chicken is chopped-up 4. spray casserole dish with cooking spray, pour salsa verde on bottom to coat, sprinkle lime juice over salsa, (I do not add cilantro) 5. put half of the tortillas over the salsa 6. put all the chicken mixture over the tortillas and then half the cheese 7. put remaining tortillas over chicken 8. pour remaining salsa over tortillas, sprinkle with lime juice and remaining cheese 9. bake for 12 minutes

daneanp's Review

liafinney
January 18, 2015
3 1/2 stars. This is pretty easy and family-friendly for an enchilada dish. I'd still only try in on a weekend to have the extra time to make my own chicken. I don't think rotisserie would work, as someone mentioned, it is the oven-roasting of the meat and the sauce that makes it tasty. I did do this slightly differently - I pan seared the seasoned chicken 3 minutes on each side (only needed 1 T of oil), removed it from the pan then sauteed the onions and garlic for 3 minutes, added the tomatoes to crush, then put the chicken back in the pan and then baked it. 1 less pan to wash that way. My only complaints - minor at that - are that it could have been a bit more flavorful (maybe some more spices on the chicken, maybe some diced green chilies in the sauce) and the top layer of tortilla seemed a little dry after I ran out of sauce. Used light sour cream in place of the crema. We served this with diced ripe avocado and tomato slices.

taliebaker's Review

westlick7
February 24, 2014
This was a really yummy way to make healthy enchiladas and was a hit at the dinner party I served it at. I modified slightly based on other reviews. I sautéed the onions and garlic on the stovetop and added fire roasted tomatoes, a whole rotisserie chicken and spices It did take about double the amount of salsa verde as other reviewers indicated. I added a little more cheese than what was called for but overall - kept this light and lean. Delicious - will definitely make it again.

Has potential

HolDoll81
May 03, 2015
This recipe has a lot of potential. It felt like it needed more ingredients. It's just chicken, tomatoes, onions and tortillas with a bit of cheese. We served it with refried beans on the side and it made for a very tasty, filling meal. In the future I'd put the refried beans as part of a layer and maybe add some green onions too. I also added cheese to the inside layer because just having it on the top isn't enough. The chicken/onion/garlic/tomato mix was delicious but I feel like I could have made that on the stovetop instead of the extra step in the oven. Taking the chicken out of the pan makes you lose the brown bits and juices it was cooking in, and that loses some flavor. I'd make this again but add some things to make it better. 

ahatfield's Review

sifullerton
October 16, 2014
The flavors in this dish are excellent, and if you're someone who feels a little skimped by Cooking Light's portion sizes, you'll love this dish. But, it is really not ideal for a weeknight. I guess I was a little misled by the header, as it says that stacking the tortillas rather than wrapping them is a time saver. It is, but all the steps render this dish more appropriate for a Sunday night in my opinion. Anyway, it's very tasty and hearty, and I served with a simple green salad. I would love to have driven around looking for crema, but reduced fat sour cream worked in a pinch, with a little extra salsa verde on the side. I think the leftovers will be great, too.

kpet13's Review

steponme
May 04, 2014
Made this with chicken breast cubed and my husband has been raving about it since! The flavors are so amazing. Leftovers were better and gone! A favorite for us for sure.

liafinney's Review

CookInMO
April 20, 2014
I disagree with those who say flavor can't be replicated with rotisserie chicken; I had some leftover frozen chicken mix of white and dark and used that. I sauteed the onions and garlic, upped the spices and added chipotel chile powder, used fire roasted diced tomatoes and the chicken and let simmer about 15 min before assembling the casserole. If I did this again, I too would add more salsa verde and cheese and I made it with about 5 more tortillas for a 3rd layer, then baked it an add'l 15 min. Very good and so much easier than rolling the enchiladas. It does make a lot, but sure the leftovers will be very good as well.

steponme's Review

AlexisWriter
April 08, 2014
Delicious! Slight changes; used chicken breast, 15 tortillas in a 9x13 baking dish and left over salsa verde from CL Spicy Shrimp Tacos With Grilled Tamatillo Salsa.

Roey22's Review

ahatfield
March 30, 2014
My family and I loved this recipe. Substituted Salvadorian creama and it was delicious.

KMartinez's Review

rainblossom82
March 24, 2014
I thought this recipe was really flavorful and easy to make. I like to have leftovers, so I made it in a 9x13 dish and used 18 tortillas (6 each layer) and extra cheese. Everything else was by the recipe. I had plenty of chicken to fill the dish, but I should have made extra cilantro sauce, which I think really makes the dish. I also added 1/2 tsp of salt to the chicken mixture because it tasted kind of bland on it's own. It probably wouldn't have made a difference in the assembled recipe. I would definitely make this again.