Sometimes I play a fun game where I look on the internet for recipes of dishes that I’ve made on my own for years if not decades, mostly so that I can see how I’ve diverged from standard practice. Recently I did that for enchiladas, and I was properly horrified.
The things that the internet says to do to enchiladas is a fucking crime. Wilted spinach in “cheese enchiladas.” Cream of Chicken soup instead of enchilada sauce. It’s a mad, mad world out there.
And so to contribute to that madness, here’s how I make enchiladas for my family. And no, I’m not Mexican; this is not authentic ethnic cuisine; I’m sure somebody else out there will react with equal disgust to what I do to enchiladas.
Half of us like cheese enchiladas and half of us like chicken enchiladas, so this makes both in the same pan. This is also vey easy to assemble ahead of time and bake off when you’re almost ready to eat.
- Slice a large onion thinly, peel and smash a head of garlic. (Extra credit: add a red onion and/or shallots.) Toss them in olive oil in a frying pan. Lay four chicken breasts on top of the bed of onion, sprinkle liberally with taco seasoning (store bought or bespoke, your call). Cover and cook, flipping the breasts once, until they’re cooked through. Pull the breasts out, shred them, return to pan. Add a dash of chicken stock, scrape the caramelized onions off the bottom of the pan, stir. Remove from heat.
- Grate a pound of cheddar cheese. Yes, a pound.
- Preheat oven to 350.
- In a large bowl, mix one cup milk, a third of a cup chicken stock, and a teaspoon of salt. Then drop half of your tortillas in to soak. (I use keto tortillas, but this will work with flour or corn, too.)
- Pour half the can of enchilada sauce into the bottom of a 9×13 pan. Roll it around so it’s well-coated.
- In a smaller bowl, whisk together half a cup of sour cream and a quarter cup of chicken stock. Add a third of your shredded cheese and taco seasoning to taste.
- Assemble cheese enchiladas! Take a drippy tortilla, spoon in some cheese mixture, and roll it up. Place each rolled-up tortilla in the pan, seam side down, along one side of the pan.
- Add the rest of your tortillas to the milk-and-stock bowl.
- In the smaller bowl, repeat step 6. Add two cups of shredded chicken.
- Assemble chicken enchiladas, just like in step 7.
- Spread remaining cheese over the enchiladas. You may have some leftover cheese, if you are a coward.
- Mark the chicken side of the pan with a few pieces of chicken tossed on top.
- Into the oven for 20 minutes.
- Top with sour cream, salsa, avocado, whatever you like.
- Eat enchiladas!
