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Green Enchiladas with Chicken and Cheese (Enchiladas Verdes)
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To make the filling for these enchiladas, use leftover roasted or grilled chicken or meat from a store-bought rotisserie bird. You also can poach your own chicken. To do so, place 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts in a medium saucepan, cover with water or chicken broth, bring to a simmer over medium-high, then reduce to low, cover and cook until the thickest part of the meat registers 160°F, about 20 minutes. Let the chicken cool in the liquid until just warm to the touch, then finely chop the meat. Our homemade green chili and tomatillo sauce is especially good here, but any bottled hot sauce that's not too vinegary (such as Tapatío or Cholula) will work. Chopped white onion and sour cream or Mexican crema are great garnishes.
4
Servings
Tip
Don't skip the step of brushing the tortillas with oil and briefly warming them in the oven. If the tortillas are filled and rolled straight from the package, they will crack and tear. But take care not to overheat them, which will dry them out and make them too brittle to roll.
45 minutes
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
3 medium poblano chilies (about 12 ounces), stemmed, seeded and chopped
1 pound tomatillos, husked, cored and chopped
1 medium white onion, chopped
6 medium garlic cloves, peeled
1 tablespoon ground cumin
½ cup low-sodium chicken broth or water
1 cup lightly packed cilantro leaves and stems
Kosher salt and ground black pepper
1½ cups finely chopped cooked chicken (see note)
6 ounces whole-milk mozzarella cheese, shredded (1½ cups)
2 tablespoons hot sauce (see note)
8 6-inch corn tortillas
Lime wedges, to serve
Ingredients
-
3
tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
-
3
medium poblano chilies (about 12 ounces), stemmed, seeded and chopped
-
1
pound tomatillos, husked, cored and chopped
-
1
medium white onion, chopped
-
6
medium garlic cloves, peeled
-
1
tablespoon ground cumin
-
½
cup low-sodium chicken broth or water
-
1
cup lightly packed cilantro leaves and stems
-
Kosher salt and ground black pepper
-
1½
cups finely chopped cooked chicken (see note)
-
6
ounces whole-milk mozzarella cheese, shredded (1½ cups)
-
2
tablespoons hot sauce (see note)
-
8
6-inch corn tortillas
-
Lime wedges, to serve
Directions
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01Heat the oven to 475°F with a rack in the middle position. In a large pot over medium-high, combine 1 tablespoon of the oil, the poblanos, tomatillos, onion and garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are well-browned and beginning to soften, 5 to 8 minutes. Stir in the cumin and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the broth and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables have softened, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool for 5 minutes.
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02Transfer the mixture to a food processor and process until smooth, about 1 minute. Add the cilantro and continue to process until smooth, about 1 minute. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Spread 1 cup of the sauce in the bottom of a 13-by-9-inch baking dish; set aside.
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03In a medium bowl, toss together the chicken, cheese, hot sauce, ¾ teaspoons salt and 1 teaspoon pepper; set aside.
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04Brush both sides of the tortillas with the remaining 2 tablespoons oil, then arrange them on a rimmed baking sheet (its fine to overlap them slightly). Cover tightly with foil and warm in the oven just until soft and pliable, about 3 minutes.
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05Uncover the tortillas; reserve the foil. Lay the tortillas out on a large cutting board or clean counter. Divide the chicken mixture evenly among the tortillas (about 3 heaping tablespoons each), arranging and pressing the filling in a line along the bottom edge of each tortilla.
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06Working one at a time, roll up the tortillas to enclose the filling and place seam side down in a tight row down the center of the prepared baking dish. Spoon ½ cup of the sauce over the enchiladas. Cover tightly with the reserved foil and bake until the cheese begins to melt out of the ends, about 15 minutes.
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07Uncover and spread ½ cup of the remaining sauce over the enchiladas. Re-cover and let stand for 5 minutes. Serve with lime wedges and the remaining sauce.
Reviews
January 26, 2023
Really good but a lot of work
A ton of work for the sauce. We love the meal but I have found a good cheat on a busy night. Use a large jar of Salsa Verde instead and make the real deal on a better planned evening. A fresh rotisserie chicken can also speed up the evening. Grab a pair of gloves and swiftly shred and dismember it directly into the bowl. If you are sensitive to high amounts of salt just add about half. White corn tortillas are better than the yellow ones. Honestly and unfortunately, both versions I've mentioned are better than any of the dozen Mexican restaurants available to us. As a Minnesotan, even with the heat of the dish it is a regular meal in our house...it's so good and honestly it's like comfort food. Serve with sour cream and pico!
October 16, 2022
Delicious
Followed recipe exactly but used 1.5# chix. Delicious and relatively easy. Might use Monterey jack cheese next time and add a tsp of sugar to the sauce. Served with sour cream.
June 29, 2022
Make the sauce ahead of time and freeze!
We’ve made this several times…always awesome and always a crowd pleaser! We made a double batch of the sauce and froze half to make a quick weeknight meal using the meat from a rotisserie chicken! The small humans devour it so that makes this a winner. Also, I use Mi Tierra Corn tortillas…their flavor is out of this world!
July 5, 2022
Very good. Easier than some of the other GE recipes out there.
I added a half teaspoon of sugar to green sauce, and used immersion blender rather than food processor. Other than that, no changes. Very good.
June 20, 2022
Great
Loved it. Not too difficult
"...any bottled hot sauce that's not too vinegary (such as Tapatío or Cholula) will work..."
So are Tapatio and Cholula examples of hot sauce that's too vinegary, or examples that will work since they're not too vinegary?
I made this last night with the last of this season's tomatillos and really liked it...and it was 60 minutes from walking into the kitchen to serving this dish accompanied by a sauté of zucchini, corn and black beans and lime. One point: because I had cooked the sauce vegetables too long, they dried out a little so I ended up adding twice as much broth than was called for in order to make the sauce loose enough. My partners prefers flour tortillas so I made some of each; that worked fine, though the arrangement in the baking dish was a challenge. Thanks for the recipe!
I made this last night with the last of this season's tomatillos and really liked it...and it was 60 minutes from walking into the kitchen to serving this dish accompanied by a sauté of zucchini, corn and black beans and lime. One point: because I had cooked the sauce vegetables too long, they dried out a little so I ended up adding twice as much broth than was called for in order to make the sauce loose enough. My partners prefers flour tortillas so I made some of each; that worked fine, though the arrangement in the baking dish was a challenge. Thanks for the recipe!
How long would the green sauce last if made ahead and stored in the refrigerator? Or can it be frozen?
Hi Amy -
We probably wouldn't recommend making it more than a day or two ahead, otherwise the garlic could get overpowering. You should be able to freeze it, though. Just make sure to bring the sauce to room temperature before using so the cold sauce doesn't affect the cooking time and dry out the tortillas.
Best,
The Milk Street Team
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Your First Issue
These were quite tasty. I've never been a huge fan of cumin but obviously it's a big part of Mexican cooking. It was good in this verde sauce. I'm just wondering what might be a good substitute for cumin in dishes that call for it?