Chicken Enchiladas
These are some seriously delicious, restaurant-quality Chicken Enchiladas. I couldn’t believe I made them at home! Before I started this blog, enchiladas were a go-to meal for me, but at the time they consisted solely of canned enchilada sauce, canned refried beans, cheese and tortillas. I’m not saying they weren’t tasty as well, but these are so much better! I was a little bit worried that this dish would be too spicy when I did a quick taste test of the sauce before assembling the enchiladas but the finished product was perfect. The tortillas, chicken and cheese cut the spice, so there was definitely some notable heat there, but it wasn’t overwhelming.
I don’t feel like I got the best photos of this dish, partially because I was starving when I was cooking it. Once it was finished I had next to no patience for staging and taking a broad range of shots before digging in! Hopefully the pics I took are still enticing enough for you to give this recipe a try, because it’s really worth it. Your taste buds will thank you! To view your WW PersonalPoints for this recipe and track it in the WW app or site, click here!
Chicken Enchiladas
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon canola oil
- 1 medium onion, finely chopped
- 2 jalapenos, seeded and finely chopped
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 3 tablespoons chili powder
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 3 teaspoons sugar
- 1 (15 oz) can of tomato sauce
- 1 cup water
- 1 large beefsteak tomato, seeded and finely chopped
- 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1 cup 2% reduced fat shredded cheddar cheese
- 1 cup reduced fat shredded Mexican cheese blend, I used Weight Watchers brand
- ½ cup cilantro, finely chopped
- 12 (6 inch) corn tortillas, (I used Mission Extra Thin Yellow Corn Tortillas)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Lightly mist a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray and set aside.
- Pour the oil in a large saucepan and bring to medium-low heat. Add the onion, jalapeno and salt and cover. Cook covered for 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables have softened. Add the garlic, chili powder, cumin and sugar and stir for 30 seconds until fragrant. Add the tomato sauce, water and chopped tomato, stir and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 5 minutes until slightly thickened.
- Add the chicken breasts to the sauce mixture and press them to the bottom to completely submerge them in the sauce. Reduce the heat to low and cover. Cook covered for 12-20 minutes until chicken is cooked through I used thin breasts and mine were good after 15 minutes. Remove the chicken breasts to a plate and set aside to cool.
- Place a strainer over a medium bowl and pour the sauce through the strainer. Press down on the onion mixture to try to extract as much liquid as person. Pour the onion/jalapeno mixture into a large bowl, separate from the sauce, and set aside.
- Using two forks, shred the chicken into bite sized pieces. Add the shredded chicken, ¼ cup of the sauce, 1 cup of the cheese (I mixed the two kinds of cheese together first) and the cilantro to the onion mixture and stir to thoroughly combine.
- Microwave the tortillas for one minute on high until warm and soft. Spread 1/3 cup of the chicken mixture onto a tortilla and tightly roll it up. Place the rolled tortilla seam side down in the prepared baking dish and repeat with the remaining tortillas. Spray the tops of the rolled tortillas with cooking spray and bake in the oven for 7 minutes until tortillas are slightly browned.
- Reduce the heat to 400 and pour the enchilada sauce evenly over the tops of the enchiladas. Top with the remaining 1 cup of cheese. Cover the dish with aluminum foil and place back in the oven for an additional 20 minutes.
- Remove the aluminum foil and return the dish to the oven for 5 more minutes until cheese browns. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.
Notes
8 per (2 enchilada) serving (P+ calculated using the recipe builder on weightwatchers.com) adapted from Pink Parsley (originally adapted from America’s Test Kitchen)