Green chile chicken enchiladas with roasted Anaheims
Creamy green chile chicken enchiladas with fresh Anaheims roasted under the broiler until smoky, baked under a blanket of jack cheese.
- 75 min total
- 40 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 4
- About $3.69 a serving
- 690 calories
- Good the next day
- Gluten-free
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 1¼ lb chicken breasts
- 4 Anaheim peppers
- ½ white onion, finely chopped
- 2 cups Monterey Jack cheese, shredded, divided
- 2 cans green enchilada sauce, 10 oz cans
- ½ cup sour cream
- 12 corn tortillas
- 2 tbsp cilantro, chopped (optional)
From your pantry
- 4 cups water
- 1 tsp salt, divided
- 1 tsp ground cumin
Each serving has about 690 calories, 53 g protein, 51 g carbs and 31 g fat, and costs about $3.69 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No chicken breasts? Boneless chicken thighs or chicken tenderloins work.
- No sour cream? Plain Greek yogurt works.
- No cilantro? Fresh parsley works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
Put the chicken in a medium with the water and ½ teaspoon of the salt and over high heat.
Saucepan. A saucepan is a pot with tall, straight sides and one long handle. It’s for things that need depth, like rice, sauces or a few boiled eggs.
How you’ll know: The food fills it about halfway, leaving room to bubble without spilling over.
Bring to a boil. It means heating a liquid on high until it’s fully boiling before you move on. A lid on the pot gets it there faster, which makes it a good moment to chop something.
How you’ll know: Big bubbles break all over the surface, and they keep coming when you lift the lid.
High heat
Cover, turn to low, and 12 to 15 minutes, until the thickest piece reads 165°F.
Simmer. Simmering means keeping a liquid just below a boil, with small bubbles rising gently. It cooks food evenly and lets a sauce thicken without scorching on the bottom.
How you’ll know: Small, lazy bubbles break the surface every second or so, and nothing is churning.
Low heatTimer: 13 min 30 sec
Food safety: Chicken and turkey are done at 165°F in the thickest part. A thermometer is the only sure check. Without one, cut into the thickest piece: it should be white all the way through, with no pink.
While it simmers, turn on the with a rack 4 inches below it and broil the Anaheims on a foil-lined 5 to 6 minutes a side, until blistered and blackened in spots.
Broil. Broiling means cooking under the oven’s top heating element, with strong heat from above. It browns and crisps the top in minutes, and it can burn fast, so stay close.
How you’ll know: The top bubbles and spots golden brown; check every minute and pull it before it blackens.
Sheet pan. A sheet pan is a flat metal baking tray with a low rim all the way around. The rim catches juices, and the wide surface lets food spread out and brown.
How you’ll know: Everything fits in one layer with a little space between the pieces.
Timer: 5 min 30 sec
Put the peppers in a bowl, cover with a plate, and let them 10 minutes. Set the oven to 375°F.
Steam. Steaming means cooking food over or in a little simmering water with a lid on to trap the steam. It cooks gently and keeps vegetables bright and tender.
How you’ll know: The color turns vivid, and a fork goes in with just a little resistance.
Timer: 10 min
the peppers, pull out the stems and seeds, and them.
Peel. Peeling means removing the skin with a vegetable peeler or a small knife. It takes off tough or bitter skins, though potato and carrot skins are fine to leave on unless the recipe insists.
How you’ll know: The color underneath is even all over, with no patches of skin left behind.
Chop. Chopping means cutting food into bite-size pieces that don’t need to be neat. Keep them roughly the same size so everything cooks evenly.
How you’ll know: Your pieces are about half an inch and roughly alike, even if none of them are pretty.
Dolly’s tip: A few black flecks left on are fine. They taste smoky, not burnt.the chicken with two forks and mix it with half the chiles, the onion, cumin, ½ teaspoon salt, 1 cup of the cheese and ½ cup of the enchilada sauce.
Shred. Shredding means making thin strips, either on the big holes of a grater or by pulling cooked meat apart with two forks. Shreds soak up sauce and mix evenly through a dish.
How you’ll know: Cooked chicken pulls apart into strands with little effort, and cheese comes off in long, loose strips.
the rest of the sauce with the sour cream and the rest of the chiles, and spread ½ cup of it over the bottom of a 9x13-inch baking dish.
Whisk. Whisking means beating quickly with a whisk or a fork to blend things together. It smooths out lumps and mixes eggs, oil or sauces evenly.
How you’ll know: It all looks one even color and texture, with no streaks or lumps.
Wrap the tortillas in a damp paper towel and microwave 45 seconds, until soft and bendy.
Timer: 45 sec
Dolly’s tip: Cold corn tortillas crack when you roll them. Warm is the whole trick.Roll a scoop of filling in each tortilla and lay them seam side down in the dish. Pour the rest of the sauce over and scatter the last cup of cheese on top.
20 minutes, until bubbling at the edges. Let it sit 5 minutes, then top with cilantro.
Bake. Baking means cooking in the oven with dry heat all around the food. It cooks evenly from every side, so you can mostly leave it alone.
How you’ll know: It’s golden on top and passes the recipe’s check, like a clean toothpick or the right temperature.
Timer: 20 min
Dolly’s tip: To freeze, assemble without baking, wrap tightly and freeze up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge and bake 30 to 35 minutes.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
