Cinco De Mayo Recipes: Creamy Chicken Enchiladas

       Since tomorrow is Cinco De Mayo, (Not to mention, the National Day of Prayer!) I wanted to share my favorite Enchilada recipe. I received this recipe about ten years ago when I was working at the bank and it has been one of my favorites through the years. I have tweaked it several times based on what we have or like at the time but this is the basic recipe. It's a winner in my book, because I really don't like red enchilada sauce and it does not have any!

Creamy Chicken Enchiladas

One Package of Medium Flour Tortillas (we like mission but I think I might make my own this time-- I'll let you know how it goes!
One Packet of Taco Seasoning (this I usually do make myself-- just because I know what's going into it.)
One Can of Cream of Chicken Soup
4 oz. Cream Cheese (Half a brick-- we use low fat.)

One onion, diced small
Other Vegetables, cut into bite sized pieces (we like to use mushrooms, spinach and we have even added drained black beans.)
One lb. of Boneless, Skinless chicken, cut in bite sized pieces (In a pinch, you can certainly use a rotisserie-- just take it off the bone and shred it.)
8 oz. of shredded cheddar cheese (you won't need all of it.)
8 oz. Sour Cream (you probably won't use all of this either, but you may want it for garnish!)

In a saucepan, mix together the soup, taco seasoning and cream cheese. Heat on medium until the ingredients begin to melt together in a sauce. Add milk as needed. Lower heat to low and stir as needed to avoid sticking. This will be your creamy enchilada sauce.

In a large skillet, add a small amount of olive oil or pam and then add chicken. Cook chicken pieces until brown on all sides but not over done.. a few minutes on each side. Add onion, saute for 3-4 minutes and then add other vegetables (if using.) Cook until crisp- tender adding a pinch of salt if necessary.


Drain any excess liquid (this is especially important if you use spinach.) and then add two large handfuls of shredded cheese and then stir. Add about a half a cup of sour cream. Mix to incorporate.


Prepare a 9 x 13 Glass dish by spreading a thin layer of the enchilada sauce reserving plenty for the top of the casserole. Working one at a time, take a tortilla and place no more than a 3-4 tablespoons of meat-veggie-cheese filling and then roll the tortilla up tightly and place seam side down in the dish. do this until you run out of filling, placing them side by side as tightly as you can. If you want to make less, use a small dish so they will be compacted nicely. Top with the remainder of sauce and then sprinkle extra shredded cheese if you like. Bake at 350' for about 20 minutes until the cheese and sauce are bubbling. We garnish with sliced green onions, sour cream and cilantro. You can cut into squares or serve them by enchilada.

*** I also use to make this for a vegetarian friend, substituting cream of mushroom for the chicken and ramping up the veggies instead of meat!

Also try our favorite Salsa recipe!!!

And here's one for taco seasoning!