Guest Post: Shredded Chicken Enchiladas

I am so excited and happy to share my very first guest post! Everyone give a warm welcome to my talented sister Samantha Ryder!
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Hello everyone! My name is Samantha and I am Kim’s (aka the owner, creator and runner of this blog) youngest sister. I am 22, super single, and I also live in Calgary, but on a different side of the city as my sister. Currently, I am working in retail management, while doing the TESOL(Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages) certificate course through the online program at Brigham Young University – Idaho. With that, I plan on teaching in third world countries.

Like my sister, I have a passion for cooking. I have spent countless hours watching The Food Network and reading cookbooks. Yes, I was the kid who was more into watching cooking shows than MTV. I would spend tons of time in the kitchen with my Grandma helping her bake and cook, and in my teen years, my mom would get me to make dinner for the family, and there is a TON of us. So, when Kim asked me a few months ago, if I wanted to make a post at least once a month, I couldn’t resist. I was supposed to do one in November and December, but life got crazy busy. So, here I am now!!

I may be a broke student, but I am not your typical broke student. I don’t live off of Instant Noodles and ½ price pizza. I budget, sometimes splurge and meal plan, and create gourmet-type dishes. One thing that me and my 5 roommates all love, and I mean it makes up like ¾ of our meals collectively, is Mexican food. I decided to make homemade chicken enchiladas with homemade enchilada sauce. It’s quick and easy.

First, we’ll start with the sauce. Based off of the recipe by Crunchy Creamy Sweet.
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Ingredients:

​1 small yellow onion, chopped
3 – 4 cloves of garlic
3 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon cumin
1 teaspoon salt
3  5.5 oz (or 16 oz) cans of tomato paste
1 cup chicken or vegetable stock
Optional ingredients: oregano and hot sauce, for an extra kick

Directions:

Throw all the ingredients into a blender.

Blend until smooth. If the sauce is too thick for your liking, add more stock to the blender.
 
This recipe makes 3 cups of sauce. It can be saved for up to one week in a jar in the fridge.

Now, onto the enchiladas!

Ingredients:

3 cups enchilada sauce (can use store bought sauce)
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups of shredded cheese
Salt & pepper
Cooking spray
2 chicken breasts
6 – 8 flour tortillas (can use corn)
Optional: Fresh cilantro

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 F.

In a large, deep skillet, pour in the enchilada sauce and add minced garlic.  Mix. Heat until the sauce bubbles.

Place the chicken breasts on top of the sauce. Cover and let cook for 15 – 25 minutes until cooked through, depending on how thick the chicken is. Remove pan from heat. Do not throw out the sauce.

With two forks, shred the cooked chicken.

In a large bowl, pour in ¾ to 1 cup of the remaining sauce, 1 cup of cheese and shredded chicken. Mix until combined.

Heat the tortillas in the microwave with a damp cloth or paper towel for 15 – 20 seconds. If using corn tortillas, quickly fry in 1 Tb oil before rolling.

Spray 9x13 baking dish with oil. I like to add a little bit of sauce on the bottom of the pan, it is completely optional.

In the center of each tortilla, place 1/3 cup of filling. Roll up and place in dish. Continue the steps for the rest of the tortilla shells.

Lightly coat the top of each tortilla with olive oil or cooking spray, to prevent cracking. Place dish in oven, uncovered and cook for 8 – 10 minutes, or until the tortillas are golden brown.

Reduce oven temperature to 400 F. Remove dish from oven. Pour remaining sauce over the enchiladas and sprinkle the remaining cheese over top. If using cilantro, sprinkle on top. Cover dish with aluminum foil and bake for another 20 minutes.

Remove foil and bake for another 5 – 10 minutes, or until cheese is golden. Remove from oven. 

Serve with sour cream, salsa, green onion, avocados, or any topping of your choosing.

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This dish turned out delicious! Though it wan’t the quickest recipe, I was able to do some cleaning and homework done while these bad boys were cooking.

I hope you enjoyed this recipe! Let us know how it goes if you choose to make this! I will see you next time!

Samantha