Enchiladas Verdes
Enchiladas verdes are a delicious Mexican dish that’s easy to prepare. Not only is it simple to do but they do not require much time to make. Tortillas are stuffed with chicken, a homemade salsa verde, and cojita cheese to make a great weeknight meal.
Ingredients
These enchiladas have four key components to them:
- Tortillas
- Chicken (I like to use Whole Foods rotisserie chickens vs making my own shredded chicken)
- Salsa verde (we’ll be making our own)
- Cojita cheese
While you could definitely make your own chicken, I found that using the a rotisserie chicken to be the easiest method. Just shred/chop the chicken up and it’s ready. You could also buy a pre-made salsa verde but I believe it’s easy enough and worth it to make your own.
Salsa Verde
The salsa verde is very simple to make. The first step is to char the following ingredients:
- Tomatillos
- Onion
- Garlic
- Serrano peppers (omit if you don’t like spicy)
I like to add these ingredients to a tray and pop it in the oven so they’ll all char at the same time. If I am grilling, I char them all directly on the grill. Once these ingredients have a nice char and the tomatillos have softened, add them to a food processor. Also add cilantro, lime juice, chicken broth, and salt, then blend until smooth. Just like that, our salsa verde is ready to go.
Assemble the enchiladas
Once the salsa is done and the chicken is shredded/chopped, it’s time to assemble the enchiladas. Add the chicken to the tortilla and then top with salsa verde and cojita cheese. Next, you’ll roll the stuffed tortilla up and line them up in a tray (I like to use a lasagna tray) that has a layer of salsa verde spread across the bottom.
Once all of the tortillas are filled, rolled, and lined up nicely in the tray, top them with the remaining salsa verde and some cojita cheese. Now, we’re ready for the final step: a few minutes in the oven.
Broil in the oven
The final step is to broil the enchiladas in the oven for a few minutes. We’re really just looking to melt the cheese and crisp them up. It really only takes a few minutes – I’ll stay by the oven and watch them so they don’t broil too much. You’ll be left with crispy and tasty enchiladas verdes. This is a fun and easy dish that I highly recommend. Give this recipe a shot and I think you will enjoy it. Even my 4 year old daughter is always asking for more!
Enchiladas Verdes
Ingredients
Chicken
- 1 Rotisserie chicken shredded or chopped
Salsa Verde
- 15 Tomatillos washed with husks removed
- 1 White onion quartered
- 5 Garlic cloves
- 3 Serrano peppers omit if you don't like spicy
- 1 Handful of cilantro
- 1 Lime juiced
- 1/2 cup Chicken broth
- Salt to taste
Enchiladas
- 6 Tortillas
- 4 oz Grated cojita cheese to taste
Instructions
Chicken
- If using a rotisserie chicken, shred/chop all of the chicken up ahead of time so that it's ready for the enchiladas.
Salsa Verde
- Preheat the oven to 500ºF.
- Remove the husks from the tomatillos and wash them. Add the tomatillos, quartered onion, garlic cloves, and serrano peppers to a tray that's lined with foil. Add to the oven and char everything on both sides. Check on everything from time to time and flip as things char. Remove any ingredients that char faster than others (ex: the garlic will be done before the tomatillos). The tomatillos will soften as well. This should take around 10 minutes.
- Add all of the charred ingredients to a food processor along with the cilantro, lime juice, chicken broth, and salt. Blend until smooth like a salsa.
Enchiladas
- Add the following to a tortilla in this order: shredded/chopped chicken, salsa verde, and cojita cheese. Roll the tortilla up into an enchilada and place in a tray that has a layer of the salsa verde on the bottom. Continue to make more enchiladas until all of the chicken is used up.
- Top all of the rolled up enchiladas with the remaining salsa verde and cojita cheese.
- Broil in the oven for a few minutes until the cheese has melted and the enchiladas have crisped up to your liking. Make sure to keep and eye on them while they are broiling – they can broil quickly. Remove from the oven and serve immediately. Enjoy!
