Cinco de Mayo Chicken Enchiladas Verde

In celebration of Cinco de Mayo, I thought I'd post a really great enchilada recipe that my cooking partner and I came up with using my braised chicken tacos recipe.  This is the perfect way to use up some day-old corn tortillas.  Since you stack the enchilada instead of rolling, the tortillas are easier to manage.


Chicken Enchiladas Verde Recipe


makes 2-4 servings


In a heavy saucepan, heat:

1 Tbsp olive oil

Once the olive oil is hot, brown on both sides, one or two at a time:

4 boneless skinless chicken thighs

Brown them one at a time if necessary; don't crowd them in the pan.  Once there is nice browning on the bottom of the pan remove the chicken to a plate and pour in:

1/2 cup beer

Scrape up the browning from the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon.  This browning makes the sauce deliciously rich.  Once the pan is completely deglazed, add the chicken back in and top the chicken with:

salsa verde
more beer if needed
salt to taste (depending on how salty your salsa is, you may not need any salt.  The flavors will concentrate as the dish cooks.)
1/2 tsp cumin seeds (optional)

Cook at a simmer until the meat is  very tender, 40-60 minutes.  If more browning forms on the bottom of the pan, scrape it up and incorporate it into the sauce. 

While the sauce is cooking, prep your other ingredients.  When the sauce is looking almost done, heat the oven to 400 F.  Grate:

8-12 oz. Jack cheese

When the chicken is tender, coat the bottom of a medium casserole dish with some of the sauce.  I used this Emile Henry 9x9 casserole dish:


Place on the sauce one of the:

corn tortillas

Place some of the chicken along the edge of the tortilla and top that with some of the cheese.  Don't be stingy with the sauce and cheese.  The rule of thumb is that you will never wish you had used more tortillas, but if you don't use enough sauce and cheese it may turn out dry.  Place another tortilla on top of that, and keep layering the stack up in the same manner until you start to run out of ingredients or the stack is big enough for your purposes.  Top the stack with the remaining sauce and some more cheese.


Bake the enchiladas for 20 minutes or until the cheese is nicely browned on top.  Let cool before serving.

Buen provecho!

If you're looking for more Mexican recipes, check out:

Creme Caramel (Flan)


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