I love Mexican style food, in fact anything that is spicy. But I also know that is not for everyone … so the term “lighter” refers to a lighter hand with the spices, and a lighter hand with the dairy, which can be quite heavy in some Mexican dishes that feature a lot of cheese.

This dish allows for 8 enchiladas (2 per person), but you can make as many as you like as there is plenty of chicken steamed in this recipe. I always cook more chicken than I need as I store extra in the fridge or freezer for another meal.   Just note that you need 100g chicken and 25g sauce for each enchilada, so for every extra one allow this amount when putting together your filling mixture.

Chicken breasts vary enormously in size so use 6 large or 8 medium (just under 2kg is what I use). Take the tenderloin off (if it is there) and freeze in a Snap Lock bag for another meal (great to add to soups, or use in a stir fry). I also remove my chicken from the fridge up to an hour before steaming to take the chill of it.

The chicken can be cooked the day ahead, allowed to cool, then stored in the fridge ready to be shredded the next day.

Use your favourite passata sauce … bottles are usually more than 500g so keep the rest in the fridge to use on another dish during the week, freeze for later, or to make extra enchiladas.

I use 100g of cheese to sprinkle over the enchiladas before baking but you can certainly use more if you like. One night that I made this I had some labne in the fridge (yoghurt cheese) that I wanted to use up so I added that in dollops on top of the enchiladas (along with the cheese) … thick Greek yoghurt would work well too if you wanted to go down that path.

For the sour cream sauce I wanted a lighter dressing than just plain sour cream … I have made it quite tangy so a little goes a long way (or you can use plain sour cream if you prefer), and it keeps well in the fridge for a few days so leftovers are delicious drizzled over baked veggies.

The Avocado Chimichurri is on the website (see here) … but if you don’t feel like doing this simply place one large or two small avocadoes into a bowl, mash with a fork, stir in some lemon juice and mayo (if you have it) or yoghurt, salt and pepper and use that. Seasoning is key here so taste the mix and add more if necessary.

Chimichurri keeps well in the fridge so can be made the day before (it makes quite a bit), and leftovers are amazing on sourdough toast the next morning.

"Lighter" Chicken Enchiladas

 

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Prep time

30 mins

Cook time

55 mins

Total time

1 hour 25 mins

 

Author: Gina @ The Passionate Pantry

Serves: 4 to 6 serves

Ingredients

FOR THE CHICKEN WRAPS

• 6 large or 8 medium chicken breasts, tenderloin removed (see notes)
• 1 litre water
• 8 wraps of choice
  
  

FOR THE TOMATO SAUCE

• 500g passata sauce (200g for the chicken/balance is for base of tray, and top of wraps)
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp ground sweet paprika (or smoked paprika if you like that)
• Few sprigs fresh oregano (or 1 tsp dried), finely chopped
• Few sprigs fresh parsley (or 1 tsp dried), finely chopped
• 1 tsp sea salt flakes (or more to taste … depends on the sauce you use)
• Freshly ground pepper
  
  

FOR THE CHEESE TOPPING

• 100g cheddar cheese, grated (or other cheese of choice)
  
  

FOR THE SOUR CREAM SAUCE

• ½ cup sour cream
• ½ cup plain thick yoghurt
• 1 tbls lemon juice
• 1 tsp sea salt flakes, or ½ tsp fine sea salt
• Freshly cracked pepper
  
  

FOR THE BAKING DISH

• Little butter for lining dish

Instructions

METHOD FOR CHICKEN

1. Place chicken into Veroma (for large breasts put 2 in base/4 in tray; for medium breasts put 3 in base/5 in tray)
2. Put water in TM bowl and steam chicken 25 minutes / Veroma / speed 3
3. Test chicken and if necessary cook for a further 3 minutes / Veroma / speed 3 (if it is still a touch pink that is fine as it will continue cooking whilst resting)
4. Put Veroma aside for at least 30 minutes (place it onto a plate to catch any moisture) and allow chicken to rest before shredding
5. Shred chicken by cutting each breast into 3 or 4 pieces from top to bottom (thick end to the tail end), place 400g into TM bowl and shred 5 seconds / reverse / speed 4
6. Repeat this process so that you now have 800g of shredded chicken
7. NB: If you wish to shred all the chicken then shred 500g at a time until all the chicken is done … what you don’t use in the wraps is great for lunches over the next couple of days, or frozen for later
   
   

METHOD FOR TOMATO SAUCE

1. Mix all the sauce ingredients together … test for seasoning as the chicken hasn’t been seasoned so you want the sauce well seasoned
2. Remove 300g of the sauce and put aside, leaving 200g for the chicken
3. Mix the chicken in with the 200g sauce and test for seasoning again
4. If you wish to add in extra items (like jalapeno peppers, chilli, etc.) to spice it up a little do that now
   
   

PUTTING IT TOGETHER

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees fan forced and place rack into middle of oven
2. Rub a little butter onto the base and sides of your baking dish
3. Place a small amount of the extra 300g passata sauce on the base of the dish, leaving the balance for topping the enchiladas
4. Place a wrap onto a flat surface (I use my digital scale so that I can check I am sticking to 125g chicken filling)
5. Fill with 125g filling, roll up and place into baking tray
6. Continue until you have 8 wraps completed
7. Top with the rest of the passata sauce
8. Sprinkle over the cheese
9. Bake for 20 minutes, turn tray around and bake for a further 10 minutes until nice and golden, rest for 5 minutes before serving
10. Serve with the sour cream sauce, avocado and salads of choice
    
    

METHOD FOR SOUR CREAM SAUCE

1. Mix all the ingredients together … keeps well in the fridge for a few days

Notes

This dish allows for 8 enchiladas (2 per person) but you can make as many as you like as there is plenty of chicken steamed in this recipe. I always cook more chicken than I need as I store extra in the fridge or freezer for another meal. Just note that you need 100g chicken and 25g sauce for each enchilada, so for every extra one allow this amount when putting together your filling mixture.

Chicken breasts vary enormously in size so use 6 large or 8 medium (just under 2kg is what I use). Take the tenderloin off (if it is there) and freeze in a Snap Lock bag for another meal (great to add to soups, or use in a stir fry). I also remove my chicken from the fridge up to an hour before steaming to take the chill of it.

The chicken can be cooked the day ahead, allowed to cool, then stored in the fridge ready to be shredded the next day. Use your favourite passata sauce … bottles are usually more than 500g so keep the rest in the fridge to use on another dish during the week, freeze for later, or to make extra enchiladas.

I use 100g of cheese to sprinkle over the enchiladas before baking but you can certainly use more if you like.

One night that I made this I had some labne in the fridge (yoghurt cheese) that I wanted to use up so I added that in dollops on top of the enchiladas (along with the cheese) … thick Greek yoghurt would work well too if you wanted to go down that path.

For the sour cream sauce I wanted a lighter dressing than just plain sour cream … I have made it quite tangy so a little goes a long way (or you can use plain sour cream if you prefer), and it keeps well in the fridge for a few days so leftovers are delicious drizzled over baked veggies.

The Avocado Chimichurri is on the website (see main post for link) … but if you don’t feel like doing this simply place one large or two small avocadoes into a bowl, mash with a fork, stir in some lemon juice and mayo (if you have it) or yoghurt, salt and pepper and use that. Seasoning is key here so taste the mix and add more if necessary.

Chimichurri keeps well in the fridge so can be made the day before (it makes quite a bit), and leftovers are amazing on sourdough toast the next morning.

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