Lighter Chicken Enchiladas

1033 Ratings
  • 5 193
  • 4 262
  • 3 348
  • 2 174
  • 1 56

Shredded chicken, corn tortillas, plus a smoky chipotle sauce -- a delicious dinner in three steps.

Everyday Food, November 2008

Gallery

Read the full recipe after the video.

Recipe Summary

prep:
20 mins
total:
45 mins
Servings:
4
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Ingredients

Directions

  • In a large skillet with a tight-fitting lid, bring 1 inch salted water to a boil. Add chicken. Cover; reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer 5 minutes; remove skillet from heat. Let chicken steam, covered, until opaque throughout, 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer chicken to a medium bowl; shred with two forks. Set aside.

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  • While chicken is cooking, make sauce: In a medium saucepan, heat oil over medium. Add garlic; cook until fragrant, 1 minute. Add flour, cumin, and chipotles in adobo; cook, whisking, 1 minute. Whisk in broth and 1/2 cup water; bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, and cook, whisking occasionally, until sauce has thickened slightly, 5 to 8 minutes; season with salt and pepper. Transfer 1 cup sauce to bowl with chicken; toss to combine.

  • Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Pour 1/4 cup sauce into bottom of an 8-inch square baking dish; set aside. Stack tortillas, and wrap in a double layer of damp paper towels; microwave until hot, about 1 minute. Fill each tortilla with chicken mixture; roll up tightly, and arrange, seam side down, in baking dish. Cover with remaining sauce, and top with cheese. Bake until hot and bubbling, 15 to 20 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes before serving.

Cook's Notes

Chipotles in adobo (smoked, dried jalapenos in sauce) are spicy -- for less heat, scrape out ribs and seeds. You'll find them in the international aisle. Pan-steaming is a smart way to cook boneless, skinless chicken breasts. Gentle heat and moisture keep the meat juicy and tender without any added fat.

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Reviews (46)

1033 Ratings
  • 5 193
  • 4 262
  • 3 348
  • 2 174
  • 1 56
Martha Stewart Member
02/03/2019
Easy to make and everyone in the house, even the picky eaters, loved it
Martha Stewart Member
12/26/2016
We love this recipe. We like adding some black beans on top with the cheese. Makes a great dinner for 2-4 and leftovers make great lunches. I often freeze a portion for later.
Martha Stewart Member
09/29/2015
I cannot save this recipe even though it says I did'! Does this have anything to do with the merging of Cozi,which is by far,the worst website/app,I have ever saw.i say saw,because I cannot access it !
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Martha Stewart Member
07/10/2015
Did not read correctly and used whole can of chipotle peppers sooooo spicy!!!!!!
Martha Stewart Member
09/29/2014
Used rotisserie chicken. Sauted 1/2 red pepper finely diced with 4 cloves of garlic. Added chili powder with the cumin instead of chipotles (we don't like heat). Low fat shredded cheese. Delicious and definitely didn't taste 'light'. Will make again.
Martha Stewart Member
05/21/2014
Definitely use 1 chipotle. My sauce was too thick, but I forgot to add the water because it wasn't on the "Ingredient" list (I was talking on the phone while I made the sauce). Seems to need a little something added to the chicken like white beans and maybe a little thinly slice onion.
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Martha Stewart Member
01/03/2014
my addition? 2 tablespoons of tomato paste gave the sauce glorious color and added flavor! we enjoyed this dish with dollops of guacamole and sour cream atop!!
Martha Stewart Member
11/20/2013
Sauce is bland? hellooo? the base smokey flavor with the pepper bite along with salt and pepper and a little extra cumin if you feel it needs it is perfect. My boys ate the entire thing and asked that I put it on an index card to put in my recipe box. Did you cook the flour enough? Is that why you thought the sauce was bland? You might taste the flour if you don't cook it enough.
Martha Stewart Member
09/08/2013
Easy to make and my guys liked it a lot. The chipotles in adobo sauce were interesting to work with but blended them into the sauce ... added white pepper to give it some extra after-burn after reading some of the comments. We will be making this again.
Martha Stewart Member
05/14/2013
Was extremely disappoint this this recipe. I should have read more of the comments before making this. Like other people said, the sauce is bland and the chicken just tastes like spicy chicken. Will not be making this again. Next time I will just stick to allrecipes.,com
Martha Stewart Member
02/12/2013
For a lighter recipe, this was very good! I had leftover turkey and wanted to make enchiladas but almost every other recipe involved excessive cheese and cream. The chipotles in this recipe give it so much flavor that you really don't miss all the fat. I would give an option in this recipe for precooked chicken/turkey. I tried to follow the recipe and use between 18 to 24 oz. but I think even 12 oz. was too much. Also a 8" square baking dish was way too small. I used a 7 x 11 dish instead.
Martha Stewart Member
02/06/2013
This was very easy to make and it was a huge success! My husband loved it! Fun weeknight dinner!
Martha Stewart Member
12/12/2012
This was pretty good, but the sauce was somewhat bland. It tasted more like a gravy than enchilada sauce.
Martha Stewart Member
10/18/2012
This was pretty easy and it's delicious. I used soy flour, so the sauce didn't thicken and I had to add corn starch but that was my bad. I will definitely make this again and I appreciate how the ingredients made 8 perfect enchiladas.
Martha Stewart Member
09/20/2012
This is divine. I made it last night for my boyfriend (who I am having trouble cooking for as he is picky) and he loved it. I loved it. We loved it so much i have another one in the oven right now. And its pretty easy!
Martha Stewart Member
09/01/2012
*** I made a double batch and used a 7.5 oz can of the chipotle canned salsa. Again, so yummy!***
Martha Stewart Member
09/01/2012
This recipes was sooooo good!!! I used chipotle salsa instead of chiles (a whole small can) and I forgot the salt and pepper. I aldo used reduced fat mexican mix cheese. I ran out of chicken and made a cheese one....mi esposo favorito! I also used 32 ounces of reduced sodium chicken broth and no water. I will do this recipe again and again.
Martha Stewart Member
05/24/2012
I'm putting this on my "To Try" list. In the meantime....here's an amazingly easy & quick way to shred the chicken. This works if you have a Kitchen Aid mixer with a flat paddle beater. While the chicken is still warm (important) put in the mixing bowl, turn the mixer on LOW, and let the flat paddle beater do its work. In a minute or two, you'll have shredded chicken!!! Soooo much easier than pulling it apart with two forks.
Martha Stewart Member
12/19/2011
I made this recipe with my mom this evening and we absolutely loved it! We followed the recipe but did not have chipotle peppers so used a couple of jalapeno peppers instead. It was the perfect amount of cheese, spice and chicken!
Martha Stewart Member
10/05/2011
I followed this as is and it was excellent. I loved the heat from the chipotles but if you don't like spice cut it down considerably.
Martha Stewart Member
10/04/2011
Get help with the shredding! It took a long time!
Martha Stewart Member
10/04/2011
Great recipe. My daughter did not like the sauce, but my son ate leftovers the next day! (wishing for a ravelry.com set up so I can see my notes on each recipe)
Martha Stewart Member
09/15/2011
This dish is one of our regulars now, we all love it! We found that 2 chicken breasts was plenty, and we halve the chipotles (it was too spicy the first time). I like to chop up scallions and put them into the chicken mixture, also adding some monterey jack in there. Lately we have been doubling the recipe and making a 13 x 9 tray for leftovers. Topped with black olives and sour cream - mmmmmm.
Martha Stewart Member
08/09/2011
I'm not a big fan of cumin so I just used 1/2 teaspoon. Turned out realy delicious!
Martha Stewart Member
06/28/2011
Just made this recipe. I followed this recipe closely except I more or less pan-fried the chicken in the beginning. The result was really delicious. I didn't really feel that it was a light dish at all taste-wise. I'll definitely keep this one for the future.
Martha Stewart Member
03/10/2011
I LOVED this recipe!! The first time I made them, I felt the adobe sauce and cumin were a bit too much, so the next time I reduced each by almost half. They turned out fabulous! This is my daughter's all time favorite recipe. You've got to try this recipe. It's different and SO delicious!
Martha Stewart Member
02/15/2011
this was tasty, but next time I will double the sauce. I tend to like my enchiladas on the saucy side.
Martha Stewart Member
02/12/2011
This was so spicy! Don't use too much chile or you will regret it!
Martha Stewart Member
01/14/2011
I decreased oil by 1 T., added 4 garlic cloves and 4 chipotles with five tsp. of the adobe sauce. I used exactly 18 oz. cooked chicken and it was too much. The tortillas were stuffed, not skinny like the photo. I pan-steamed the 3 chicken breasts for the maximum 14 min. in the recipe and they weren't quite done. Also, prep time was longer than 20 minutes for me. Overall I thought the flavor was lacking. I only tasted hot/spicy chicken. Maybe fat-free sour cream and tomatoes would help.
Martha Stewart Member
11/15/2010
really good. my picky boyfriend (likes everything plain) really liked it as well. following other suggestions, I started the sauce with grated onion for depth of flavor and used the chipotle w/o the seeds. it does take a little bit of time, but not too much. served with left over brown rice corn (mixed together) with tomato and scallion. easy clean up too!
Martha Stewart Member
08/23/2010
So so so tasty! If you are cooking this alone give yourself some extra time...it took me 30 minutes to get it in the oven. Also, I added cilantro, corn and white onion to the chicken mix and it was really good. I also stacked some (thickly) sliced pepper jack sandwich cheese, cut them in to rectangles, and put a few pieces in each tortilla. It really helps enhance all the flavors on the plate. Serve with some Cuban black beans you have an AMAZING meal. It doesn't taste light at all!
Martha Stewart Member
08/17/2010
The chicken was tender and juicy, but the sauce was quite bland (aside from the heat from the chipotle peppers). It tasted like something was missing---next time I will try a more traditional enchilada sauce recipe.
Martha Stewart Member
08/02/2010
These were SO good. They did not taste "light" at all. I will make these again for sure.
Martha Stewart Member
04/30/2010
VERY NOT--with the 2 T. of Adobe sauce--but ABSOLUTELY delicious!! I'll make them again, but with less Adobe sauce. I agree with sofax2. These don't taste light at all. Love it!
Martha Stewart Member
04/19/2010
REALLY, REALLY GOOD!!!!!!! very hot, though. Next time I will use less chipolte. These don't taste light AT ALL. Also added corn for a little sweetness. It was great with the corn. I just steamed a bag of frozen and added it to the sauce when it was time to assemble.
Martha Stewart Member
04/07/2010
This recipe is FAST, easy, and delicious! It is my boyfriends favorite enchilada recipe and he's Mexican :)
Martha Stewart Member
04/06/2010
this is yummy. I added refried beans, might add black beans this time. The sauce is really good.
Martha Stewart Member
02/19/2010
Delicious and easy to make! My husband and I have found a new favorite dish!
Martha Stewart Member
11/25/2009
I have to agree with Britt! These taste as delicious as what you might order in a Mexican restaurant. I also substituted whole wheat tortillas and did not regret it.
Martha Stewart Member
11/12/2009
Delightful. The flour makes the sauce seem creamy with no addition of anything dairy. Great!
Martha Stewart Member
05/06/2009
This recipe is an absolute keeper and doesn't taste "light" at all!
Martha Stewart Member
04/27/2009
The best enchiladas I've ever made! I love anything with chipotle peppers, but this is a new favorite!
Martha Stewart Member
12/16/2008
Great recipe and very yummy. A little more time consuming than indicated in the recipe, but worth it!
Martha Stewart Member
12/03/2008
This is a really great recipe. I've used the poached chicken recipe with other recipes when it calls for shredded chicken, it's so easy to do.
Martha Stewart Member
11/07/2008
Delicious and easy!
Martha Stewart Member
11/06/2008
Great recipe! My family loved it. I used a rotisserie chicken to save time. Next time I might add refried beans to the chicken mixture and I think that will double the amount of tortillas I can stuff.
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