Check out our Mexican Enchiladas Recipes section!
About Enchiladas:
Enchilada or Enchiladas are made from corn tortillas, lightly fried in oil, then stuffed with cheese, onions and most frequently, shredded beef of chicken. They can be made vegetarian, or even stuffed with pork, shrimp or lobster. They are then rolled, heated and smothered in sauce, topped with melted cheese and sometimes sour cream.
Buy Red or Green Enchilada Sauce & Red Chile Sauce at Enchiladas
I first tried enchiladas when I was ten years old and staying in La Paz for the very first time. Enchiladas are the top of the line as far as Mexican food goes, according to my mom (and her mom before her). So of course I was encouraged to try them on my first big Baja adventure. I loved them then and I love them now. This medley of enchiladas will knock your socks off-guaranteed! Beginning with the traditional Chicken Enchiladas Suizas, we'll move on to Chicken Enchiladas Verdes, Chilaquiles Vallarta, Stacked Enchiladas Taos Style and finish up with Crab Enchiladas.
None of these recipes are particularly difficult to prepare and all are wonderful. So, which recipe will you be making for dinner tonight?!
Video Recipe for Chicken Enchiladas Verdes by Jauja Cocina Mexicana
CHICKEN ENCHILADAS SUIZAS
The most recent time I had Enchiladas Suizas was at an bay-front restaurant right on the malecón in Lap Paz-for breakfast!
I couldn't believe they were really and truly on the breakfast menu, but they were. And I, preferring enchiladas to eggs most any day, promptly ordered them. Of course, this story wouldn't be complete if I didn't tell you what my sister Nina ordered. She ordered a "Perrito Caliente," which was a huge hot dog, (although the literal translation is "warm puppy") smothered in mustard and loaded up with cheese, bacon, pineapple and avocado. For breakfast, mind you. For breakfast! With coffee!
I really do recommend these enchiladas for breakfast, lunch or dinner. This recipe makes a dozen enchiladas, which should serve four. It takes about an hour to prepare altogether.
1 20 ounce can whole tomatoes
1 7 ounce can diced green chiles
1 medium onion, quartered
2 - 3 cloves garlic, peeled
1 cup sour cream
salt and pepper to taste
12 corn tortillas
1/2 cup corn or canola oil
2 pounds boneless chicken breasts, cooked and cubed
4 cups Swiss, Chihuahua or Jack cheese, grated
1 bunch green onions, chopped
1 cup sour cream
In food processor, blend together tomatoes, chiles, onion, garlic and sour cream. Season to taste with salt and pepper and pour into a large saucepan. Heat thoroughly.
Heat oil in skillet until a drop of water sizzles when placed in it. Fry a tortilla lightly on both sides so it's still pliable. Using tongs, remove it from the pan. Dip it into the enchilada sauce and lay it inside a 9 x 14 pan. Stuff enchilada with chicken, cheese and onions. Roll and place seam side down in the pan. Repeat for all 12 tortillas, reserving a small amount of cheese and onions.
When all enchiladas are made, place the pan in a 350 degree oven for about twenty minutes. Remove from oven, pour remaining enchilada sauce over enchiladas until almost covered. Cover with remaining cheese and onions. Broil for two minutes or until cheese is melted. Serve immediately, topped with dollops of sour cream.
CHICKEN ENCHILADAS VERDES
After my son Derek was born, a friend of mine brought this dish over to us for dinner one night. I loved it and immediately called to ask her where she'd gotten the recipe. Amazingly enough, she'd had these enchiladas with a tangy green sauce at a fancy restaurant in Cancun. She, like my mother and me before her, had begged the recipe off her waiter and brought it home with her to add to her repertory. Since she shared it with me, I can now share it with you and you too can enjoy these enchiladas with a true resort flair. Makes twelve and takes about an hour to prepare. 
Sour Cream-Chile Sauce:
1 pint sour cream
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 1/2 cups Salsa Verde para Enchiladas
1 7 ounce can diced green chiles
Enchiladas:
2 bunches green onions, chopped
4 cups Chihuahua or Jack cheese, shredded
18 corn tortillas
2 pounds boneless chicken breasts, cooked and shredded or cubed.
1 additional cup of Salsa Verde
To make sauce, combine sour cream, chicken soup, Salsa Verde and green chiles in a medium sized bowl and stir well. Set aside.
Heat oil in skillet until a drop of water sizzles when placed in the pan. Fry a tortilla lightly on both sides so it is still pliable. Using tongs, remove it from the pan and drain on paper towels. Lay it inside a 9 x 14 pan. Place a tablespoon of sauce on each dipped tortilla. Top with chicken, cheese and onions. Roll and place seam down in pan.
When all tortillas are filled, mix left over sauce with additional cup of Salsa Verde. Pour over enchiladas. Top with remaining cheese and onions. Bake at 300 degrees for twenty minutes or until cheese is melted.
Video Enchiladas Suizas Chef Kiwilimon
CHILAQUILES VALLARTA
We used to eat Chilaquiles (chilequiles) at the El Dorado Restaurant in Puerto Vallarta when I was a kid. We sat in yellow and green chairs right on the sand and ate at low tables in our wet bathing suits. To this day, whenever I go to Puerto Vallarta, The El Dorado is one of my first stops. Even though the resort has grown astronomically and bears little resemblance to the sleepy village I remember from the '60s, the El Dorado is still there and it still serves some of the best food in Puerto Vallarta. And hey, there's no way you can beat the location!
Like Enchiladas Suizas, you can eat Chilaquiles for breakfast, lunch or dinner. They are that versatile! This recipe makes the equivalent of a dozen enchiladas and will serve four to six people, depending on their appetites. It takes about 45 minutes to prepare.
1 1/2 pounds boneless chicken breasts, cooked and cut in chunks
12 corn tortillas
1/2 cup corn oil
1 7 ounce can green chiles, cut in strips
4 cups Chihuahua or Jack cheese, grated
2 cups enchilada sauce (use my recipe from Enchiladas Suizas, Taos Enchilada Sauce which follows, or if you're into cheating-use canned Enchilada Sauce!)
1 ½ cups sour cream
Cut tortillas into one inch strips and fry in oil until crisp. Drain on paper towels. Combine enchilada sauce with sour cream in saucepan. Heat thoroughly.
In a 9 x 14 pan layer the tortilla strips, chicken, chile strips, cheese and enchilada sauce. Repeat. Top with a layer of tortilla strips, sauce and lots of cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until cheese is melted and chilaquiles are bubbling. Put a dollop of sour cream over each serving.
STACKED CHEESE ENCHILADAS TAOS STYLE
New Mexico chiles and cinnamon give these stacked enchiladas a flavor that is singularly Southwestern. I first tasted enchiladas prepared this way on a trip to Taos, New Mexico in 1980. I clearly remember that chilly winter evening as my boyfriend and I dined in a 400 year-old adobe building in the Old Taos Pueblo. We could have been in a museum, there were so many Native American artifacts around us. Navajo rugs, Hopi and Zuni kachina dolls and Pueblo pottery and baskets. A kiva, or round stucco fireplace dominated the room. From it radiated a wonderful, cozy warmth.
My stomach growled as my nose caught wind of the aromas drifting in from behind the swinging kitchen doors. There was one smell in particular that intrigued me and I asked our waiter what it was. (Can you guess?!) These unusual enchiladas are still as good as they smelled that night! They make an attractive and not-often-seen presentation, especially if you use blue corn tortillas. Overall, they're easier to make than rolled enchiladas and the fried egg on top makes for a diner's delight. Makes four servings and takes about an hour and a half to prepare.
Taos Style Enchilada Sauce:
12 - 20 seeded dried red New Mexico chiles (hot) -or- 4 - 6 tbsp New Mexico chile
powder (hot) or 4 - 6 tbsp American chili powder (this is much milder)
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium onion, quartered
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp sugar
2 12 ounce cans tomato sauce
salt and pepper to taste
Stacked Enchiladas:
12 blue corn or regular corn tortillas
1 cup corn or canola oil
1 large onion, chopped
4 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
3 tbsp butter
4 eggs
4 green onions, diced
1 3 1/2 ounce can sliced black olives
1 cup shredded lettuce
1 fresh avocado, diced
Remove stems and seeds from chiles. In a medium sauce pan, simmer chiles in 3/4 cup water for ten minutes or until tender. Puree in food processor with garlic, onion, cinnamon and sugar. (If you're using powdered chiles, puree all ingredients including tomato sauce and an additional 1/2 cup water in food processor.) Return to sauce pan. Add tomato sauce, salt and pepper. Simmer for 20 minutes to an hour.
Heat oil in small skillet. Fry each tortilla until slightly crisp. Dip each tortilla in enough enchilada sauce to lightly coat it. After you dip the first four tortillas, place them side by side in a large, greased pan. Sprinkle with a tablespoon of onion and l/4 cup cheese. Fry the next tortilla, dip in sauce and lay over the first tortilla and filling. Sprinkle on more onion and cheese. Fry, dip and lay on the third and last tortilla of each stack. Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top of each stack.
Fry the eggs three minutes in butter. Lift each stack, using a wide spatula to waiting dinner plates. Top with fried egg and garnish with minced green onion, olives shredded lettuce and diced avocado.
CRAB ENCHILADAS
These Crab Enchiladas are delicate, unique, succulent and delicious. The recipe makes a dozen and serves four. It will take you about an hour to prepare, but believe me, it'll be worth it!
1 tbsp butter or margarine
1 tbsp corn or canola oil
2 garlic cloves and 1 medium onion, minced
1 tbsp American chili powder
1 1/2 pounds fresh cooked crab meat (or use canned if you're into cheating)
1/3 cup mayonnaise (non-fat is okay)
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp cilantro, chopped
12 corn tortillas
3 cups enchilada sauce (use any of recipes presented here - or canned)
1/2 cup corn or canola oil (to fry tortillas)
4 cups Chihuahua or Jack cheese, grated
1 bunch green onions, chopped
Melt butter and oil in a medium saucepan over low heat. Add garlic and onion and cook over medium heat until translucent. Remove from heat and add chili powder, crab, mayonnaise, salt and cilantro. Heat enchilada sauce in another saucepan.
In a skillet, heat oil until a drop of water sizzles when placed in the pan. Fry a tortilla lightly on both sides so it is still pliable. Using tongs, remove it from the pan. Dip it into the enchilada sauce and lay it inside a 9 x 14 pan. Stuff enchilada with crab mixture, cheese and onions. Roll and place seam side down in the pan. Repeat with all tortillas. When all enchiladas are made, place the pan in a 350 degree oven for about twenty minutes. Remove from oven, pour remaining enchilada sauce over enchiladas until almost covered. Top with remaining cheese and onions. Broil for one to two minutes until cheese is melted. Serve immediately and await compliments.
Recipe and tips provided by Ann Hazard.
| Join author Ann Hazard, as she leads you through four generations of historic Baja culinary adventure. She shares not only her family's favorite travel tales, but also the delicious, easy-to-prepare recipes she has collected and created. By the time you've cooked a meal or two and finished reading the book, you're guaranteed a lasting dose of Baja Magic. The book may even turn your perspective slightly to the South, lighten your heart and forever transform your outlook on life! |  |
