I may be a bit late to the train, but at this time of the year, we all need some leftover recipes. This is the perfect example of what to do with leftover roast chicken or turkey. Pulled chicken enchiladas with homemade sauce are not as hard to make as one would think. The best part of this easy meal is the homemade sauce. No offence to store-bought sauce, of course. Now you may think that homemade and easy don’t usually go together in a sentence, but hear me out. It is also pretty quick. Well, the sauce is. For the enchiladas to be nice and hot and saucy, you will need to bake them in the oven for at least half an hour. What makes the sauce so good is that you make your own spice mix. So there is room for variation. To get that extra depth of taste I added ground coffee to mine. Of course, there is a basic formula of ingredients, but everything else is up to you. You can make it as spicy as you wish or avoid the heat completely.
All you need to make these pulled chicken enchiladas with homemade sauce is some leftover roast chicken, a can of beans, a can of corn, cheese, and tortillas. And of course the sauce. That sauce is the key player here. This is the ultimate no-fuss family-style dinner dish because there is almost no real cooking involved. We all are capable of braising a couple of garlic cloves and some onion. The rest is up to the oven.
I always have to pick up a pack of tortillas at the store and then eat a few and end up keeping the rest for up to a month. Then when my husband is about to call the police on me for eating month-old tortillas, I eat them with a fried egg for breakfast. There are some foods that are sold in these odd numbers that always just live in the fridge. Except when you make a larger dish like enchiladas and you can use up all the tortillas at once.
These pulled chicken enchiladas with homemade sauce are the perfect weeknight meal. It is hearty, meaty, and lives up to the title of comfort food. Serve with sour cream, avocado, and some coriander and you are good to go!
Pulled chicken enchiladas with homemade sauce
Ingredients
For the homemade enchilada sauce
- 1 red onion chopped
- 3 cloves of garlic chopped
- 250 g can of tomatoes
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp ground coffee
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 3 tbsp flour
- 300 ml water
- 100 ml oil for cooking
For the enchiladas
- 1 can red beans aprox 400g
- 1 can corn approx 400 g
- 400 g shredded, pulled chicken
- 200 g american style cheese grated
- 10-13 tortillas 20 cm Ø
- Sour cream for serving
- 1 avocado for serving
- Fresh coriander for serving
Instructions
To make the homemade sauce
- In a bowl mix the spices for the sauce
- In a pot heat some oil and fry the onion for 3 minutes, then add the garlic and fry for 1 more minute
- Add 50 ml olive oil and the flour and stir for 1 minute while slowly incorporating the water
- Let it thicken for 2 minutes and then add the tomatoes and the spices
- Let simmer for 3-5 minutes while stirring
- Let slightly cool before using a regular or an immersion blender to blend into a smooth sauce
To make the enchiladas
- Preheat the oven to 180°C
- In a bowl mix the chicken, the beans and corn, and half of the cheese
- Add about 50 ml of the enchilada sauce and 1 tsp salt
- Fill each tortilla with 2-3 tbsp of the filling and roll with the opening facing down
- Place in a deep square pan
- Pour the enchilada sauce we made previously over them and wrap the pan in foil *
- Place in the oven and bake for 40 minutes
- Remove the foil and sprinkle with the rest of the cheese
- Broil in oven for a few minutes until the cheese is melted and bubbly
- Serve with fresh avocado, coriander leaves and sour cream