These chicken enchiladas are just blazing with healthy, gluten-free flavor thanks to this savory, homemade, chunky enchilada sauce!
Kids just love enchiladas – especially when you’ve made sure to create a
really great red enchilada sauce and, especially if you top them with a lot of
yummy cheese.
This, I know how to do like crazy, but a new challenge arose the
other day, when my client, Jillian, put in a special request for her husband
Ferf’s birthday: gluten-free chicken enchiladas, with chips, dips, a
vegetable and whatever gluten-free cake Ferf wanted.
Gluten-free chicken enchiladas, I thought to myself… easy
enough, being corn tortillas are gluten-free but how to make red enchilada
sauce without flour? That would take some thinking on….
I needed to create the most birthday-worthy gluten-free enchilada sauce
possible. One bursting with flavor and thick enough that it would just glisten atop
those enchiladas and cling to them, holding that cheese in place like a good,
thick sauce will – making every bite a perfect harmony of flavors and textures.
So, I came up with this enchilada sauce thickened with just aromatic
vegetables and Ms. Harper, who’d just seen the movie Wonka, declared them not
just good but “scrumdiddlyumptious”. And your family will too.
How to Make the Yummiest Gluten-Free Chicken Enchiladas
Corn tortillas, first, are great for enchiladas because they’re not just
naturally gluten-free but texture-wise, you need a tortilla that your fork just
sinks right through with that sauce and cheese without a fight. Gluten-free
flour tortillas (and I’ve tried every single one of them), tend to fight you a
little bit no matter how much you toast them, so I recommend corn tortillas for
the gluten-free Mexican food lover, hands down.
Gluten-free enchilada sauce can be made with thickeners like
arrowroot or GF flour, but I prefer to thicken them with flavor instead.
So what I do to remove the need for a thickener of any kind is to use a lot of
sautéed onions and a bit of jalapeño with the seeds removed, which really tamps
down the heat a bit so everyone can enjoy it. Then, the only things you need
are a good gluten-free tomato sauce and a few spices probably already in your
pantry from making chili like cumin, chili powder, and oregano!
How to Make Ahead and Store
These gluten-free chicken enchiladas can be made ahead the night before your party or gathering. However, I would keep the filling, sauce, and enchiladas separate until at least the day of service and sauce right before baking. Freezing corn tortillas is not wise. So I freeze whole containers of the filling and sauce instead, always having them on hand for burritos, enchiladas, taco salads, street tacos, I could go on and on. You can freeze the sauce and filling separately for up to 90 days.
Serving Suggestions
It’s not hard to find great gluten-free dishes to pair this with to make a complete healthy and delicious feast. For Ferf’s Mexican birthday fiesta meal, I prepared for them these delicious GF chicken enchiladas, a yummy 4-Layer Nacho Dip with GF tortilla chips on the side and this delicious cold Corn, Tomato, and Avocado Salad, which you have to taste to believe how delicious it is.
Now, for the cakes… Ferf had expressed a wish for a birthday cake that was “anything to do with peaches or pumpkins,” as Jillian chimed in, “gluten-free, of course.” So, I surprised him with two birthday cakes: the first, a gluten-free, honey graham cracker-crusted version of this New York Style Peach Cheesecake and a Gluten-Free Pumpkin Roll.
Gluten-Free Enchiladas
Ingredients
- 2 jalapeños seeds removed and finely chopped
- 1 medium onion diced
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 1/2 tablespoons chili powder
- 3 cloves garlic finely minced
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 3/4 teaspoon oregano
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 15 oz can tomato sauce
- 1 cup chicken or vegetable stock
- 1 to 1 1/2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1 1/2 cups Monterey jack cheese shredded
- 1 1/2 cups sharp cheddar cheese shredded
- 1/2 cup fresh cilantro finely chopped
- 1 lime
- 12 6- inch soft corn tortillas
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F. This will ensure it’s ready for baking your enchiladas to melty perfection.
- Cook the onion and jalapeño in oil over medium heat until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the chili powder, garlic, brown sugar, cumin, oregano, and salt, cooking for another minute until fragrant.
- Pour in the tomato sauce and stock, bringing the mixture to a simmer. Let it cook for 5 minutes, then remove from heat.
- In a separate pan, cook the chicken breasts until no longer pink inside, about 20 minutes. Let them cool, then shred the meat with two forks.
- Mix the shredded chicken with half of the cheese, cilantro, and the juice of the lime. This will be your enchilada filling.
- Dip each tortilla in the sauce to lightly coat, fill with the chicken mixture, roll up, and place seam-side down in a baking dish.
- After all tortillas are filled and placed in the dish, pour the remaining sauce over the top and sprinkle with the remaining cheese.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, or until the cheese is bubbly and slightly golden.
- Let the enchiladas cool for a few minutes before serving. Garnish with extra cilantro if desired.
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