Chicken Enchiladas Verdes
How many of you have opened a can of green enchilada sauce only to find a watery sauce that is lacking in any fresh flavor? I have been there more times than I can count, always hoping I can use canned enchilada sauce as a shortcut when making enchiladas. Every single time I end up disappointed.
Since we love Mexican food more than anything in our family, I was determined to make a green enchilada sauce using fresh ingredients, with a vibrant sauce that has a robust flavor, but still easy enough to put together on a busy weeknight.
After some serious playtime in the kitchen, I have come up with what I believe is the best Chicken Enchiladas Verdes recipe out there. These are melt in your mouth good! You will never go back to canned enchilada sauce because it just doesn't cut it.
The key to these Chicken Enchiladas Verdes is using tomatillos, a Mexican husk tomato, as the base of the green enchilada sauce. Poblano peppers are a perfect pairing as they add a lot of flavor without too much heat. They are mild in the heat department, so if you are adventurous you can add a jalapeno to the sauce.
Put the tomatillos and poblano peppers under the broiler for a few minutes to soften them, making them more tender which brings out their natural flavor.
There is something about roasting vegetables that makes them so much better! To add some bright freshness to the sauce, we add cilantro and a touch of sugar adds a bit of sweetness to offset the acidity of the tomatillos. You are going to want to lick the blender clean....this sauce is ridiculously good!
Since these are chicken enchiladas, we have to ensure that the chicken is seasoned to perfection. How many times have you eaten chicken enchiladas in a restaurant only to find that the chicken is bland? You find yourself begging for more sauce to compensate for the lack of flavor. I am a big believer in seasoning all components of the dish in order to have layers of flavor.
We slowly cook the chicken breasts in chicken broth, onions, and cumin to really solidify the flavor and spices. This is an important step to ensure that the chicken doesn't come out dry. By cooking it slowly in liquid, you seal in the juices and keep it moist.
After cooking and chopping the chicken, add some of the tomatillo green enchilada sauce to the chicken to keep it from getting dry and to add some zing.
Where are my cheese fans? When I eat Mexican food the last thing I want is a dry enchilada. In my humble opinion, it needs to be coated with sauce, with melted cheese oozing out with every single bite. The key is to add cheese in two places.
We add cheese when rolling up the chicken into the tortilla and also sprinkle it on top of the enchiladas. You can use Monterey jack cheese, pepper jack cheese, queso fresco, queso blanco, or any of the Mexican cheese blends. I use a mix of pepper jack cheese and grated Mexican cheese blend and it's a perfect marriage.
Top these Chicken Enchiladas Verdes with creamy sour cream, fresh avocado, scallions, a squirt of lime, and sliced radishes.
- 1 Tablespoon Canola Oil
- 1 medium onion diced
- 1 lb. Chicken Breast
- 1 1/2 cups Chicken Broth
- 1 teaspoon Cumin
- 1 teaspoon Garlic Powder
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 1/2 teaspoon Pepper
- 1 1/2 lbs. Tomatillos husks and stems removed and rinsed
- 3 medium Poblano Chilies halved and seeded
- 1/2 cup Cilantro
- 1 Tablespoon Sugar
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 3-4 cups Pepper Jack Cheese Monterey Jack, Queso Fresco, or Mexican Blend Cheese
- 12 Corn Tortillas
- 1 scallion sliced thin
- 1 cup Sour Cream
- Avocado optional
- Heat oil in medium saucepan over medium heat until simmering. Add onion and cook until tender, about 6-8 minutes. Reduce heat to low and add chicken broth, garlic, cumin, salt, and pepper. Add the chicken, cover, and simmer for 15-20 minutes, flipping chicken half way through.
- Heat oven to broil. Place tomatillos (husk removed) and poblano papers on foil lined baking sheet. Broil for 5-10 minutes or until vegetables start to soften. Remove from oven and let cool for a few minutes. Change oven temperature to 350 degrees. Remove the skin from the poblanos.
- Transfer tomatillos and poblanos to food processor or blender. Add 1/2 cup reserved cooking liquid from chicken, cilantro, sugar and salt. Taste and season accordingly.
- Cut chicken into small bite size pieces. Cover with 1/2 cup green enchilada sauce and season with more salt, if needed.
- Smear the bottom of 9 x 13 pan dish with 3/4 cup tomatillo sauce. Place chicken in center of each corn tortilla. Top with cheese and roll up, placing seam side down in pan. Repeat until all of the chicken and tortillas are used. Drizzle sauce over enchiladas and cover it with remaining cheese.
- Cover with foil and bake for 15-20 minutes. Remove the foil for the last few minutes to let cheese bubble. Top with scallions and sour cream. Serve with fresh avocado slices, if desired.
If you are looking for authentic Chicken Enchiladas Verdes, then look no further. These are the best green chicken enchiladas out there and believe me, I have done my fair share of testing. 🙂 Thanks for the love!
Hi Melissa - I can't wait to try this enchilada recipe. I really love good salsa verde! Here in Sweden, tomatillos are really hard to come by and are expensive. My sisters in Calif. laugh when I tell them I pay around twenty dollars for five of them......BTW, I am making your Lady's chocolate chip skillet cookie about three times a month and it still is not enough!
Hi Daniel! Thank you so much for your kind words and I am so glad that you love the Lady's chocolate chip cookie skillet. That always makes my day! That is crazy expensive for tomatillos! My brother used to live in Denmark and that is what he said as well. It was so hard to get things that are more commonplace in the States over there. He loved living in Denmark and misses it though! What do you eat a lot of over in Sweden? Fish? Sweden is definitely on my bucket list to go visit. It looks so beautiful!
Denmark is really nice also - we go back and forth on where the capitol of Scadinavia lies....
I live in Stockholm so just about everything is available including the trendy ramen and boullions. We don't have really good mexican food yet but it is only a matter of time. Swedish cuisine includes a lot of meat and potatoes in different formats (e.g. meatballs) and a lot of great fish (excluding sur strömming but that is a matter of personal taste). Your brother will probably back me up on this - if you ever decide to visit, come in the summer, long days better weather. Thanks again for the great recipes!
How much chicken broth do I add to the chicken beasts while simmering ? The recipe doesn't say the amount. Thank you
You are a saint, Star! Thank you so much for pointing that out to me. For some reason, it got deleted off of my recipe when I listed the ingredients. I appreciate you taking the time to let me know and I fixed the issue on Modern Honey. You used 1 1/2 cups chicken broth. Thank you, Star!
Putting this on my menu this week! You've got the Midas touch, everything you create is gold, we've loved every single one of your recipes! xx
Awwww....thanks sweet friend. That means a lot coming from you because you are such an incredible cook! xo
Question-
When filling the corn tortillas do you do that with tortillas right out of the package?
(Wont they break or not roll easily?) Or do you need to lightly heat or lightly fry them?
I have made this recipe over and over with the tomatillos from my garden. I love it, my kid who normally doesn't like "green sauce" loves it, and I have substituted crispy tofu for the chicken for my vegetarian child with equally good results. I have served it to friends to rave reviews and "can I have that recipe?" requests. Easy to make ahead, freezable, make two! Great recipe to add to your dinner rotation. Thanks for the great recipe!
You must be a sister from another mother! I hate chicken or steak from restaurants where they don't season them, and I make my own enchilada sauces, both red & green, because canned is awful. Bleh! Layering your flavors just makes everything tastier in the final product! I make my own salsa verde almost identical to yours, except I roast the garlic, onion, jalepenos, and serranos along with the poblanos and tomatillos for more flavor, & I don't add sugar. I remove the seeds & capsaicin from the peppers so that it isn't too hot. Everything else about our salsas are the same. I use my salsa verde on chunks of pork butt I've browned also to slow cook for pork verde for burritos or posole. Have you tried Mexican crema? It's way better than sour cream!