You probably don’t think of chicken enchiladas as a meal that can be made without a shopping trip. Well, I made this recipe with items on hand and it came out great! However, I usually have enchilada sauce, chilis, and tortillas on hand.
I was raised watching my Mom cook with a little bit of this and a little bit of that and WOW … fabulous food would be created. My role was to be the helper. Now, as the cook, I am sharing my creations with you. Cooking with what you have on hand is so low key, no pressure, and FUN! I am very confident in the abilities that have been passed down to me. So I now enjoy teaching the art of simple Stay Healthy Cooking and Baking. I know that you will enjoy making this main course recipe many times and in many ways. And let me share that you’ll be the talk of the party when you bring this dish to a potluck. Let’s get cooking with a little of this and a little of that.
Ingredients
- Left over rotisserie chicken from Costco
- 1 can of Progresso Fat Free Lentil Soup with Spinach
- Jarred minced garlic
- ½ medium red onion
- Salsa
- Spices (cumin, chili pepper, crushed red pepper, paprika, taco seasoning)
- 1 can of Enchilada sauce
- 1 small can of Ortega fire roasted diced chilies
- La Tortilla Factory Handmade Style White Corn Tortillas (I also get these in bulk at Costco)
- Light shredded cheese (cheddar & mozzarella - optional ... the dish is FABULOUS without cheese)
Preparation
- I love stoneware, so I had my pampered chef 9 x 9 set aside, preheated my oven to 350, and foil ready to cover during cooking
- Picked Chicken off the bone and set that aside ... NO SKIN (I did this the night before so everything was ready)
- Heated a large saute skillet on top of the stove ... here I go. Took the can of soup and rinsed in colander because I just wanted the lentils and spinach and no other soup flavor. This also rinses off any unwanted salt. Put the lentils in the saute pan and sprinkled with the spices to taste, added a little bit of salsa, & the chilies. Put my onion in my food processor, shredded and added to the pan along with garlic, sauteed until onions were soft, added chicken, and stirred until the mixture was well combined and kind of sticky. Tasted again to see if I wanted additional spices. I did ... so sprinkled a little bit of everything in the mix.
- Poured the enchilada sauce in a separate bowl and started dunking the tortillas in it to coat and placing them in the pampered chef pan ... messy fun here. Work inside of the baking pan, and start filling each tortilla with the mixture, fold over and seam side down so the contents stay in during baking. Continue this process until you have a nice row of enchiladas. Pour the reserve sauce over the enchiladas and light sprinkle of cheese (this is optional). Cover the pan with a foil and bake for 35 minutes. Remove and let cool for about 5 minutes and serve with a Side Salad. The finished product will look like this:
My salad was organic spinach with chopped pear, dried cranberry, a sprinkle of Johnny Season Spice, and tossed with Extra-virgin olive oil and Balsamic vinegar.
Truly this did not take me long to put together since I had picked all the chicken off the bones the day before and it was simply a matter of grabbing my items, heating on the stove, and popping the mixture in the oven. Try this recipe … so full of great fibers & proteins!!!
How much garlic plz ? Thanks
Hi, Gloria
I typically use a heaping tablespoon of minced garlic. Thanks for stopping by my recipe page and let me know how you like the enchiladas. Be well and Stay Healthy!
– Darla