How To Make Enchiladas

This a classic Mexican dish with meat and cheese stuffed tortillas baked with a robust chile sauce. The filling can be a number of different types of meat such as turkey, chicken, beef or pork or even vegetarian with lots of cheese. The sauce can be any of the molés or sauces. Here we will make the basic enchiladas with shredded turkey and a traditional enchilada sauce.

We used flour tortillas in the video but that was before our celiac diagnosis. We now make this gluten free by using corn tortillas.

Watch a Video

Here is a video of 2 Cooks in the Kitchen making enchiladas.

The Ingredients For Enchiladas

• 1 1/2 – 2 cups cooked shredded Turkey
• 1 medium onion chopped then cooked until translucent
• 1 cup poblano (roasted, peeled and cut into 1″ x 1 1/2″ pieces) optional
• 1 can sliced or chopped olives
• 1/2 cup sour cream (or yogurt)
• Enchilada sauce
• Tortillas-your choice corn or flour
• 2 cups shredded cheese—Jack or cheddar or a combo

The ingredients for this are onions, poblano chiles, sour cream, cheese, enchilada sauce and tortillas. Using corn tortillas makes this dish gluten free. Check the package to make sure the tortillas are 100% corn. Some places mix wheat flour with their masa to make tortillas so you have to be careful.

Dice and Saute the Onion

To begin making the filling, dice the onion and then sauté it in bacon fat, lard, ghee or oil. These should cook for 10 minutes or so, until they soften and become translucent. Let them cool a little before adding to the meat. A time saving trick is to put the onions in a microwave safe dish, add a little butter and cook for 90 seconds. We always just sauté in a pan because it doesn’t take all that long and you do want them to be cooked.

Mix Turkey, Onions Chiles and Olives

Put the turkey in a mixing bowl and add the onions. Add the cut up poblano chiles and most of the sliced olives. Save some olives to put on top before baking the enchiladas.

Add Sour Cream

Stir In some sour cream. This is optional but it really makes the filling creamy and good. Then add a cup of enchilada sauce to the filling. Then mix this all together well and you’ll have a nice moist and creamy enchilada filling.

Add Cheese

Add a cup of shredded cheese and mix it in. You can use just about any cheese you want here. We used cheddar for this recipe because it was what we had on hand. A mix of cheddar, jack, Mexican cheese such as cotija or anything else is good too. You do want it to be shredded for easier melting and blending. We’ll add more cheese to the mixture when we assemble the enchiladas.

Lay Out the Tortillas

Now that our filling is ready we can lay out the tortillas for filling. The quantities here are for four fairly large tortillas. We often double this recipe and make a 9 x 13 pan of enchiladas, about 7 or 8 tortillas.

Fill the Tortillas

Place 1/4 of the filling on each tortilla. Make a line of it down the middle so the edges can then be folded over.

Add Cheese

Put some more cheese on top of the filling.

Put Sauce In The Bottom Of The Pan

Put a scoop of sauce in the bottom of an oiled baking dish. You can squeeze four of these in an 8 x 8 pan or use something larger but not too large. You want to be able to contain the sauce around the enchiladas. This does come out casserole style. If you want a more traditional style then you can cook them in pairs, 2 to a pan, and serve them like that.

Roll the Enchiladas

Fold one edge of the tortilla over the filling and then roll to seal it up. This won’t be as tight as a burrito or anything. You just want it to hold together in the pan.

Place the Enchiladas In the Pan

Then place the enchiladas in the pan with the fold down.

Cover With Sauce

Cover with sauce. Use a spoon to work the sauce down between the enchiladas. Cover the top thoroughly for soft, soaked enchiladas or leave the ends bare if you like crispy parts. Mr Cook likes his soaked while Mrs Cook likes the crunchy ones.

Sprinkle Cheese On Top

Add more cheese to the top. This will melt while baking and then make the dish very attractive.

Scatter Olives On Top and Bake

Add the remaining olives to the top of the dish. Now it is ready to bake (uncovered). In 40 minutes at 350 degrees we will have a pan full of cheesy, saucy, goodness.

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Here are some other traditional Mexican recipes you can make:

• Molé Enchiladas
• Tinga de Pollo
• Al Pastor Tacos
• Pork Chile Verde
• Shrimp Stuffed Poblanos With Colorado Sauce
• Chile Rellenos
• Pollo Con Crema
• Camarones a la Diabla
• Green Chile Chicken

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