cheesy spinach and chicken enchiladas
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For those who may be new, the original The Rose Record site was mostly recipes. I used to read cookbooks and tinker in the kitchen just for fun back when I had more free time. Now dinner seems less fun and more of a fleeting moment of panic getting food on the table amidst chaos and hungry children. That being said, every now and then my survival cooking mode results in something so good and off-the-cuff, that I need to go ahead and throw it up here.
I started this dinner plan off with a concept that I did long ago that was so delicious and a Rose Record fan favorite - chicken, cheese, and spinach enchiladas. (See it here on my old and now very antiquated looking first website.) This time, though, I had chicken in the slow cooker, added some more “filler” and used the enchilada sauce I had on-hand in the pantry.
The results? Just as good as before - maybe even better. The tender, well-seasoned chicken meets melty cream cheese and hearty spinach. It’s a meal all in one - protein, carb, veg! The best part of this meal though is that I was able to stretch just two boneless skinless chicken breasts into a meal for 4-6 people. Now that is a talent in this day in age when grocery shopping and availability still seems so much more difficult than before.
A few recipe notes:
You could totally do this with a rotisserie chicken, but y’all know how I love my slow cooker.
You could do this with red or green enchilada sauce - I had green on had so used that and I think the flavors really complimented the chicken and spinach. However, a can of red sauce would be just as good. Or do it New Mexico style and do half red sauce and half green!
Cheesy Spinach & Chicken Enchiladas
Total Time: 5 - 8 hours (less if your chicken is already cooked) Hands-On Time: 30 minutes
Makes: 8 enchiladas
Ingredients:
1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts (can be thawed or frozen)
1/2 Cup diced onion
1 Cup (half a jar) of green salsa (could be red salsa too if that’s all you’ve got)
1 Tablespoon chili powder
Salt & Pepper
4 oz. cream cheese
10 oz. frozen chopped spinach, cooked and drained thoroughly
16 oz. enchilada sauce (I used the Frontera brand. I only had one packet for this, but really needed two)
1/2 Cup sour cream or Greek yogurt
8 flour tortillas “soft taco size” (I like the Carb Balance style from Mission brand)
Toppings of your choice: cilantro, sour cream, hot sauce, pickled jalapenos, avocado
Directions:
Combine chicken breasts, diced onion, salsa, chili powder, and salt and pepper in a slow cooker. Cook for 8 hours on low or 4 hours on high until chicken easily shreds with a fork.
During the last 30 minutes of the chicken cook time, add cream cheese to slow cooker.
Once cream cheese has melted and chicken is cooked, shred chicken.
Add cooked and DRAINED (like really drain it - any extra water will give you soggy filling) spinach to chicken and cream cheese mixture and stir until thoroughly combined.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease 9 X 13 glass baking dish.
In a shallow pan (I use a pie pan), combine enchilada sauce and sour cream. Whisk until combined.
Lightly dip a tortilla into sauce mixture on both sides (it doesn’t need to be sopping wet, just get enough to coat the tortilla a little) and fill with two heaping tablespoons of chicken and spinach filling. Roll tightly and place seam side down in baking dish. Continue until filling is all gone or there isn’t any more space in the pan. I squeeze mine in pretty tightly - I got 8 enchiladas out of this. If you have leftover filling you can shove some into the earlier ones you rolled since I tend to skimp on those at the beginning. Or save it for quesadillas or lunch tomorrow!
Once pan is full of rolled enchiladas, dump remaining enchilada sauce on top. I add an little extra sour cream down the middle because it looks pretty (and we are big sour cream stans in our home).
Bake at 400 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes until bubbly.
