Manda's Makins: Clean & Easy Chicken Enchilada Casserole

Clean & Easy Chicken Enchilada Casserole

I love chicken enchiladas. Let me start there. I really do, it's just that my kitchen doesn't. I must confess I am not a clean cooker anyways. I like the idea of it, it's just the execution of creating a meal without a mess that I have a challenge with. I like the idea of every ingredient in it's own cute little bowls. Oh how I feel so Martha Stewart when I do that. Of course I'd like those bowls to match too, but they don't. One day maybe I'll break down and buy all matching ingredient bowls. So back to how I used to make enchiladas. Chicken, Sauce, Onions, Cheese all in their own clean bowls. Then I begin. Sauce somehow gets in every bowl and my hands are a mess, so my utensils are a mess and I am dripping sauce from one bowl to the next and now my counters are a mess. Everything is covered in sauce and now I have at least 4 bowls to wash, my counter and everything else in my path. Ugh! That was how I used to make enchiladas. I will still make enchiladas but I'll use a different technique.

In my quest to lower carbs I've also found a way to minimize my mess by making a Clean & Easy Chicken Enchilada Casserole. Taste just the same as the enchiladas but with a fraction of the carbs, time and clean up! Yay for streamlining!

Clean & Easy Chicken Enchilada Casserole

Serves 4 (1 serving each)

*If you want more just double the recipe in a larger pan or cook in (2) 8X8 pans

You'll Need:

About 3-4 Chicken Breasts, Cooked & Shredded
1/2 Cup Chopped Onion
1 Small Can of Enchilada Sauce (Red or Green)
1 lb. Cheese, Shredded
2 Large Sized Whole Wheat Tortillas
Black Olives, diced tomatoes to garnish (optional)

Step 1. Chop Onion (*Chop the whole onion and then you can put the rest in the frig for another meal)

Step 2: Shred cooked chicken in food processor (*You don't have to clean the processor in between because worse case senerio, you have just seasoned your chicken with onion and saved time).

Use Easy Make-Ahead Chicken in this recipe.

Step 3: Add the onion to the shredded chicken

Step 5: Pour enchilada sauce onto the chicken/onion mixture and mix with a spoon

(*I used a large can but didn't use half. You'll save money buying bigger, especially if you are making 2 or more batches).

Step 6: Grate cheese

(*I use raw cheddar cheese and I shred my cheese instead of buying it pre-shredded because it cost less that way. If your time is more valuable than your money, buy the shredded cheese. In the food processor, it takes all of 4 seconds to shred though).

Step 7: Pour about 1/4 C of Enchilada Sauce on the bottom of a greased pan (I use olive oil), then coat 1 tortilla with the sauce by dipping it in and then turning it to coat the other side.

If you have a large tortilla it will cover the bottom of the pan and up a touch on the side like a bowl.

If you are using a bigger pan for a double batch then lay 2 coated tortillas side by side in the pan.

Step 8: Put a layer of the chicken mix on the tortilla.

9. Add half of the shredded cheese on top of the chicken mixture.

10. Put the other tortilla on top of the cheese and take a spoon and scoop on a little enchilada sauce, smear it around and flip tortilla. Do the same to the dry side of the second tortilla so both sides are coated.

Step 11. Layer with the rest of the chicken mixture and top with cheese. (*If edges of the tortilla are above the cheese tuck the edges of the tortilla under or cut off, otherwise the edges will be crispy. We like it that way but you can cut or tuck yours so it looks prettier if you'd like).