Easy layered green-chili chicken enchiladas are simple to assemble, delicious and customizable. They have a yummy blend of chicken, tomato, olives, peppers and onions. They're enhanced by cheesy flavors and held in your wrap of choice - but to simplify your life, skip the wrapping step!
Layering gives most of the “enchilada experience” without rolling the enchiladas. The rolling process can be more challenging with gluten-free tortillas than with those made from corn or flour. This dish can be made just as elegant and showy as the rolled version. At least I think so!
The sauce is a key ingredient to control the flavor, spiciness and moistness of the dish. Since moving to Denver I’ve moved out of my red-sauce comfort zone and enjoy the green-chili sauces we can get so easily here. I hope you can buy Hatch green chile sauces near you, but red sauces work great too!
Making the recipe gluten-and-dairy-free
Mexican food is so delicious, yet can be a challenge for the gluten-free eater. Wheat tortillas are out, of course. Organic corn tortillas make sense in this casserole and are the most affordable option. For anyone who is avoiding grains in general or corn in particular, the Siete brand offers wonderful cassava tortillas. They cost about two or three times as much as organic corn tortillas, but you may decide it's worth it to avoid grains completely.
A "second" chicken meal
This recipe is a great “second meal” using the white meat from slow-cooking and deboning a whole chicken. I use the dark meat and the bone broth for soups like my Roasted Butternut Squash Curry Chicken Soup or Chicken, Black Rice, and Zucchini Soup, and reserve the white meat for casseroles like this. The sauce and vegetables keep the meat moist and enhance its delicate flavor. If there are any leftovers, they reheat beautifully.
We start with a sauce that all can eat, then mix it with meat and vegetables (at least onions, bell peppers, and olives) that we have on hand. Then we customize the layers with add-ons for our different eaters.
The gluten-and-dairy-free pan has Siete cassava tortillas and Daiya Cheese. My non-dairy eater says that the sliced Daiya has a better flavor than the pre-grated so we buy that now and I've place a link in the "shop" area. That's only available through Amazon fresh, of course, and you might be better off buying it at your local health food store.
The “conventional” eaters get organic corn tortillas and organic Mexican shredded cheese. All seem quite happy!
At the table will be refried beans, sour cream (dairy and non), extra cheese, extra green chiles, and other add-ons. Yum!
Enjoy,
Beth
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Other recipes to explore on A Meal In Mind
Beef barbacoa taco sliders with avocado lime dressing
Almond-Crusted Steelhead or Salmon Tacos
2 Gluten-Free Taco Seasoning Recipes
Shop Easy Layered Green-Chili Chicken Enchiladas
Hatch Green Chile Enchilada...Shop on Amazon
Siete Family Foods, Siete C...Shop on Amazon
La Tortilla Factory Yellow ...Shop on Amazon
Daiya, Cheddar Style Slices...Shop on Amazon
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Easy Layered Green-Chili Chicken Enchiladas
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
- 1 medium yellow onion diced fine
- 1 bell pepper green or red, diced fine
- 3 cups white meat chicken from slow-cooked chicken, deboned and cubed
- 1 jar or can 15-ounce Hatch Green Chile Enchilada Sauce, or use homemade
- ½ cup mild salsa or medium to hot, to taste
- 1 can diced green chiles medium or mild
- 1 can black olives sliced
For gluten-and-dairy-free version
- 1 cup about 1 pack Daiya sliced cheese (non-dairy)
- 1 pack Siete Cassava Tortillas
For the conventional version:
- 1 cup shredded organic Mexican cheese
- 1 package Organic Corn Tortillas
Instructions
- Saute the onion in the coconut oil until it begins to turn golden, 5-8 minutes.
- Add the bell peppers and sauté for 3-5 minutes more.
- Stir in ½ cup of the enchilada sauce, the salsa and the olives.
- Gently fold in the chopped chicken until well mixed with the other ingredients.
- Layer the enchiladas, using two oven-proof baking pans. You will use half the chicken-vegetable mixture in each one. Assume that you will use the different tortillas and cheeses in the two pans.
- Start with a thin, even layer of enchilada sauce on the bottom of the baking dish, then arrange a layer of tortillas on top. You will have a better fit if you tear some of the tortillas in half before placing them.
- Next spoon a layer of the meat mixture over, and spread evenly. Sprinkle the cheese on top of this, then another layer of enchilada sauce and a layer of tortillas.
- Repeat that layer, ending with tortillas and the remaining enchilada sauce. Make sure all the tortillas on this top layer are coated with sauce, to prevent them from drying out during baking.
- Cover tightly with foil and bake at 350 degrees F for 45 minutes.
- If you wish additional cheese on your enchiladas, sprinkle it over the top once the enchiladas have been removed from the oven, and replace the foil.
- Allow to cool for at least 10 minutes before serving. Garnish with Cilantro and any other toppings you like, such as pepitas, sliced avocados or red onions.
- Serve with guacamole, refried beans and sour cream or the non-dairy equivalent.
Flossie McCowald
I LOVE this layering idea! So much easier than softening the tortillas and rolling them by hand. Thanks for the great hack!
Beth
Flossie, you are so kind to say that, since it's really such a lazy method. You can hardly tell they were layered rather than rolled, depending on how you top the dish, so it's a win!