Sunday

Chicken Enchiladas (Slow Cooker Mexican-style Chicken Meat and Seasoning Mix)



Today I'm sharing my favorite Mexican-Style chunk/shredded
chicken that can be used in a variety of ways.

The good news is ~ 
It can be made in your slow cooker.
You can make just what you need 
or make plenty as this freezes really well.  
Just portion into freezer safe containers or plastic bags 
in the amount you'll need for each meal.





Use it for filling for:


or in 

Mexican-style Chicken Salads
Mexican-style casseroles
Mexican-style Soups (Caldo de Pollo)
Chilaquiles
Mexican Sandwiches Tortas
Spanish-Portuguese-style Migas
Colombian and Venezuelan-style  Arepas
In omelettes and frittatas
Also really good served warm over rice with melted cheese.


To season the chicken you can use a commercial
packet of Taco seasoning ~ but I really recommend making
your own.






 It's very simple, just combine the dry ingredients (you probably already
have them in your spice collection.)
This tastes much better than the commercial version 
and you know just what goes into the seasoning you make. 
You can control the degree of spiciness you prefer, 
as well as the salt content. 
Plus you can avoid preservatives, chemicals and artificial colors.

 For the Taco seasoning mix recipe Click here.
I always quadruple the recipe and store in an airtight jar 
and keep it with my spices.


To cook the chicken using the slow cooker:

Click here for the Mexican-style Chicken (Slow Cooker) recipe

You can use the chicken pieces you like best. Some prefer
boneless chicken breasts, but I prefer using bone-in, skin-on for
the extra flavor those pieces provided. (After the chicken is cooked
the bones and skin are easily discarded, then I skim any excess
surface fat with a spoon ~ or you can chill the boned/skinned cooked
chicken and broth and lift the solidified fat from the broth.)


If you are using 1 pound of boneless chicken breasts, 
this can usually be ready in less than 3 hours. 
But this depends upon the amount of chicken you are cooking,
the size of your slow cooker and if using boneless chicken
or not.

When using other pieces, I do cook longer to compensate for the
thicker pieces and bones, beginning on high for a couple of hours, then
shifting to the low temperature setting.

I cook until the chicken is very tender, until it easily be pierced, 
and using forks or your fingers, can easily be removed from the bones 
(but I make sure not to overcook so it remains moist and
flavorful, not dry and stringy.)





You can see that if I'm going to freeze some of the meat, I don't really shred it, but leave it in chunks. 
The quality seems better when frozen in larger chunks 
(If I use it shredded, I do so just before adding to the recipe.)


Here it is again, already to eat or use in your favorite recipes, skinned, 
boned, broken into large chunks after cooking. 
I de-fat the delicious, flavorful broth and spoon some over 
the chicken that will be eaten that day.

I divide the remainder, spooning it over the cooked, chunked chicken 
in each container before freezing. 

Besides being ready to use in your favorite recipes, 
it is delicious served over rice, or rice and beans. 
You can use some of the broth to flavor the cooking liquid for your 
rice and beans, too. 
I divide the remainder, spooning it over the cooked, chunked chicken 
in each container before freezing. 

The recipe for the seasoning and directions for slow cooking the chicken
can be found here
(Again, I always increase the amounts so I can have plenty of left-over chicken and broth to freeze.)


I don't freeze many things besides homemade soups/broth, marinara,
and pizza/bread dough, but I do freeze this. It is so handy to have on hand,
and tastes delicious even after freezing.







And here it is transformed into simple Chicken Enchiladas ~
for this version, I just warm some to the cooked chicken in a pan with
some broth, dip the corn tortillas in hot oil (until they are flexible) and
drain them on paper towels.  While still warm I fill the tortillas with
the chicken meat and roll them*. 

Secure with a toothpick if necessary and
place in baking dish (or place them in baking dish, 
seam side down so they do not unroll.) Spoon some enchilada
sauce** over and sprinkle lightly with shredded cheese.
Cover very loosely with foil and warm in a preheated 350ºF oven 
until hot throughout and cheese garnish has melted. This
only takes about 5 to 10 minutes if you've filled the tortillas
with warm chicken.


*May add shredded cheese with the chicken filling, but I didn't this time.







**For the Enchilada Sauce you may~


Used a canned commercial enchilada sauce; your favorite brand.

or


Here is a Red Sauce recipe I've shared in the past.

or

My favorite way for sauce
when making this version of enchiladas:

Use some of the broth from cooking the chicken--
chop a fresh onion, saute in a pan with hot oil until tender,
but not browned. Place the cooked onion in the container of
food processor or blender
add some of the broth from the cooked chicken along with 
some jarred salsa (choose your favorite brand.)
Whiz until smooth, adding chicken broth to make it desired
consistency ~ taste and adjust seasonings.

Tip:

To serve~

You might want to offer the following at the table, for
those who want to make them "supreme":

 grated or crumbled cheese --your favorite kind
sliced or diced avocado --or guacamole
diced/chopped tomatoes
fresh cilantro
sliced green onions
pitted black olives, sliced or halved
sour cream,
salsa or hot sauce 

I hope you enjoy!



13 comments:

  1. Yum! And you know what? I have all the ingredients for this in the frig right now! I think we'll have these for dinner tomorrow!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I hope you like it Betsy! Please do tweak it to your own taste, you may like it spicier than I make it. :)

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  2. I love this Mari, and love that it can be frozen. It would be so wonderful to have on hand during the holidays when things get crazy.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Chris ~ great idea to have some on hand near holiday time, when it always seems we're in a time crunch!

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  3. Mari, your gorgeous photos & this delicious sounding recipe have me hungry & drooling for a taste at 5 am!! This will be a huge helper to have made up ahead of time, when company comes. I can't wait to try it...thank you for sharing.
    I had a little trouble getting the first link to open in my Firefox, but the second one, farther down the page worked just fine. I've pinned this so I don't forget about it & I think I shall make it this coming week.

    Thanks again,
    Rett

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You're a sweetheart Rett, I hope you like it! Thank you for letting me know about the link, all corrected now. For some reason Apple doesn't like my particular blogger template. When I went to correct the link and check the recipe page I see most of the font has defaulted to teeny-tiny! That wasn't my intention, I corrected and hope it stays that way. Thanks for your patience!!

      Delete
  4. This is a dish my kids and most probably their kids would love..Thak you for sharing..going to peek at the seasoning recipe too..
    I am quite anxious to try this !

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Monique! You know, growing up and living in California as I did, Mexican-style food was/is eaten fairly often ~ I seem to forget that's not the way it was/is for everyone! If your family tries it, I hope they like it. :) Thank you for your comments!!

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  5. Mary this looks absolutely fabulous! I am now very hungry for some chicken enchiladas...i must try your seasoning, nice that it is not loaded with salt and chemicals like the storebought type! You and i feel the same way about the crockpot so i know this must be one of those dishes that absolutely works! Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Linda, good to see you here! You know I'm on the same page with you regarding the chemicals and salt, and I'm sure like me, you try to buy the best quality, most flavorful herbs and spices. Sure makes a difference. I've read that some people (more dedicated than me) don't add the garlic or onion powder, preferring to use fresh adding when they make whatever dish. (I get over it quickly, I just add more fresh to the recipe when I'm making it.) ;) I hope you like it (or tweak it to your liking!)

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  6. This is such a good idea.
    My only problem is if I put it in the freezer it wouldn't last in there
    more than a day or two. My son and husband would devour it.
    The enchiladas sound totally wonderful and I do believe I will
    start making my seasoning, good idea!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I'm making these tonight - everything is ready and I just need to assemble them and pop them in the oven. I've been craving them ever since the picture showed up in my blog feed :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. I think you might've read my mind. Ever since the temperatures dropped, I've been craving spicy Mexican fare, and this looks perfectly delicious!
    I've never made enchiladas in a slow-cooker before, but it's certainly time to dust mine off.

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for your comments, friends ~ they make my day!

A Sampling of my food . . .

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