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:

Enchiladas

Tacos

Tamales

Taquitos

Quesadillas 

or in 

Mexican-style Chicken Salads
Mexican-style casseroles
Mexican-style Soups (Caldo de Pollo)

Nachos

Chilaquiles
Mexican Sandwiches Tortas

Spanish-Portuguese-style Migas

Empanadas

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
a 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!