Creamy Chicken Enchiladas

You may be more familiar with enchiladas topped with either a red chili sauce or a salsa verde sauce. You may not be as familiar with Enchilada Suiza, which are enchiladas smothered in a creamy version of a béchamel sauce. Suiza actually means ‘Swiss’ in Spanish. Swiss immigrants that came to Mexico brought their own unique European twist to the classic Mexican enchilada and thus the Enchilada Suiza was born.

If you love creamy rich sauces you are in for a real treat with these enchiladas. The béchamel sauce makes them creamy and delicious. What is a béchamel sauce? It’s a white sauce that is quite common in French cooking and often used in many French dishes. Don’t let the fancy name scare you, it’s actually quite easy to make a béchamel sauce and I will walk you through it step by step.

A classic French béchamel sauce consists of equal parts butter and flour with the addition of milk. This enchilada Suiza sauce calls for chicken stock instead of the milk but the steps for making the sauce are the same.

Enough history, lets get started so we can dig into this delicious meal sooner than later!

In a large sauce pan melt 4 tablespoons butter over medium heat.

Using a whisk add 4 tablespoons flour and whisk the flour and butter together.

Continue whisking the mixture for about 2 minutes. You don’t want to brown the flour but you want to cook the flour just long enough to cook off any of the raw flour taste.

Slowly add a can of chicken stock whisking the mixture continuously. Keep whisking the mixture to stir out any lumps. At first the mixture will be quite thin and runny, but as the mixture heats through it will start to thicken as it comes together. Continue to whisk it until it has the consistency of a thick pancake batter.

Remove from the heat and set it aside to cool down a bit.

While the sauce cools its time to get the enchiladas made. I like to use my Kitchen Aid mixer to make the filling. Place cooked chicken, 1/4 cup chopped Cilantro and 1 1/2 cups of shredded Jack cheese in the mixing bowl. Using the paddle attachment, mix the chicken, Cilantro and cheese together. The paddle will break up the chicken and blend it with the cheese in short order.

Spoon about 1/4 cup of the filling into a corn tortilla, roll up the tortilla and place it seam side down in an oven proof casserole dish.

Continue filling and rolling until you have used up all the filling and tortillas. I was able to get 10 tortillas into my casserole dish.

Once you have the tortillas filled and rolled it’s time to finish the béchamel sauce. It should be cool enough to stir in a can of diced green chilis and a cup of sour cream. You want to avoid adding the sour cream when the sauce is still really hot so it doesn’t curdle when you add it to the sauce. Stir the sauce together until all the ingredients are well combined.

Pour this mixture evenly over the rolled tortillas being sure to completely cover the tortillas.

Cover the casserole dish with foil and place on a cookie sheet.

TIP: The cookie sheet will catch any drips or sauce that may bubble over from the casserole dish while it cooks and save you the hassle of having to clean up a mess in the oven.

Bake enchiladas in a 350 degree oven for 40 minutes. Remove from the oven and remove the foil.

Top with remaining shredded cheese and sliced olives.

• 

• 

Return enchiladas to the oven and bake for an additional 10 minutes, until the cheese is melted and the casserole is completely heated through. It should be bubbling and hot along the edges at this point.

Turn off heat and turn on the boiler. Continue to cook until the cheese is bubbly and lightly browned and starts to crisp.

TIP: Allowing the casserole to sit for 10-15 minutes allows the enchiladas and sauce to set up so that they hold together when you cut into them. If you cut into them too soon they will be runny and much too soft. They will still taste amazing but they just won’t look like an enchilada, they will be more soupy and runny on you plate.

Remove from the oven and allow the casserole to sit for 10-15 minutes before serving.

Creamy Chicken Enchiladas

• 10 corn tortillas
• 4 tablespoons flour
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 1 can chicken broth
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup sour cream
• 2 1/2 cups cooked chicken, diced
• 3 cups shredded Monterey Jack or Pepper Jack cheese
• 1/4 cup Cilantro, chopped
• 4 oz. can diced green chilies (medium heat)
• 4 oz can sliced olives, drained

Preheat oven to 350⁰.

In a large bowl, combine shredded chicken with 1/2 the shredded cheese and chopped Cilantro.

In a large sacuepan, melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat.

Stir flour into butter and whisk together for about 1 minute.

Add chicken broth and salt and whisk together. Cook over medium heat until it’s thick and bubbles up.

Remove from heat and allow mixture to cool for a few minutes.

Meanwhile, fill tortillas with chicken/cheese/Cilantro mixture and roll.

Place rolled tortillas in casserole dish, seam side down.

Stir sour cream and green chilies to the cooled sauce mixture.

Pour sauce evenly over enchiladas, covering tortillas completely.

Cover dish with foil and bake for 40 minutes.

Remove foil and sprinkle with remaining cheese and sliced olives.

Return casserole to the oven and bake for an additional 10 minutes, until cheese is melted and bubbly.

Turn oven to broil and cook until cheese is toasty brown.

Serve these enchiladas with a side of Spanish rice. Check here for a tasty restaurant style Spanish rice recipe that you can whip up while the enchiladas are baking in the oven.

Dig in to a creamy delicious treat! These are not the spicy enchiladas you are used to. Instead they are very mild, cheesy, creamy, rich and utterly delectable.