Chicken Enchiladas with Sour Cream Sauce - the way I do it.

Ever made bland chicken enchiladas? Never again, my friend! The secret to this is all in the chicken. Never put plain boiled chicken in your enchiladas ever, ever, ever again! Also, the sauce is pretty dang delicious if I do say so myself.
So, here are your ingredients:
for the chicken:
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 onion, sliced
2 cloves of garlic, smashed with the handle of a knife
2 T butter (I use the real stuff. That stuff in a tub makes me want to yack.)
1 t black pepper
1/4 c cilantro
3/4 t cumin
3/4 t salt
1/4 t garlic powder
1/2 c chicken broth (reserved from boiling the chicken- you'll see!)
1 T + 1t tomato paste
for the sauce:
8 oz sour cream (i used reduced fat but wouldn't recommend fat free- yuk!)
1/3 c half and half
4 oz can green chiles (i used HOT, but in reality i thought they were medium heat, at best)
1/2 can cream of chicken soup (so cook something the next night with the remaining 1/2 can lol)
1/4 t corn starch (mix with a bit of half and half)
you'll also need 10 corn tortillas


Begin by placing the chicken breasts, sliced onions, and smashed garlic into a large pot with some water. Boil until chicken is done. I cheated and used my pressure cooker- so the chicken only took about 15 minutes. (If you don't have a pressure cooker, I promise you it would be a great investment! I LOVE mine!)

mmmmmm..... hot green chiles! and it even reminds me of a good friend of mine (if you're reading this, you know who you are and why it makes me think of you!)

So I forgot to take a picture before I blended these ingredients together... While the chicken is boiling, grab a small saucepan and toss in all your sauce ingredients. Heat 'em up and mix 'em together, and this is what you get. 100% pure deliciousness. Keep the sauce on low heat while you finish up the chicken.

Now I love enchiladas. Love 'em, love 'em, LOVE LOVE 'em. But, that stuffing and rolling business is for the birds! I stack up my 10 corn tortillas and cut them into fourths. I then layer and make this into more of a casserole. It may not look at pretty, but it tastes the same and it'll save you lots of time. Win, Win, hooray!

Once the chicken is done, carefully remove it from the pot and shred it up using two forks (if you're brave and perhaps a superhero, you can shred this piping hot chicken with your hands. I, however, am only a mortal. So I recommend two forks).

In a large saucepan or skillet, melt 2 T butter. To that, add the cilantro (I cheated and used dried but I would've preferred fresh- mine was all wilted and gloopy, so I chose not to use it), the pepper, cumin, garlic powder, salt, and tomato paste. Mix it all together until it's well combined.

Add the chicken broth (y'know, the stuff the chicken boiled in) and stir it up well.


Add the shredded chicken to the spice mixture, stir it up well and let it cook over low heat for 10 minutes. Give it a chance to absorb all the delicious flaaaavor.

In an 8x8 or 9x9 Pyrex dish, spoon a layer of sauce on the bottom. Then place the pieces of tortilla on top of that- just enough to cover the sauce.

Next comes a layer of chicken, then another layer of sauce (are you getting the pattern here?). You should have enough stuff for another layer of tortillas, then another of chicken, then another of sauce, then another of tortillas, then a bit of sauce over the top. We, personally, choose to not put cheese on our chicken tortillas. But, if you want some, feel free to add a layer in there or just sprinkle some on top.

When the layering's through, place the "enchiladas" in the oven (preheated to 350 degrees) and let it cook for 15-20 minutes, or until the sauce is bubbly. There ya go! You're all through. Eat 'em fast, because everyone else is going to want to eat 'em too!