Christmas Enchiladas

The blog readership keeps growing. New post this week: 'The Five Meals Every Military Wife Should Master.' Pot roast, fried chicken, enchiladas, crockpot chicken, and 'whatever you can make from what's in the pantry when the commissary is twenty miles away and the baby is sleeping.' Sixty thousand views in the first week. The comments section became a community — military wives sharing their own five essential meals. 'My five are all crockpot because I don't have the energy for the stove when he's deployed.' 'My five are all pasta because my kids eat NOTHING ELSE.' 'My five include a recipe from my mother-in-law that I hate but it's tradition so I make it and I smile.' The hate-but-tradition recipe. Every family has one. Mine is Mom's lima bean casserole, which nobody likes but which appears at Thanksgiving because Grandma Carol made it and tradition is tradition. I'm not putting it in the cookbook. Some traditions deserve to be gently retired. Hazel is adjusting to preschool. She doesn't cry at drop-off anymore — she walks in, puts Di-Di in her cubby, and goes straight to the sand table. The sand table is her office. Her workspace. Her domain. Miss Jenna says Hazel is 'independent and determined,' which is preschool teacher code for 'your daughter does what she wants and no one can stop her.' She gets that from me. And from Donna. And from every Abernathy woman who ever stood at a stove and decided what everyone was eating. Made crockpot chicken tonight. One of the Essential Five. The recipe that requires zero skill and twelve hours of patience. The chicken falls apart. The family eats. The crockpot does the work. Five meals. Sixty thousand views. The community.

Enchiladas made the Essential Five list for a reason — they’re forgiving, they feed a crowd, and they taste like someone put in effort even when you absolutely did not. After a week where sixty thousand strangers showed up in my comments section to share their own five meals, their own traditions, their own“I-make-it-and-I-smile” recipes, I wanted to share the one that anchored my list. This is the enchilada recipe I reach for when I need something that feels like home — a little festive, a little hearty, and completely impossible to mess up.

Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cook Time: 35 minutes | Total Time: 55 minutes | Servings: 6

Ingredients

2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts (or shredded rotisserie chicken)
1 can (10 oz) red enchilada sauce
1 can (10 oz) green enchilada sauce
1 can (4 oz) diced green chiles
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
12 small flour or corn tortillas
2 cups shredded Mexican blend cheese, divided
Fresh cilantro, sliced green onions, and sour cream for serving

Instructions

Cook the chicken. If starting from raw, simmer chicken breasts in lightly salted water for 18–20 minutes until cooked through. Shred with two forks and set aside. Skip this step if using rotisserie chicken.
Make the filling. In a large bowl, combine shredded chicken, green chiles, sour cream, cumin, garlic powder, salt, and 1/2 cup of the shredded cheese. Stir until evenly mixed.
Preheat the oven. Heat oven to 375°F. Lightly grease a 9×13 inch baking dish.
Assemble the enchiladas. Pour a thin layer of red enchilada sauce across the bottom of the dish. Spoon about 3 tablespoons of filling down the center of each tortilla, roll tightly, and place seam-side down in the dish.
Sauce and top. Pour the remaining red enchilada sauce and all of the green enchilada sauce evenly over the rolled tortillas. Sprinkle the remaining 1 1/2 cups of cheese over the top.
Bake. Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Remove foil and bake an additional 10–15 minutes, until the cheese is bubbly and lightly golden at the edges.
Rest and serve. Let the enchiladas rest for 5 minutes before serving. Top with fresh cilantro, sliced green onions, and a dollop of sour cream.

Nutrition (per serving)

Christmas Enchiladas — One of the Essential Five Every Military Wife Should Know