Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas

New Mexican Rob's Note:

I live in southern New Mexico. Our cuisine is far different than that of northern New Mexico (ie, Santa Fe, Taos, etc.). Las Cruces, or Hatch really, is the chile growing capital of the world. Whenever we have pot lucks at work or partys, my green chile enchiladas are always requested. If it is going to be an especially large group, I leave out the chicken and just make several trays of green chile cheese enchiladas. Just for clarification, "CHILI' is that soup dish made with hamburger meat and beans that is popular in Texas, while "CHILE" is the spicy vegitable that makes mexican food so great. Green chile and red chile come from the same plant. Green chile is harvested when ripe, and red chile is from chile left on the vine or tied up in RISTRAS to dry out and become red chile. When I was in college in Odessa, they didn't have descent green chile, they used tomatillos instead. I did not like that at all, so I substituted fresh jalapenos instead. They were hot, but my west Texas buddies ate them all up (of course sweating out the jalapenos the whole time).

• Total Time: 35 mins
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 20 mins

Ingredients:

Serves: 4-6

Yield: 1.0 cassarole

Sauce

• 1 lb shredded cooked boneless chicken breast
• 6 green chilies , roasted, peeled and diced
• 1 (14 ounce) can cream of mushroom soup
• 1 (14 ounce) can cream of chicken soup
• water or milk , to fill both cans
• salt
• garlic
• 2 dozen corn tortillas
• 2 cups shredded cheese (colby, munster, jack or mixture)

Directions:

1. Combined all sauce ingredients along with enough water (or milk) to fill the two cans of soup in a large sauce pan over medium heat. We are not frying the tortillas, so the extra moisture from either the water or milk is needed to soften them while baking. After sauce mixture has simmered for about 5 minutes, begin assembling in a large cassarole dish. I start with a some of the sauce, then a layer of tortillas, a layer of sauce, then cheese, then back to the tortillas. I goes has high as there is ingredients (usually 4 or 5 layers). Then we bake in 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes. After 10 minutes of cooling down, it is ready to be served.
2. I'm a single father of 5 teenage boys, so we go buffet style with this dish, along with mexican fried rice and refried beans.

Reviews

[tamalita62]

We moved from southern New Mexico to northern Idaho and sure miss our green chile foods! So we got a shipment in and of course, had to make some enchiladas! This was superb!

[Phoenix Food Queen]

This is actually my FAVORITE way to make Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas. The only think I do a little differently is I add a cup of sour cream to the chicken mixture and I still use green chile enchilada sauce! Oh and for cheese, monterrey jack! Yummy! Thanks for posting this favorite!

[Chef GG Mama]

I have never cooked green chile with canned soup. I'm sure my gma was turning over in her grave, but it sounded so interesting I had to try at least once. I cooked my chicken breasts in chicken stock and used that for one can of liquid and half and half for the second can of liquid. I used red rind longhorn as that's what I grew up using for enchiladas,other than that I followed the recipe as written. I also used chopped yellow onions in the layers. I must say I was pleasantly surprised. A creamy mass of comfort food for sure. Thanks Rob for sharing, looking forward to your next recipe.