White Bean Chicken Enchiladas

Submitted by Dans La Lune

"We have Mexican night at least once a week, and this is the perfect meal for it, sure to satisfy any craving! The white bean mash serves as a replacement for the oh so boring refried beans. You'll notice it gives a great zesty dimension to the dish. I recommend serving with sides of salsa and sour cream and a nice helping of yellow rice. Mmmmmm!"

 

• Ready In: 1hr
• Ingredients: 12
• Yields: 10-16 enchiladas
• Serves: 4-6

ingredients

• 4 -5 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon fajita seasoning mix
• 1⁄2 teaspoon onion powder
• salt and pepper
• 1⁄4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper (to taste)
• 2 (15 7/8 ounce) cans small white beans or (15 7/8 ounce) cans great northern beans
• 1⁄4 cup water
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 (33 ounce) package of small mexican corn tortillas
• 2 cups shredded colby-monterey jack cheese
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

directions

1. Heat large pan with olive oil. Add chicken either whole or sliced into strips.
2. Season chicken in pan with fajita seasoning, onion powder, cayenne pepper, and salt and pepper, using more or less according to your preferred taste.
3. Meanwhile, as chicken cooks, drain beans from cans and rinse thoroughly in a colander. Place in food processor or bowl. Add water. Grind beans with food processor or a hand chopper until resembling refried bean texture, like a paste.
4. Add cumin, more cayenne pepper if desired, and a generous amount of salt to bean paste. Blend well.
5. Once chicken is cooked, remove from heat and cut in strips if not done so already. Set aside.
6. Take a single corn tortilla, and spread a spoonful of bean paste on it. Put a few pieces of the cut up chicken down the center in a line. Add a sprinkle of the colby jack cheese blend.
7. Roll up the tortilla and place seam side down in the casserole dish. Repeat using as many tortillas as it takes to fill the entire dish.
8. With leftover bean paste, spread in cracks and crevices of enchiladas, like mortar on bricks.
9. Sprinkle cheddar cheese over top of the entire dish.
10. Bake in oven at 350 degrees for 15 or 20 minutes or until hot. Use broiler if necessary to melt cheese completely.
11. Serve with a side of yellow rice and condiments such as sour cream and salsa.
12. In a 13 x 9 casserole dish, spread bean paste thinly.

Reviews

[jedimindtrick4]

We thought these were great! As you can see from the picture I uploaded, we put in a few extra veggies (like the zucchini). They did seem a tad dry at first but after adding some plain yogurt on top, they were perfect. Thanks for the recipe!

 

[ElaineAnn]

I made half the recipe and switched shredded Mexican 4-cheese blend for co-jack and cheddar cheese. I used flour tortillas and served with salsa and sour cream, they weren't dry at all. Thanks for sharing! Made and enjoyed for PAC Spring '09.

 

[LonghornMama]

Nice combination of ingredients. Used lots of fajita and other seasoning on the chicken which was great, also a little extra cumin and cayenne in the beans. Softened the tortillas on the stovetop in a very small amount of oil. I've never found another good way to soften corn tortillas so they roll smoothly. Having beans in enchiladas was something new for me, also I'm kind of an enchilada purist, I found these a bit dry without enchilada sauce (traditional or cream) on top. Thanks for sharing the recipe! Made for PAC Fall 2008.

 

[NovaM]

very easy to put together - had this with rice, salsa and sour cream. Great for a weekday dinner!