This recipe deserves and subtitle, such as “how I am surviving the week” or “how I’m getting dinner on the table while being utterly exhausted.”

SGE has been absent of my recipes for several days because I’ve been too darn tired to cook, let alone cook something, photograph it and share the recipe with you. Now that Dig Indiana is mostly wrapped up and I can stop scouring my email 24/7, I am slowly shifting my energy from the keyboard to the kitchen.

Just like last week’s Iron Skillet Pizza, these chicken enchiladas are all about making dinner that hits the table with little prep and a quick cooking time.

The recipe is quite simple and is not characteristic of the recipes I typically like to provide. When there isn’t much of a challenge, there’s no need to take the time to share it. But after this past week, I’ve realized how simple recipes are just as important as the challenging, time-consuming ones.

 

There are three parts to this recipe: shredded chicken, enchilada sauce, and tortillas. The rest is up to you.

My favorite way to get shredded chicken is to cook a whole chicken in a slow cooker. Some people are intimidated by a whole chicken, wondering how they will cut it up or cook it properly. With a slow cooker, it is TOO easy. All I do is create a bed of diced onions for the chicken to sit on, place the chicken on top and season it with salt and pepper. Cooked low and slow for 8 hours, the chicken will fall apart as you try to lift it out of the slow cooker. For full directions, you can view this recipe post. You can also boil chicken breasts in water for about 30 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 165, and then shred the meat.

Enchilada sauce is also really easy to make and you likely have most of the ingredients in your pantry. To achieve the thick sauce, a simple roux of olive oil and flour is made, then chili powder, tomato sauce, chicken broth, cumin and other spices are stirring together and cooked until warmed through. Only a bit of heat comes through, so spice it up if you like with hotter chili powder or even a little Sriracha.

This enchilada sauce makes an appearance first in my Chicken Enchilada Pizza, followed by Chicken Enchilada Sandwiches and a weekend worthy Mexican Casserole.

After that, all you have to do is roll them up, pour the sauce and bake. This dish really is that easy.

And in true weeknight dinner style, these enchiladas were photographed quickly and then consumed.

WEEKNIGHT CHICKEN ENCHILADAS

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 cups shredded chicken
• 10 fajita-size tortillas
• Enchilada sauce (click for recipe)
• 1 7-oz can dice green chilies
• 1 1/2 cups shredded cojita cheese
• 1/2 cup diced black olives
• 2 green onions, diced

Direction

Grease a 9×13 baking dish with cooking spray. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Set out your shredded chicken, tortillas, diced green chilies and cheese to create an enchilada-making station. Begin my placing about 1/3 cup of shredded chicken in the middle of the tortilla, spreading it into a thin line down the center. Top with a small spoonful of diced green chilies and a pinch or two of shredded cheese. (Seriously, don’t portion this out, eye it and go from there).

Close the sides of the tortilla in and place it seam side down into the pan. Repeat for all 10 tortillas.

Pour 1 1/2 to 2 cups of enchilada sauce on top of the enchiladas. Top with the rest of the shredded cojita cheese and bake for 10 minutes. Top with diced black olives and diced green onions and serve.