Chicken Enchilada Casserole

Love enchiladas? Then this is the recipe for you! Healthy, easy recipe to feed your family… Budget friendly too! Just the right combination of chicken, cheese, corn, sauce and seasoning to make his amazing meal! Can be made ahead too! Make a pan today!!

Chicken Enchilada Casserole

Yield: 6 – 8 servings

Ingredients:

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast, ½” cubed
1 medium onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
1 package 10-12 count corn tortillas
1 - 28 ounce can enchilada sauce
1 – 4 ounce can chopped green chilies
1 teaspoon cumin
1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
1 – 16 ounce can fat free refried beans
1 cup frozen corn, thawed
1 can large black olives, sliced
2 – 2 ½ cups shredded cheddar cheese or Mexican blend
Vegetable spray or olive oil

Garnishes:

Salsa
Sour cream
Fresh cilantro

Equipment:

Chef knife
Cutting board
Rubber spatula or bamboo spatula
Measuring spoons
10 - 12 inch skillet/fry pan
13”x 9” baking pan
Ladle
Bent-edged spatula

My family loves chicken enchiladas rolled up with gooey cheese, chicken and beans! Figured there had to be a way to make them in a casserole where I could feed a crowd and save time too. I searched my cookbooks for ideas and then online and came up with a great combination. You probably can change it up to meet your own preferences, like subbing ground beef or turkey for the chicken or making them vegetarian by using a variety of beans. This dish is also gluten free, as it layers corn tortillas. I have also tried the casserole with flour or low carb tortillas and it is also delish! Kind of depends what I have in the fridge too…or if I want to go to the store. I used 2% fat cheddar cheese too which makes this lower in fat too… heart healthy as well!

Chicken/ sauce prep:

As always, I assemble all my ingredients. I often chop everything first, as this makes preparation a smoother process. It also helps to see if you have everything you need before starting to heat up the kitchen. I open all canned items too. Place canned beans in a bowl and stir well. This will make them easier to spread. If beans seem dry, add 1-2 tablespoons water and mix well. If not purchasing sliced olives, these will need to be sliced as well. My family loves olives, so I often buy a large can and slice them all.

When cutting the chicken breast you want small enough pieces so they lay relatively flat in the layering process. First cut your chicken breast in strips at a diagonal, as shown above, as this will slice the muscles and allow the chicken to stay more tender as it shrinks. Then cut each strip into ½ inch segments creating cubes. Set these aside. Then prep onions and garlic. All these ingredients will be cooked thoroughly, so I don't worry about cross-contamination and using separate boards.

Start the cooking process by heating the skillet for about 2 – 3 minutes over medium high heat. Pour olive oil to heat up ~ a minute more and add chicken, onions and garlic. Sauté these together for 5 – 7 minutes. Chicken will no longer be pink and onions will be light yellow and translucent in color.

While chicken mixture is cooking, prep the baking pan you will be using by spraying with vegetable spray or rubbing generously with olive oil.

When chicken is cooked sufficiently, add enchilada sauce, spices and green chilies. Mix well and bring mixture to a simmer. While sauce simmers, cut 6 -8 tortilla shells in half and keep remaining shells whole in case you don't need them.

Casserole assembly:

**If baking casserole immediately, preheat oven to 375 F.

I love this part of a recipe! Kind of like putting together a puzzle when a kid! I line up ingredients I will be using in order and begin. Start by ladling about ½ cup of sauce into the bottom of your prepped baking pan and spread to cover. Try not to use chicken chunks on bottom if possible. Then arrange cut tortilla shells to cover bottom of pan. (A few gaps are fine) Next ladle about 3-4 scoops of sauce & chicken to cover tortillas. You should have about half sauce remaining in pan or about 2 cups.

Beans are the next layer. Spoon the bowl of beans evenly over tortillas by making about 12 small mounds as shown above. Then using a rubber spatula, spread to coat beans over tortillas. Kind of like connecting the dots!

Next layer involves sprinkling corn, then cheese over the bean layer. Use all of the corn and only half of the cheese, ~ 1+ cups, as the remainder will go on top as the final topping. If you are using black olives, and I strongly suggest you do, spread half of the olives on top of the cheese.

Next steps are repeats… layer tortillas over cheese and olives. I usually try to angle them differently than the first layer to help stabilize the casserole when I serve it. Ladle the remaining sauce mixture over tortillas, spreading it to coat and moisten all tortillas. If you still have enchilada sauce left in the can, pour that over top as well. No sense wasting it, right?

Now it's time to put on the finishing touches… Sprinkle remaining cheese evenly over sauce and chicken. Then place the remaining sliced olives on top and you are finished constructing your casserole! You will notice how the olives add meal appeal with color and texture. If someone in your family doesn't care for olives? Pick them off or try them… maybe with sauce and yummy flavors you won't even notice them!

Bake your enchilada casserole for 45 – 50 minutes or until top is nicely browned and edges are bubbling. If you make your dish ahead, cover with foil and refrigerate until about 30 minutes before baking. Place dish on counter or stovetop to allow the casserole to warm up a bit. Baking time will be longer due to cooler internal temperature of the layers. Sometimes I leave the foil on for half the baking time to accelerate the heating process, remove and then bake until it's bubbly and brown… usually 60 – 70 minutes total.

I am sure you will love this meal! Garnish each serving with a spoonful of your favorite salsa and sour cream. Final touch is a sprinkle of chopped cilantro on top! Enjoy! We never seem to have leftovers!