TexMex Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas are the ultimate in creamy comfort food. If your soul lies south, it’s your soul food. This recipe landed in the ‘Tex Mexican’ category for obvious reasons but most people in Louisiana have been to and through Texas enough times to love and crave it. It’s roughly based on Lisa Fain’s version in ‘The Homesick Texan’ cookbook but I halved it so it makes only six enchiladas but it doubles nicely.
The Prep
The directions below are pretty straightforward but I’d like to emphasize that if you are using the traditional white meat it’ll be best if slightly undercooked before shredding. White can go dry fast and since you’re cooking it in the sauce before serving it can stand to be even a little pink by the bone when you put it in the enchilada. The objective should be juiciness in the final product.
Presentation
For this presentation, I cut some corn off the cob and fried it with onions and paprika then sprinkled the cut corn over the corn tortillas. When you’re in the mood it’s hard to have too much corn!
- For the filling:
- 2 chicken breasts (or thighs)
- Salt & Pepper to taste
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- For the Sauce:
- 4 fresh tomatillos, husks removed and cut in half
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 tablespoon flour
- 2 Serrano chilis, seeded, stemmed, and diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- ¼ cup chopped cilantro
- Dash of cayenne
- Salt & Pepper to taste
- Enchiladas:
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 6 corn tortillas
- ½ medium-sized onion, diced
- 1 cup shredded Monterrey Jack cheese
- ¼ cup chopped cilantro, for serving
- For the Filling:
- Preheat the oven to 350° F and lightly grease a baking dish.
- Season the chicken breasts on each side with salt and black pepper, place in the oven, and bake for 20 minutes. Remove chicken and let cool. Then shred with two forks. Keep the oven on, as you’ll be using it again.
- For the sauce:
- Place the tomatillos under the broiler on a foil-lined sheet and cook on each side until blackened, about 4 minutes per side.
- Then melt the butter over medium heat & whisk in the flour & cook for a minute.
- Next add diced Serrano chiles & garlic and cook over low heat until soft, about 3 minutes.
- Add the chicken broth into the pot, and stir until thickened. Stir in the sour cream, chili powder, cayenne, and cilantro. Remove from heat.
- Place in a blender with the tomatillos and puree until smooth.
- Enchilada Assembly:
- To make the enchiladas, heat the oil in a skillet and cook the corn tortillas on each side for a few seconds until soft. Stack on a dish as you continue to cook the others. If the tortillas soak up the oil add more.
- To assemble the enchiladas, pour half a cup of the sour cream sauce in the bottom of the baking dish. Take each tortilla and place in the middle shredded chicken, diced onions, and a tablespoon of cheese. (Amounts can vary. It should be full but you should be able to roll it up).
- Roll the tortillas around the filling and place the rolled tortillas seam side down in the casserole dish. Cover the enchiladas with the remaining sauce and grated cheese and bake for 20 minutes or until top is brown and bubbling. To get a very brown top move it right under the broiler for a minute.
- Serve warm topped with chopped cilantro.