Tex-Mex Creamy Serrano Enchiladas

 

 

I like flavor—bold—can’t miss it flavor. These enchiladas are full of flavor but not heat.

I often create as I go and since Colson requested some type of enchilada for dinner I used what I could find in the fridge and pantry. I already had the Creamy Serrano Ranch Dip which I had made over the weekend. I had also loaded up the grill at the beginning of the week with hamburgers, hot dogs, fajita chicken and chicken marinated in Italian dressing. I use this chicken in casseroles, pasta and salads. I sometimes throw chops and steaks on the grill too. This saves me valuable time during the week because my meats are already cooked and ready to be used for meal preparations. I slightly undercook the meats on the grill to allow for reheating.

I only have one picture of the dish since I was attempting to quickly prepare dinner in time for Riley to take A.J. to Youth Group for his very first time— ever. I had tears in my eyes as they drove down the driveway. Where did time go? He was still a little boy in my heart. How did he advance to Middle School age? This was not right!

I digressed; back to the subject. When Riley finished eating she told me I needed to write this recipe down because it tasted like restaurant enchiladas.  A.J., who thought he would not like the enchiladas wound up drooling over them, Colson was thrilled with the final product, I could have eaten a whole pan by myself and Farm Boy, who is an Italian food fan, had at least thirds and suggested I write down the recipe.

My family knows I fly by the seat of my pants when it comes to preparing meals. They also know that if I don’t immediately write the recipe down I will forget within hours the ingredients I used and the approximate measurements.

If you skip the Grilled Fajita Chicken and the Creamy Serrano Ranch Dip you will have, in my snobbish Tex-Mex opinion, blah Mexican enchiladas—you will.

Here is the recipe with the only, end of the meal, picture I have of the enchiladas.  You won’t be sorry you made these!

Ingredients:

• 8 oz. cream cheese
• 2 – 4 oz. cans diced green chiles
• 1 packet McCormick Fajita Seasoning (My favorite)
• 4 grilled, (small-medium) shredded chicken breasts
• 10 oz. mild enchilada sauce (I used Great Value brand)
• 4 cups shredded cheddar cheese
• 16-18 corn tortillas
• ½ cup Creamy Serrano Ranch Sauce/Dip (See recipe below)
• Canola or olive oil
• Chopped Cilantro

Instructions:

1. Rub 4 small/medium chicken breasts on each side with seasoning from a McCormick Fajita seasoning packet. Grill chicken; sprinkling more seasoning once on each side as it grills.
2. Sauté cream cheese (smash with fork), green chiles, and pre-grilled chicken until they are warm and well combined. If it seems too dry add more Creamy Serrano Ranch.
3. Heat and oil pan. Warm tortillas on both sides filling one as you warm the next. Reapply oil as necessary.
4. Fill tortillas with meat mixture and some of the cheese, reserving some cheese to sprinkle on the top.
5. Roll up tortillas and place seam down in a 9×13 baking dish and an 8X8 baking dish sprayed with cooking spray or olive oil.
6. Spoon enchilada sauce on top and sprinkle with the remaining cheese.
7. Bake for 25 minutes at 375 degrees.
8. Top with fresh chopped Cilantro before serving.

 

Creamy Serrano Ranch Dip (Jalapeño)

½ cup sour cream

½ cup real mayonnaise (low fat is not tasty in this recipe)

¾ cup milk

½ teaspoon white distilled vinegar (this turns milk in to buttermilk)

1 (4 ounce) can green chilies

1 (1 ounce) packet Hidden Valley Ranch dressing mix

2 Serrano peppers (remove seeds and veins for mild) Remove seeds for medium heat. Leave seeds and veins for hot heat.

¼ cup cilantro

1 teaspoon garlic salt

1 teaspoon fresh lime juice

Directions:

Place all ingredients in a blender or food processor and mix until smooth.

Refrigerate for two hours before serving so ingredients can soak into the dressing.

Serve with chips or use as salad dressing on Mexican salads, or sauce for Mexican foods and casseroles.

*Heat oven to 350 degrees and place a cookie sheet of White Corn Restaurant style tortilla chips in the oven for 3 minutes. Enjoy fresh restaurant style chips and dip.

Original Creamy Serrano Ranch Dip post: http://carolyndeevers.com/2014/05/08/creamy-serrano-ranch-dip/

 

Enjoy!