Fresh green salsa is used to make this authentic chicken enchilada recipe, just like you would find it in a Mexican restaurant or, even better, a Mexican home.
| Prep Time: | 45 mins |
| Cook Time: | 35 mins |
| Total Time: | 1 hr 20 mins |
| Servings: | 4 |
Ingredients
- 2 bone-in chicken breast halves
- 2 cups chicken broth
- ½ white onion, halved, divided
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 2 cloves garlic, divided
- 1 pound fresh tomatillos, husks removed
- 5 serrano peppers, or to taste
- 1 pinch salt
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- 12 corn tortillas
- 1 cup crumbled queso fresco
- ½ white onion, chopped
- 1 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped
Instructions
- Combine chicken, broth, one quarter onion, salt, and 1 clove garlic in a medium saucepan; bring to a boil. Cook until chicken is no longer pink in the center and the juices run clear, about 20 minutes. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the center should read at least 165 degrees F (74 degrees C). Remove chicken to a large bowl to cool. Reserve broth; discard onion and garlic. When cool enough to handle, shred chicken with your hands.
- Place tomatillos and serrano peppers in a medium pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil and cook until tomatillos turn from bright green to dull, army green. Strain tomatillos and peppers and place in a blender. Add remaining one quarter onion, remaining 1 clove garlic, and a pinch of salt. Pour in enough reserved broth to cover vegetables in the blender by about 1 inch. Blend until completely puréed. Pour salsa into a medium saucepan and bring to a low boil.
- Heat oil in a small frying pan over medium-high heat until very hot. Lightly fry tortillas, one at time, in hot oil. Remove to paper towels to drain.
- Dip tortillas in low-boiling salsa until they become soft again. Place onto plates, 3 per person. Fill or cover tortillas with shredded chicken, then top with salsa. Sprinkle with queso fresco, onion, and cilantro.
- Remove the seeds and veins from the serrano peppers if you want to tone down the heat.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 559 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 49 g |
| Cholesterol | 84 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 8 g |
| Protein | 37 g |
| Saturated Fat | 7 g |
| Sodium | 1344 mg |
| Sugars | 7 g |
| Fat | 25 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
Need to clarify some points. Before starting the recipe and to have more tender chicken, you can brine the chicken 6-8 hrs by soaking the breasts in 4 Tbls salt and 4 cups water (rinse well before cooking). 1. After bringing broth to a boil, lower to simmer, add chicken and slow simmer for 20 min or until they register 165 degrees internal. If you don’t simmer chicken it will be tough (A crock pot for more tender chicken is even better but takes longer). Shred chicken while warm. 2. This step can be simplified with your favorite store bought verde salsa. 3. Only a small amount of oil is needed. The objective is to brown the tortillas until pliable or they will crack when trying to roll them up in Step 4. 4. After you place shredded chicken on tortilla, roll it up seem side down. Then top with more salsa, chopped onion, chopped cilantro and grated queso fresco.
I was looking for real, authentic recipes from Mexico after visiting Central Mexico for a week for work. At first I was concerned about the food there being too hot/spicy for my pallet. That was not the case at all. Flavourful spicy, yes. Hot, no. This recipe was fantastic at replicating the salsa verde I had there. I did remove the seeds and viens from 3 of the 5 peppers before cooking to tame a little, but everything else was cooked as written. I also braised a pot of left-over rib eye in beef broth until tender, so we had both shredded chicken and beef tacos. I will definitely make this again!
I think this recipe was great.
This was super yummy. The process is very involved so it’s difficult to do with kids underfoot. I made extra sauce as others suggested and that was appreciated. It did taste like it came from a small, authentic ma & pa Mexican restaurant!
Extremely spicy. ! If I make this again, I will remove the seeds from the peppers and maybe use only one or two instead of five. It’s tasty but way too hot for my taste. I added lime juice to up the acidity and a tiny bit of sugar to help mellow the heat.
Very good, very authentic. It was a great way to use up the leftover whole chicken I cooked a couple nights prior. The only thing I will change next time is a little less heat, was a bit spicy for my family…sour cream did help to tone it down though ??
This is the perfect green enchilada (Enchilada verdes) recipe. I love these topped with uncooked queso fresco.
It was absolutely delicious!
I love this recipe! It’s tastes so fresh and I love that flavor.
This is my first review ever and man what a good dish. Used boneless chicken breast with an assortment of Mexican spices and cooked in the oven. I followed the rest of the recipe as is and used store bought chicken stock and they turned out better than anything that I have ever ordered in a restaurant. That says a lot since I am in south Texas.
Great recipe, thank you!
I’m a beginner when it comes to cooking. I followed the recipe exactly as is and these are probably the best enchiladas I’ve ever had. The sauce is amazing. I will definitely be making this again!
Love this recipe! I’ve made it many times now.
Really authentic tasting and lots of flavor!
This is the first Chile verde enchilada recipe I made several years ago and was blown away as to how great it is. It’s one of my favorite dishes! I think the sauce made from scratch is what blows other recipes out of the water. One day I made this dish with canned verde sauce since I needed a quick meal. That was a huge mistake! Never again will I make this dish without this recipe!
This is fabulous. To save time, I use a good quality jarred salsa verde. Otherwise, I followed the directions.
Fantastically fresh, authentic and delicious!
with the quarantine and all, I can’t go to my favorite Mexican restaurant for my favorite dish (verde chicken enchiladas). So I tried these. Made them twice, exactly as written, and both times they came out amazing!! It really cheered me up to have a “taste” of normalcy. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!
It was great
Best enchilada recipe ever! My boyfriend is Mexican and he stated they taste just like my moms.
These enchiladas will turn out really well if you follow the instructions as given. We have a tried & true recipe for cheese enchiladas with red salsa and have never had much luck with adding chicken to those as they just don’t taste right to us; we’ve come to like them with cheese, onion, and nothing else. These, however, came out delicious with the chicken. This recipe, I think, will be our go-to for chicken enchiladas from now on. Take care with the serranos, maybe adding a few at a time. You never can tell from one batch to the next how much heat they’ll have so don’t rely on a set count. You can also roast the tomatillos & peppers if you’d like but it’s not necessary; just another option. Rather than serving directly after rolling them as instructed, we prefer placing them in a baking dish (or two, as needed) and giving them a quick 15 minute turn in the oven. The main intent is to dry them out a tiny bit and give them a bit more of a bite but this is entirely a preference and they work well either way… my son couldn’t wait and ate his fill as we were rolling them so you can’t go wrong. I think baking does make them a bit more suited for preparing ahead of time… then you can heat & serve right from the baking dish.