Enchiladas Verdes
By Melissa Pitts
This recipe actually comes from Abby’s mother, but I made them and have been addicted since. These enchiladas are easy, with a fresh and healthy salsa. You can fill the enchiladas with either meat, cheese, or chicken and they taste great no matter what.
If you are lucky enough to have a grill, you can skip the step where you simmer the tomatillos and grill them along with the onion, serrano chile and garlic and puree the mixture with cilantro and some warm water- it adds an amazing smokey flavor. The tomatillo salsa recipe can be used in countless ways and perfect for our chilaquiles recipe as well. Also, this is a great make-ahead meal for a day or two before, you can make the enchiladas and just pour the salsa when your ready to put them in the oven.
Cook Time: 20 mins
Preparation Time: 20 mins
Ingredients
- 6 tomatillos, husks removed
- 1 serrano chile, stem removed
- 1 clove of garlic, peeled
- 1/4 cup onion, roughly chopped
- 1 bunch cilantro, or ¼ cup, roughly chopped
- 2 tablespoons of canola oil
- 10 corn tortillas
- 2 cups shredded chicken/ meat/ cheese (like Monterey Jack or Oaxaca), a rotisserie chicken from the store works perfect
- 1/2 cup queso fresco, or feta cheese, crumbled
Directions
- Preheat an oven at 375F.
- Cover the tomatillos and chile in water in a large pot. Bring to boil and let simmer on medium heat for about 8 minutes- until they have changed color to a dark green and are soft. Let them cool.
- Drain and reserve some of the cooking liquid and put the tomatillos and chile in a blender along with the onion, ½ cup cooking water, and cilantro. Blend until smooth. If the salsa is still too thick add more cooking water.
- In a medium sauce pan, over medium-high heat, heat the the oil and add the salsa to cook it completely (about 10 minutes) and season with salt and a little bit of pepper.
- In another pan, put about 1/4 inch of oil and when its hot, begin to submerge the tortillas. You are not supposed to fry them, only to coat them with oil so that they don’t crack later. Working quickly, drain the excess oil on a paper towel. Begin to fill them with the chicken/meat/cheese and roll them like a taco, place them in a 9×13 inch oven safe dish, seam side down.
- Pour the green salsa over the enchiladas and cover with foil and put them in the oven, for about 15 minutes. Remove the foil and bake in the oven another 5 minutes.
- Top the enchiladas with queso fresco.
***Cook’s note: you can add cheese (like Monterey Jack, Oaxaca) on top of the enchiladas and bake them until the cheese is hot and bubbly.
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