Being able to cook fantastic food is what we all want to be able to do. To be able to come home after a long day and to sit back, relax and enjoy one of our favorite comfort foods is the thing that everyone regardless of age, ethnicity or gender wants to be able to do.

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However, we don’t always have time to come up with recipes on the hop. Sometimes we need a selection of different recipes to use in order to have a fantastic time and find that the recipes that we have aren’t as interesting or exciting as we thought they were.

This is why you need articles like this one to be able to tell you exactly what kind of fantastic recipes for Shredded Chicken Enchilada there are out there and why you must make sure that you try them all in order to get the best culinary experience that you can!

Traditional Shredded Chicken Enchilada

First of all, let’s start with the traditional shredded chicken enchilada recipe. Chicken Enchilada was first developed in Mexico and as such it has a truly spicy and succulent flavor to it which means that when it is done right it can truly set your taste buds alive!

The traditional Shredded Chicken Enchilada is a wonderful recipe and goes something like this:

Traditional Shredded Chicken Enchilada Recipe Ingredients

First of all let’s start with the Traditional Chicken Enchilada recipe ingredients.

You will need all of these ingredients in one form or another for all Chicken Enchilada recipes though you might use them in different amounts and in combination with ingredients not mentioned here depending on the variant of the recipe.

Chicken: Perhaps the most obvious and central ingredient you will need is the chicken itself. It is always best to go for boneless chicken breasts because they work best with the recipe. You can use precooked chicken or even try to take a whole chicken and remove the breasts if that saves costs for you, however for time and ease it is always best to buy the boneless chicken breasts and not try and complicate matters too much.
Onions: You will need onions to form the base of the Enchilada sauce.
Chiles: You will need the chiles as part of the Enchilada sauce in order to give it some spice, It is best to try a variety of chiles though make sure to check where they land on the Scoville Scale, the official scale for ranking how hot chiles are in order that they aren’t too overpowering for your meal.
Beans Tasty and they add some extra protein to the meal.
Tortillas: Traditionally used in enchiladas, there is no hard and fast rule in the traditional Shredded Chicken Enchilada recipe. The type of tortilla depends on your personal preference and also whether you have any allergic reactions to particular types of wheat etc.
Shredded Cheese: The shredded cheese, like the chicken, is vitally important for ensuring that you have a delicious Shredded Chicken Enchilada. Again, you can choose any cheese that you like however it is always best to go for a particularly crumbly cheese as this means it will be easier to blend in with the other ingredients and give you a truly spectacular meal.
Avocado or Radish toppings: These toppings are best if they mix well with the other ingredients, and it is important to ensure that they are both flavorsome and not too chunky as to mess up the other ingredients.
Enchilada sauce: You can either buy this pre-made or you can make it using an online recipe. It is important if you are making your own sauce that you use the onions and chiles as the main ingredients for the sauce as they mix best together in order to give a truly succulent and memorable sauce.

Now that we’ve broken down the major ingredients for a traditional Shredded Chicken Enchilada let’s delve into how to use them in a traditional recipe.

Traditional Shredded Chicken Enchilada Cooking Instructions

Here are the steps you need to take to make this fantastic meal as it is traditionally done in Mexico.

Take the Enchilada sauce, either the one you have bought prepared from the shops or the one that you have made yourself.
Preheat your oven to around 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
Place the chicken breasts into the sauce, making sure that the chicken is well covered. Then place the chicken into the oven, making sure to turn the heat down to low. Cook the chicken in the sauce for fifteen to twenty minutes. Then take the chicken out of the oven and separate it from the sauce, allowing them both to cool down.
Once you have allowed the chicken to cool somewhat, take two forks and begin to gently shred the top of the chicken breast.
Once you have shredded the chicken breast perfectly, make sure to take the shredded chicken into a bowl. Once the shredded chicken is in the bowl add some of the sliced cheese and mix together.
Once you have done this, bring out the tortillas and place them into the microwave for ten to fifteen seconds until they are warm and pliable.
Once you have done this, place the chicken into the tortillas and roll them around the dish. Do this as many times as you want to ensure you have a great collection of tortillas.
Pour any source you have left on to the tortillas and add some more cheese and for a final flourish your avocado or radish toppings.
Finish by placing them into the oven for ten to fifteen minutes until they become golden. Take them out, wait for them to cool and then enjoy!

This is of course the most traditional recipe for how to cook Shredded Chicken Enchiladas, there are several other variants to this recipe that you should try.

Alternative 1: Make Using Corn Tortillas

One alternative way that you could make this stunning recipe is to use Corn Tortillas instead of normal tortillas.

This allows you to actually make more of this delicious recipe because generally speaking Corn Tortillas are smaller than regular tortillas meaning that you can easily and effectively make more to the Shredded Chicken than you would be able to before.

The only real deviation from the main recipe is related to timings. Because Corn Tortillas are much smaller you need to make sure that you cut all your timings in half so that they don’t burn too quickly and taste far too crisp.

Alternative 2: Use Mince or Another Different Meat Filling

Another alternative that you could use for chicken is Mince or another different filling. If you aren’t a great fan of chicken then having an alternative to use in your chicken enchilada could be mince or beef.

The only real difference to the recipe if you use something other than chicken is that, for example with mince, it is easier to create the shredding effect meaning that in terms of presentation the tortilla’s will look much more uniform than they would if you were using chicken.

Alternative 3: Make A Vegetarian Enchilada

Speaking of tasty alternatives to Chicken Enchiladas, you can in the same way that you supplement the mince for chicken, make vegetarian enchiladas.

The fundamental recipe and preparation are the same except that you use a vegetable as the main filling for the enchilada rather than chicken and that you don’t attempt to strip it so much as cut it more.

You can either use one sole vegetable or several combined together – personally using one vegetable such as a cauliflower makes the consistency of the enchilada much better than attempting to use a mix of beans as the core as this can make the process a bit messier and harder to do.

Alternative 4: Use A Different Base For The Sauce

One final alternative to the classic Shredded Chicken Enchilada recipe is to use a different base for the sauce.

This applies more if you are making the sauce yourself than buying it online or from a store as generally online you won’t find as many varieties of different sauces.

One base for the sauce that is particularly flavorsome is to use green rather than red peppers as they tend to have a fruitier flavor to them. Similarly, you could always try to use a mix of fruits as the base of the sauce.

Few people realize that peppers are in fact fruit and a member of the berry family, so it is entirely keeping within the tradition of making great enchiladas to use different fruits as the base of your sauce.

Why Trying To Make Shredded Chicken Enchiladas Is A Great Idea

Food can at times feel like a burden. However, this article has hopefully given you inspiration to make some fantastic, tasty and healthy Shredded Chicken Enchiladas which are sure to make you and whoever eats them water at the mouth.

Experimenting with food should never be a struggle and that’s why doing whatever you can to make some truly spectacular grub should always be at the top of your agenda.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can You Use Other Types Of Chicken?

Many people wonder whether or not you can use different types of chicken for this meal – for example, some people aren’t great fans of chicken breasts and prefer legs or other parts of the chicken.

Therefore, is it possible to use other parts of a chicken to make this delicious meal?

It is certainly possible to, however it is somewhat more difficult.

Chicken breasts present a unique opportunity to be able to easily and quickly shred your meat and get it into the tortillas easily whereas if you are cooking using a chicken leg or another part of the white meat’s anatomy then you might find difficulty in making sure that it is flat enough and without any bones in it.

Is There A Limit To How Much Cheese You Should Put On?

There is no real right or wrong answer to how much cheese you should include in the recipe. It is always best to go for your gut instinct as to how much cheese you think should be included and how much you and anyone else eating the meal might like.

It is however important that the cheese is in thin enough strips to be able to blend in easily with the other ingredients.

How Often Can You Eat Shredded Chicken Enchiladas?

You can eat them as often as you like.

Although you might think that the cheese makes these an unhealthy snack, in fact the mixture of good vegetables and chicken means that as a meal this is far healthier than many other options you might get from fast food restaurants.

5 Outstanding Shredded Chicken Enchilada Recipes

Ever wanted five outstanding Shredded Chicken Enchilada recipes? Read this piece to enjoy them.

Ingredients

Traditional Shredded Chicken Enchilada
Make Using Corn Tortillas
Use Mince or Another Different Meat Filling
Make A Vegetarian Enchilada
Use A Different Base For The Sauce

Directions

Pick a recipe from the list above
Click the recipe name and visit the website
Collect the ingredients and cook the food
Enjoy – don’t forget to leave a review

Jess Smith

Hi, my name is Jess Smith, and I love cooking in my spare time. Around three years ago, I decided to give up my day job as a teacher to pursue my passion for food. While I have enjoyed sharing tips and tricks on Social Media, I have decided to expand my horizons through this blog.

Through this blog I hope to help others learn the basics and more intricate details of cooking. I know from personal experience how frustrating it can be to cook a meal, only to realize you are missing one ingredient from your list. This is why I love to write articles chatting readers through some great substitutes that can be used in an emergency.

I hope you will find this blog useful, and that it will help you to develop your culinary skills, to help you cook up a storm!