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Just made this for dinner tonight and YUM! My whole family loved it. This is a keeper, thanks for sharing!
Richelle
Today is my dad’s 50th birthday.
Wait, 50?
This graceful noodle-warrior is 50 years old?
Let me just tell you.
My dad is incredible. Being with him makes me a better person and brings calm to my heart.
Alrightalrightalright. I just showed you a picture of him launching a full-scale attack with a foam noodle. But really, I promise, he is generally a calming person.
When I was 5, my dad knew everything about the world. Then I turned 15. Hmmph.
Now that I’m 25, I realize that my dad probably can’t know everything about the world. But I’m still pretty sure that he actually does, because he’s my dad and he’s amazing.
Dad, you inspire me! Thanks for being the best. Ever.
Alright. In honor of my dad who is the number one best ever, let’s talk about the number two best ever.
These chicken enchiladas. I’m sototallyinlovewiththem. When I think about the 6 servings of leftover enchiladas sitting in my fridge, my heart skips a beat.
They’re chicken meets salsa meets corn meets beans meets CROCKPOT.
Now roll it up in a corn tortilla and top it with melted cheese, avocado, crema, and more Cotija cheese. THAT is an enchilada mountain right there. Are these still considered enchiladas if they don’t have enchilada sauce? Better question: will anyone even care because they’re so so tasty? Right on.
PS. Number three best ever: you can get away with a 5-minute workout because they’re skinnay. And by 5-minute work out, I mean 5-minute raid of the chocolate chips.
Conferences? NBD. Just an excuse to eat some cold enchilada leftovers in my classroom. #yum
Skinny Chicken Enchiladas
- Total Time: 3 hours 20 minutes
- Yield: 6 1x
Description
These skinny chicken enchiladas are super easy and healthy, too! Filling made in the crockpot!
Ingredients
- 1 lb. chicken breasts
- 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 can corn, drained
- 16 oz. fresh salsa
- 3 tablespoons taco seasoning
- 1/4 cup water (optional)
- 12 small corn tortillas
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 1 avocado, diced
- 1/4 cup crema (see notes)
- fresh cilantro, Cotija cheese for topping
Instructions
- Put the first 6 ingredients in a crockpot. If your salsa is not very saucy, be sure to include the 1/4 cup water or more if necessary. Cook on high for about 3 hours (or longer on the low setting) until chicken is cooked through. You can also cut the chicken breasts into halves to help them cook faster. Use 2 forks to shred the chicken and mix everything together.
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Soften the corn tortillas in the microwave, 3 at a time, for about 25 seconds. Fill them with a few tablespoons of filling, roll once, and place seam-side down in a large baking dish (I did 2 smaller baking dishes). Continue until all tortillas have been filled, rolled and placed in dish. Be sure to pack them in tightly next to each other so that they don’t come apart.
- Sprinkle evenly with the shredded cheese and bake for about 15-20 minutes, until cheese is melted and bubbly and everything is heated through.
- Remove from oven and drizzle with crema. Sprinkle with avocado pieces, fresh cilantro, and Cotija cheese crumbles.
Notes
The corn tortillas will start to break apart on the top during baking if you don’t warm them up enough prior to baking.
For the crema, I just made a fake-out version with about 3 tbs. sour cream and 2 tbs. cream. I whisked it together until it was smooth, creamy, and drizzle-able. Also, I used part yellow corn and part shoepeg corn, which made the texture more interesting.
Serving size for the nutrition facts is 2 enchiladas.
- Prep Time: 3 hours
- Cook Time: 20 mins
- Category: Dinner
- Cuisine: Mexican
Keywords: skinny chicken enchiladas, chicken enchiladas, healthy chicken enchiladas
Sooo I’m realizing that I might have missed a few things that would fall somewhere between my dad and chicken enchiladas on the Best Ever list.
Like my husband and my future dog.
But the melted cheese has oozed its way into my brain and is blocking my ability to think about this clearly, so I think that we’re just going to go with it for today. K? Happy Enchiladaing!
Can you make ahead and freeze?
We have loved this recipe for years! We recently went vegetarian and would love to find a way to still make this – would you suggest adding more beans and corn? Or could we sauté some other veggies to help round it out?
Yes, more beans and veggies! You could try any of the veggies we include in this recipe too.
I have been making these for years! Finally just had to pop in and comment how much I love them. My time-saving hack is to put the filling over a layer of taco chips and put a few more chips on top when I am short on time. It works a treat and is a crunchy twist on the original 🙂
Giving the recipe a 5 BUT has anyone actually made this and given feedback?
Hello! This is an incredible recipe-thank you so much! I have made it multiple times and am coming back to make it again. I am pretty new to cooking- is there any way to freeze this? I am considering doubling the recipe and freezing it, but am not sure how to do so. Thank you for reading.
You could make 2 batches and freeze the 2nd. How you freeze it depends on how you’d like to enjoy leftovers (eg, as a full pan, 2 at a time, or individually). I’d probably freeze 1 or 2 together by wrapping them in foil or storing in an air tight container to reheat either in the oven or in the microwave.
I think I’ll make these this weekend. They look amazing!
These enchiladas are a STAPLE in my house. I make them for friends or family for special occasions, and also as a meal for new mamas. DELISH.
This is my favorite enchilada recipe I have tried!! We’ve made it multiple times now, and so good. It is a keeper. Thank you!!
So happy to hear that, Mallori!
Tried these tonight and not my fav! Felt too dry for me, but glad I tried. I like mine with more of enchilada sauce (wet).
These look amazing! I have them on the schedule for this week. For your crema did you mean you added yellow corn and shoepeg corn to the crema?
Great question! I believe the note about corn should be separate from the crema instructions.
The description says 350 per 2 enchiladas but the nutrition facts says 480- curious which is accurate? Thanks!!
Oops. Just a typo! 😉 Just updated this – the nutrition facts are accurate.
Can you make these in the instant pot?
Hi, Courtney! We haven’t tested these out in the Instant Pot, so we can’t say for sure. If you try it out, we’d love to hear how it goes!
Can I use flour tortillas??
Definitely!
I love this recipe. Really simple and very tasty. I did add some cumin to the mix in the crock pot this time, since I can never really get enough cumin. I’ve also decided that I’m just doing sour cream next time. I like the punch of the sour cream and I find the flavor is a bit diluted with mixing the cream in. Awesome though without any changes.
I have a quick question. I see two different calorie amounts. I see it says two enchiladas are 350 calories but then in the nutrition facts is says 456. Which is accurate?
Thanks so much!!
These look so good and easy! I’m making them this week when my parents visit. Can you please clarify the cream that you mix with the sour cream? I’m not sure exactly what you mean?
What kind of cream did you use?
You have 2 different calorie counts for the serving size. Which is correct?
On a side note, I’ve made these a few times, and love them.
My mother tries the tortillas briefly in vegetable oil instead of warming them in the microwave. Will the tortilla on the ends of the enchiladas harden/dry out using the microwave method?
I mean fries*
Just a quick question. When you say cream, do you mean like heavy whipping cream?
Yes, or half and half!
Can these be made with flour tortillas? Thanks
For sure!
Love this recipe. Super easy and delicious.
I like my food spicy so I used hot salsa and the flavour was perfect.
Made these tonight and it was delicious! I used fajita seasoning instead because didn’t have taco and white corn tortillas. I also used a can of green enchilada sauce to layer on bottom of baking dish and also pour on top with the cheese. I can’t wait for my son to come home from vacation so i can make them for him, he’s 8 and will love it!
Thanks for sharing!