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Originally posted on Mar 11, 2016.
I love Mexican food. If there’s ever anything on a menu with a mexican flare to it, I absolutely cannot order anything else. Who doesn’t enjoy the combination of salsa, sour cream and guacamole combined with spiced chicken beef and pork and topped with cheese? It doesn’t end there though. There are so many variations when it comes to mexican food, whether it’s tex mex or aztec.
Enchiladas are a popular dish and there are thousands of ways to make them, as I learned when I opened this ginormous recipe book Enchiladas: Aztec to Tex-Mex
This particular creation which is featured in the book, Tex Mex Chicken Enchiladas is the typical tex mex dish loved by many. But this wildly popular dish is taken to the next level with this gravy made from scratch. I couldn’t locate ancho chiles or ready-made ancho paste, so I just added an additional tablespoon of ground ancho chile powder, and it was still delicious.
Ancho Chile Gravy
- 4 T ancho paste
- 8 T butter or vegetable oil
- 1½ t minced garlic
- ½ c all-purpose flour
- 4 c chicken stock
- 4 T chile powder
- 4 T tomato paste
- 1 T kosher salt
- ¼ t apple cider vinegar
- Melt butter in saute pan over medium heat.
- Add cumin and cook 1 minute.
- Add garlic and cook 1 minute.
- Make a roux by stirring in flour and saute 3-5 minutes until golden.
- Place chicken stock in a large sauce pan and bring to a boil.
- Remove from heat and add chile powder, ancho paste, tomato paste, salt and vinegar and mix well.
- Add the roux to the chicken stock and place gravy on medium high heat and simmer stirring constantly.
- When gravy has thickened, reduce heat to low and cook 5 minutes.
- Thin with a little ctock or water as needed to attain a medium gravy consistency.
- Add salt if desired.
Tex Mex Chicken Enchiladas
This meal took a bit more work then I usually commit to for a weeknight meal, but it was so darn delicious. I liked learning how to make my own gravy when I’m in a pinch and I have no canned gravy on hand. If you want to skip the step, a canned enchilada gravy would work just fine.
Frying the tortillas beforehand made such a difference; so much so that I will never skip that again on enchiladas night.
- 1½ pounds shredded chicken
- 1 pasilla chile, destemmed, deveined, deseeded and dry roasted
- Kosher salt and black pepper to taste
- 4 cups Ancho chile gravy (see above)
- 12 corn tortillas
- Vegetable oil
- Colby cheddar cheese, grated
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
- Warm gravy on low heat and add stock/water if needed to thin.
- Reheat shredded chicken if necessary.
- Pour ½ inch of oil in a heavy skillet over medium high heat to about 300 degrees F.
- Place each tortilla in the oil and fry for a few seconds in order to soften, then drain on paper towels.
- Spread 1 T gravy onto each tortilla, followed by 2 T shredded chicken, roll and place into casserole dish.
- Cover all of the rolled enchiladas with gravy and cheese, then bake for 15-20 minutes or until cheese has melted.
Do you love Tex-Mex as much as we do? Try these other popular meals:
This Tex Mex Chicken Enchilada recipe looks so delicious and easy to make. My kids are going to love this on the weekend. I will have to get the ingredients i need to make it.
We love Mexican foods in this household as well. It’s something that we could eat twice a week. It’s so good.
Yum! They look so good. I have never made them myself, always just buy the packets where you add chicken and everything else is provided. These look so much nicer, need to try them!
Texmex makes for a great family night dinner. Enchildas are always a hit here.
I love making enchiladas for the kids because there are never any leftovers to fuss with! Your recipe looks like it would definitely be a hit at our table.
Enchiladas are my most favorite thing in the world. It’s also nice when the kids and I have something we can enjoy together.
Mmmm! I love enchiladas! I haven’t heard of ancho paste before, but now I am intrigued. I’ll have to look for it in the Mexican section of my grocers next time I am there.
Thanks for this recipe! I always have this when I’m in a restaurant. Now I know how to prepare it.
My kids love enchiladas. We always go out to have them but now I may try to make them at home using your recipe.
My kids love them too! Thanks to this recipe, we don’t have to eat outside. I’d give this a try.
We haven’t made enchiladas at home for a long time. Thanks for the idea. We will have our fill tomorrow!