Healthy and incredibly tasty enchiladas made with whole-wheat tortillas stuffed with shredded chicken, beans, and rice, and topped with a flavourful red sauce. Don’t forget the cheese!
2 large chicken breasts
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup converted (parboiled) rice
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
2 cups shredded light cheddar cheese
10 8″ whole-wheat tortillas
Red Sauce
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 crushed garlic cloves
1 teaspoon onion powder
½ teaspoon dried oregano
2 ½ teaspoons chili powder
½ teaspoon dried basil
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried parsley
¼ cup salsa
1 6 oz can tomato sauce
1 ½ cups water
To make the red sauce, heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic and sauté for 1 minute. Add the onion, chili powder, oregano, basil, ground black pepper, salt, cumin, parsley, tomato sauce and salsa. Mix well and then stir in the water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes.
While it’s simmering, make enchilada stuffing. Brown chicken in a large skillet over medium heat. Stir in spices, broth and rice. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 20 minutes or until rice is cooked and liquid absorbed. Put the chicken breasts in a large bowl and shred it with two forks, then place it back with the rice mixture. Add black beans.
Spread rice mixture and a tablespoon of cheese into tortilla. Roll up and place seam side down in two greased 13×9” baking dishes. Repeat until all tortillas are filled. Top enchiladas with red sauce and with the remaining cheese
Place into the oven and bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until heated through and the cheese has melted.
The directions look long but it’s really pretty fast and easy to put together. I started making it at 5:00 and dinner was on the table by 6:00. Not too bad and it tasted absolutely incredible! The red sauce was beautiful. I got that part of the recipe from my favourite messageboard, you can check out the post at this link to see what people had to say. That recipe was for beef enchiladas but I like chicken ones better so I adapted it.
The boys didn’t mind it. I don’t think they loved it but they ate some of it. I couldn’t get enough of it though, I thought it was wonderful. Tony was working so he didn’t eat it with us but I noticed he took the leftovers to work. I’m not sure what he thought about it but it’s all gone now so it must have been ok. I will for sure be making these again, even if it’s just for myself. That’s the one good thing about being the cook of the family- I get to pick what I like to eat and everyone is at my mercy. Mwahahah!
Megan, these really do look delicious and I love that they are so easy to put together. I hope you are having a wonderful day. Blessings…Mary
I have a similar recipe for Turkey enchiladas. I love the sound of the red sauce. These type of recipes are perfect for using up leftover chicken or turkey roasts. Something a little more exciting than chicken sandwiches anyway!
Megan I made these last night for my kids and husband and they were a great hit! My son gobbled it all up and even my daughter ate most of it. She like Cole is a very picky eater. I am always trying new recipes to find things she will eat. This is definitely a keeper!!
Thanks!
The list of ingredients make this sound more complicated than it is, but it’s really very easy. It’s my new favorite. Your red sauce is delicious!
These were delicious! Definitely going into the rotation. I used thighs, because I had them around and I had limited cheddar so I used it on top and used leftover farmer cheese (like cream cheese) inside. They were very creamy and good. My daughter is very picky and she loved them (except for the chicken, because sometimes she likes chicken and sometimes she doesn’t). I’m going to make a separate batch for her next time without the chicken and substitute some veggies. My son (he’s 1) loved the filling!
Thank you!
Thanks so much for posting this recipe; everyone loved these! The recipe makes a ton of food. The only (minor) issue I had was that the rice didn’t cook enough and was a little crunchy (I used Vigo yellow rice). But I’ll definitely be making these again.
I also had a problem with crunchy rice. I tried using brown rice to make the dish more nutritious, but I guess I didn’t realize how much longer it takes to cook. Aside from that little mishap, I loved this recipe and will be making it again soon!
Thanks so much for the feedback! You’re right, brown rice takes a lot longer to cook. I should have specified in the recipe what kind of rice I used. I actually used converted (parboiled rice), so I’ll update the recipe to add this information.
We made this tonight and portioned it out into lunch containers for the freezer. My spice-loving hubby loved the red sauce, I’ll maybe use less. Thanks!!
Oh and my Minute Rice was crunchy too but I added extra broth and put the lid on the pot.