Traditional Chicken Enchiladas

Why This Traditional Chicken Enchiladas Works

In the pan, the chicken cooks slowly in a bit of oil, so the outside firms up while the inside stays moist. As it cools and gets shredded, all those little pieces hold on to the salt, pepper, and later the onion, cilantro, and cheese. Shredded chicken also tucks into the tortillas better than whole pieces, so it doesn’t fall out when baked.

Warming the corn tortillas in a dry skillet softens them and loosens them up, so they bend instead of cracking. Once they’re rolled around the chicken and lined up in the dish, the enchilada sauce soaks into the tortillas and the edges of the chicken. In the oven, the sauce keeps everything from drying out while the cheese on top melts and spreads, then starts to bubble. By the time it comes out, the tortillas are soft but still holding their shape, the chicken is juicy inside, and the melted cheese on top ties the whole pan together.

Mistakes To Avoid

Overcooking the chicken in the skillet can make it tough and stringy. Once it goes past just-cooked, the meat tightens and dries out, so even after shredding and baking in sauce, the filling stays chewy instead of tender.

Skipping the step of warming the corn tortillas often leads to cracking when they are rolled. Cold or stiff tortillas split as they’re folded around the filling, and those cracks open up more in the oven, so the enchiladas leak and dry out around the edges.

Pouring too little enchilada sauce over the rolled tortillas leaves parts of them exposed. The dry spots harden and turn brittle in the oven instead of staying soft, and the enchiladas end up with tough, sharp edges instead of a saucy, flexible shell.

Packing in too much filling per tortilla makes them hard to roll tightly. Loose, overstuffed rolls tend to unroll or burst at the seams while baking, which leaves clumps of filling and cheese scattered in the dish instead of neat, sliceable enchiladas.