Ingredients
- 1 onion (medium) chopped fine
- 1–2 jalapenos, -remove the seeds and chop fine
- 1 tablespoon canola oil – you can use vegetable oil but canola does have a better taste
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoon chili powder
- 2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 3 teaspoon sugar
- 1–15oz can tomato sauce
- 1 cup water
- 1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 3 large chicken breasts)
- 1 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 1 1/2 cup shredded Monterrey or Pepper jack cheese
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1 can black beans, rinsed
- 1/2 cup minced fresh cilantro
- 6 (12 inch s) or 12 (6″) soft corn or flour tortillas
- Cooking spray
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Add the oil to a large sauce pan and put the heat to medium.
- Toss in the onion, jalapeno(s), garlic and about a 1/2 teaspoon salt.
- Cook, stirring often, until the onions and peppers have softened ~ 5-7 minutes.
- Add the chili powder, cumin, cinnamon and sugar. Cook for about 1 minute, gently stirring.
- Add in the tomato sauce and water and stir to combine.
- Bring to a simmer and add the chicken breasts into the sauce.
- Reduce the heat to low, cover, and cook until chicken is cooked through, about 12-20 minutes. (160˚F on an instant-read thermometer). This will obviously depend on the thickness of your breasts.
- Remove the chicken from the pan and move to a plate; set aside to cool.
- Continue to simmer the sauce over medium heat until slightly thickened, ~5 minutes.
- Strain the sauce through a strainer into a medium size bowl.
- Using a rubber tip spatula, press the onion mixture to extract as much liquid as possible.
- Season sauce with additional salt and pepper to taste; set aside. You’ve now made your red sauce!
- Take the onion mixture from your strainer and put it in a large bowl.
- Shred the chicken into bite-sized pieces and add to the onion mixture.
- Stir 1/4 cup of the red sauce, 1/2 cup cheddar cheese, 1/2 cup Monterrey Jack cheese, the sour cream, black beans and the cilantro into the chicken and onions. Mix well.
- Spoon about 1/3 cup of the chicken mixture evenly down the center of each tortilla. If they are hard, you can heat them up a bit in the microwave with a slightly damp paper towel.
- As you roll the one side up you want to grab each side and tuck/roll as you go. Think cinnamon roll or wrap-type sandwich.
- Place each one seam-side down in the pan in a lightly greased (Spritz it with Pam) 9×13″ glass pan.
- Place the uncovered enchiladas minus the sauce in the oven and bake for 5-10 minutes or until the tops of the tortillas are golden brown. This will help them from turning soggy once their are covered in sauce and baked.
- Remove from the oven and pour the remaining enchilada sauce evenly over the top of them
- Top with the remaining cheese.
- Cover dish with foil and bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.
- Remove foil and bake another 5-7 minutes, or until cheese is browned and bubbly.
