Cheesy Green Chili Enchiladas

I first had these Cheesy Chili Enchiladas over 35 years ago. I was stationed in Hawaii when I was in the Navy and a friend had me over for dinner. His wife made these. She was kind enough to share the recipe with me. I remember her saying she had found the recipe in an issue of Better Homes and Gardens Magazine years before. I have tried to locate the original recipe to give them credit, but no luck. I do thank and give credit and high praise to whoever came up with it.

I have made many versions of this recipe over the years, you can adjust the heat level with the type and kind of chilies you use, also it can be made with ground beef or a ground beef/ground pork mixture or even ground turkey. Today's instructable uses chicken.

One large stock pot

Two skillets

One 9 x 13 baking dish

One wire whisk

One slotted spoon

One pair of tongs

A knife

A Plate

Paper Towels

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lbs Boneless/skinless chicken breast, cut in small bite-size pieces. (You can use boneless/skinless thighs, or ground beef or ground beef/pork mixture or ground turkey. I haven't tried shrimp but it would probably work as well.)

2 1/2 lbs Velveeta Cheese (That's half of the 5 lb large brick)

1 can Cream of Chicken soup (Any brand)

1 2/3 cups Milk (whole, 2%, non fat, almond milk, soy milk, any kind really. I've used all of these and they all work fine.)

2-7 oz cans Green chilies or Jalapenos ( You can use mild green chilies, all the way to the hottest chilies or jalapenos. Use what you like for your heat taste level.) For this recipe I used 1 can jalapenos and 1 can mild green chilies.

3 tbs Taco seasoning (On chicken I prefer the taco seasoning, if I am using ground meat I use 2 tbs ground cumin, 3 tbs dry minced onion.)

18 Corn tortillas

Salt and pepper to taste

Canola or vegetable oil for frying

Non stick spray

Cut chicken into bite size pieces. Brown in skillet in 2 tbs oil, over medium high heat until just cooked through, about 10 minutes. Add the seasoning to the chicken about half way into the cooking process. Remove from heat and set aside.

Add the cream of chicken soup, the chilies, and the milk to the stock pot. Cube the Velveeta so it melts better and add to the pot. Place over medium low heat and stir with wire whisk until the cheese has melted. Be patient with this step, you do not want to burn the cheese. Burnt cheese is hard to clean up. When my sons were old enough to help, stirring the cheese was their job.

Side note: This cheese sauce is also great on nachos!

Heat the oil in a clean skillet over medium high heat. You want your oil hot enough so the tortillas don't absorb the oil, but not so hot it burns them to quickly. You want the tortillas slightly crisp, but not so crisp that they are hard to roll. Fry only one or two at a time depending on the size of your pan. Place cooked tortillas on layers of paper towels to remove excess oil and cool. If you are multi tasking, keep an eye on your cheese, don't let it burn.

Spray your baking pan with non stick spray. Place a couple tablespoons of your chosen filling on each tortilla and roll it up. Place in the baking pan. (I know my picture only has 16 enchiladas in it, I only had 16 tortillas that day, but usually I do 18). If there is extra, filling just toss on top. Pour the cheese sauce over the top, I like to wiggle the enchiladas around a little, to get the cheese sauce down between them.

Bake the enchiladas for 30-45 minutes in a 375 degree oven. They should be bubbly and slightly brown on top. Eat just as they are or add hot sauce or sour cream or diced tomatoes and onions. Get creative and enjoy!