chicken & avocado enchiladas
Two grand events coincided to bring you today’s avocadolicious post.
First, I had the most amazing chicken and avocado enchiladas for lunch yesterday, topped with a killer avocado cream sauce. And as I was finishing the final bite, the I-could-totally-make-these-at-home lightbulb went off.
Second, this is the kick off week for the “California Avocado 4th of July Blast“, hosted by blogger friends Kristen (Dine & Dish) and Dara (Cookin’ Canuck). These girls are celebrating some serious avocado love by encouraging bloggers and home cooks to share their favorite avocado recipes, which I cannot wait to see!
So of course, the stars aligned and it seemed only fitting that I should whip up some chicken and avocado enchiladas today! I happened to see some gorgeous poblanos at the market today, so decided to add them to the chicken and cheese filling. But the rockstar of the recipe is without a doubt the avocado cream sauce. It pretty much is like guacamole in a sauce — delicious avocados, fresh cilantro, lime juice, sour cream, and a few other saucy ingredients. And while you could definitely add in some jalapenos or serranos to give it an extra kick, my tastetester-friend Sarah and I agreed that the sauce was actually pleasantly mild and fresh. Definitely a good recipe to serve to a crowd (or kids) that might not like a ton of heat.
For other great recipes, be sure to check our the “4th of July Blast” and share your own avocado favorites!
Delicious chicken enchiladas with an irresistible avocado cream sauce!
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp. olive oil
- 1 medium white or yellow onion, peeled and thinly sliced
- 2 poblano peppers, stemmed and thinly sliced
- 1 jalapeno pepper, finely diced (remove seeds for less heat)
- 8-10 (6-inch) flour tortillas
- 4 cups shredded cooked chicken
- 2-3 cups Monterrey Jack cheese
- optional garnish: fresh cilantro, sour cream, and/or shredded cheese
- 2 Tbsp. butter
- 2 Tbsp. flour
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 3/4 cup sour cream
- 1/2 tsp. cumin
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp. pepper
- 2 California avocados, peeled and pitted
- 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
- juice of one lime
Method
Prepare the "Avocado Cream Sauce" as listed below. Preheat the oven to 375? F. Grease a 9 x 13-inch baking dish.
In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add onion, poblano and jalapeno, and saute for 5-6 minutes until the onions are cooked and translucent. Remove from heat.
To assemble the enchiladas, place a tortilla on a flat surface. Spread a tablespoon or two of the avocado sauce down the middle of the tortilla. Then layer on some of the vegetable mixture, shredded chicken and cheese. Carefully roll the tortilla and place it seam side down in the baking dish. Repeat with the remaining tortillas. Drizzle the top with about half of the remaining avocado cream sauce, then cover the dish with foil and bake for about 20 minutes, or until tortillas are heated through and begin to harden.
Remove from the oven, then serve individual enchiladas drizzled with the remainder of the avocado cream sauce. You can also garnish with additional cilantro, cheese, and/or sour cream.
Melt the butter in a skillet over medium high heat. Add the flour, whisking until golden and bubbly, about 2-3 minutes. Slowly whisk the broth into the flour mixture. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 5 minutes. Stir in the sour cream, cumin, salt, garlic powder and pepper, whisking if necessary to remove any lumps. Remove from heat and transfer mixture to a blender or food processor. Add avocados, cilantro and lime juice, and pulse until smooth and well-blended. (Be very careful blending hot liquids -- the heat will expand! So be sure to remove the lid occasionally so that the heat can escape.) Season with additional salt or pepper if needed.
http://www.gimmesomeoven.com/chicken-avocado-enchiladas/Ali’s Tip: If you are cooking the chicken for this recipe specifically (and not using leftovers or a rotisserie chicken, as I often do!), I would recommend seasoning the chicken with a few pinches of chili powder and cumin in addition to the salt and pepper. It will give some great extra flavor!
Join Dine & Dish and Cookin’ Canuck for the California Avocado 4th of July Blast, sponsored by the California Avocado Commission.
For those who are interested, I put this recipe into caloriecount.about.com but substituted corn tortillas for flour. I know the recipe says it will make 8 – 10 enchiladas, but it made about 22 for me, at 228 calories per enchilada.
http://caloriecount.about.com/chicken-avocado-enchiladas-recipe-r1335432
Nutrition Facts
Serving Size 1 enchilada (121.8 g)
Amount Per Serving
Calories 228
Calories from Fat 121
Total Fat 13.5g 21%
Saturated Fat 5.6g 28%
Trans Fat 0.0g
Cholesterol 43mg 14%
Sodium 266mg 11%
Total Carbohydrates 14.3g 5%
Dietary Fiber 3.0g 12%
Sugars 0.7g
Protein 13.2g
Vitamin A 7% • Vitamin C 13%
Calcium 15% • Iron 4%
If you used 6 inch flour tortillas instead and you had the same number of enchiladas, add about 55 calories per enchilada (so 283 calories per enchilada total).
Made these for dinner, (with homemade corn tortillas and no poblanos because the grocery store was out), and they were SO good! We had enough for 4 hungry adults, my 11.5 month old who eats as much as an adult, and still have leftovers! We will definitely be making this again. Thanks for the yummy recipe! :)
I love this recipe! Making it for the second time, this time adding some yams and also chipotle peppers in place of the jalapeños.
I link this recipe on my blog, which should post by tomorrow. :)
This was delicious. I made it for friends and it was a big hit. I also served fresh sliced avacados on the side. I will definately make this again. Was pretty enough for company!
I dont see the calorie count per serving….
Made this last weekend and have been thinking about it all week. I shared it with friends and family.
And… I’m making it again today!!!!!
This recipe is incredible! I’m gluten free and we substitute the flour for GF flour and it still tastes delicious! Thanks for sharing :)
This reci
Just made these for dinner and it was a hit!!! We added green peppers, mushrooms, and spinach. We also added a drizzle of chili sauce on top. This recipe is a keeper! Thank you!
this looks so yummy! thanks!!
Made this tonight. Delicious! My new favorite enchilada recipe. Thanks for sharing this!
I made this for our family tonight and it was AWESOME!!! I’ll definitely be adding this recipe to my favorites file. Thank you!!!
Yummo! I can’t wait to make these tomorrow night
I came upon this recipe very recently and couldn’t wait to try it. Being a vegetarian I am always looking for recipes that can easily be converted. I made this last night for my family and oh man WOW!!!!! I made chicken for my husband and red bean for myself. Fantastic!!! Although my five year old passed on it, we will be making this recipe for the rest of our lives!! Thank you!!!!
I can’t wait to try this tonight but i need to know do i use two small avocado’s or the big ones? I feel silly asking this but I have never made anything with avocado.
I followed this recipe to a “T” and OMG……it was AMAZING!!! Thank you for sharing. I look forward to trying some of your other recipes.
How far in advance could you prep the Avocado cream sauce?
How far in advance could you prepare these?i don’t want the Avacado sauce to go brown!!!!
I normally will split my enchilada recipe and freeze half of it because there are just two of us, any thoughts on how well that would work with the avocado sauce? Looks delicious and I can’t wait to try it!!
Making this for dinner tonight! Restraining myself until dinner time to start making this! It looks SO good I want to make and eat it now! Thanks for the recipe!
Ariel @ Kind By Design
Made these for dinner tonigh and they wer AMAZING! My one year old loved them as well
Can we substitute the poblano peppers for with anything?
I literally just sat down after making this and eating it for dinner. It was DELICIOUS. I followed directions exactly. We even used the leftover sauce to dip our chips in because it tasted so similar to Ninfa’s green sauce. It made about 14 enchiladas so we have plenty of leftovers and I already can’t wait. How do you recommend reheating? Oven or microwave?
Awesome recipe and very easy! Love it! Thanks!
I made this tonight. AMAZING! Great recipe. I’m so excited I came across your blog. My maternity leave is up next week. I’ve been looking for healthy recipes. THANK YOU!
This looks wonderful! Could it be made ahead of time and refrigerated before cooking?
I grew up eating regular enchiladas and when my mom made them she did it the traditional way with the sauce cheese onions olives and corn torts. no meat what so ever it was called the poor Mexican meal. MAybe you can try it the same way and instead of rolling the torts. you can layer them in the pan like a lasagna. Just a suggestion being your husband is a vegetarian.
It looks awesome..but I do have one question since I am trying to watch my weight. How many calories are we looking at here?
These look so tasty!
Made this tonight for dinner. Followed the recipe to the “T” and it was delicious! Going to be a regular monthly thing at our home!
I am going to substitute corn tortillas and see how it goes. I am gluten-free so flour doesn’t work for me.
These look wonderful! I love all that bright green :)
These are absolutely dreamy! Oh my!!
You come up with the best enchilada recipes!
I seriously can’t wait to try these. You are genius, my friend!
1st of all .. a great recipe… looks yum… enchiladas and avocados are my favorites and you combined them both :)
now the thing is my hubby is a vegetarian. what can i substitute the chicken with?
thanks in advance :)
what a great way to use avocado in this dish!! it looks incredible and something I would love to make sometime!!
I am totally making these! Avocados are the best.
BEAUTIFUL! I just love how pretty they are!
Love this! That avocado cream sauce looks wonderful.
Okay, I must make these for my family! First of all, they’re so down pretty to look at, but the sound of that sauce is really grabbing my attention. Thanks so much for sharing it in our link-up!
This sounds incredible! I love the sound of that avocado cream sauce!
Scrumptious! I can’t wait to make these.
You have GOT to teach me how to drizzle! Looks amaaaaze.
the trick? blend some buttermilk into your sour cream, put in a squeeze bottle, presto! Smooth, perfectly dribbled sour cream.
Those are the prettiest enchiladas I’ve ever seen!
Dinner. Tonight.
I love everything about these. Well the pregnant me doesn’t like the chicken but the “normal” me does :)
Hi Ali! This recipe looks incredible, and I plan on trying it tonight:) I do have a question though…….how much chicken did you use?
Oh my goodness – thank you, Heather!!! How did I forget to include the main ingredient in the recipe?!? :) 4 cups shredded chicken, more or less. Thanks for catching that!
Thanks!