Chicken Enchilada Casserole

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

So last night, I did get up and cook my chicken for my enchiladas.  (You can find the original recipe here.)  This definitely made making tonight's meal a little faster, but this was still a little involved.  I doubled the recipe in order to make one for tonight and one to freeze.  The recipe actually said that you could freeze right before baking so I of course needed to make one for the freezer.  I did make a few changes.  The original recipe calls for 2 cans of cream of chicken soup.  I decided that I would like a little more of a cheesy flavor, so I used one can of cream of chicken soup and one can of cream of cheddar.  (Actually, since I doubled the recipe I used two cream of chicken and two cream of cheddar.)  I omitted the milk as I thought the mix looked gravy enough and I bought a large can of enchilada sauce to put on top, which the recipe didn't call for.

The best tip I got for this, was to shred the chicken in my stand mixer.  I know what you are thinking, but honest!  I put the egg beater whisk on and threw the cold cooked chicken breast in.  Turned it on and let it go.  Perfectly shredded chicken.  So good to know for making chicken salad, quesadillas or even just large batches of shredded chicken to freeze for individual meals.  

I decided that instead of two 9x13 casseroles, which is too much for our little family for one meal, that I would make two 9x9 casseroles and expected to have some filling and tortillas left over.  And I did.  So I also made a little tray of more traditional enchiladas (filling rolled up in the tortillas), so three meals!  Score!   I will probably "gift" the enchiladas to my mother when she comes to visit tomorrow since during the week its just her and maybe one or two of my brothers for dinner.  I topped each casserole with 1/4 of the large can of enchilada sauce and used the other half of the can on the more traditional enchiladas.  So here is my little guy all ready to go in the oven.

 

 

 

 

 

Ready for a long bake!

 And here he is after 45 minutes at 350.

Cheesey goodness!

The Verdict:  It was good, not great.  The flavor was awesome.  It wasn't spicy, but you can totally kick it up with some salsa or pickled jalapenos.  Everyone can make it to suit.  The problem, it was really really wet and gloppy.  I don't know if I made an error doubling it or if it just our taste.  Also, it didn't get quite hot enough.  It was definitely warmed throughout but not hot.  I have another casserole in the freezer and I think next time that I will cover it with foil for 30 or 40 minutes at 350 and then do another 20 or 30 at 400 uncovered.  Hopefully this will dry it out a little bit and make sure it is piping hot!

On to dessert!