My Guelita is a fabulous cook. She is also notorious for her giving nature. Anyone who stops to visit goes home laden with food. I have fond memories of visiting as a child “helping” Guelito roll the tortilla dough into balls while Guelita rolled them flat and cooked them on a huge griddle. I think the griddle was brought home when they were done with their restaurant business but I’m not certain about that.
Anyway, having lived so far away from Guelita I’ve had to learn how to make my own tortillas, beans, enchiladas, and tamales. My girls enjoy making them as much as I do. Some traditions are a good thing to pass on! Here’s the recipe for enchiladas. It has never failed me yet. If any of my siblings or cousins have a different recipe or other suggestions on how to make them better please pass it along.
Chicken Enchiladas
4 cups grated cheddar cheese
1 large onion, chopped
3 cups cooked chicken, shredded
36 corn tortillas
Mix together the cheese and onion. **Fill tortillas with chicken and cheese and onion mixture and roll up. Place in two 9×13 pans. Pour enchilada sauce over them. Sprinkle with more cheese. Cook at 350 for 30-40 minutes.
**Guelita softens the tortillas by gently frying them for a few seconds in hot oil. To reduce fat content heat the tortillas up in the microwave about five at a time for 30 seconds.
Red Enchilada Sauce
1/2 cup oil or shortening
1/2 cup flour
1/3 – 1/2 cup chili powder*
1 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 cup powdered chicken consumme (bouillon)**
6 cups water
Heat oil on medium high heat, add flour and stir until flour is dissolved. Add chili and garlic powder and chicken consumme. Stir. Add 4 cups water and stir until mixture thickens. Add 2 more cups of water and bring to a boil. Pour over one 9×13 pan of enchiladas.
* I buy the chili powder in the Mexican aisle at the grocery store. Most spices and herbs are cheaper there than in the regular spice aisle. I usually buy the California Chili Powder as it is more mild in flavor. If you are feeling adventurous try substituting half the chili powder for the New Mexico chili powder. It is quite a bit more spicy (hot).
** Chicken consumme (bouillon) is also found in the Mexican aisle and sometimes in the aisle that has the canned chicken broth or bouillon cubes. One brand looks like this. It will usually say powdered Chicken Bouillon on the packaging.
The sauce recipe only makes enough for one pan of enchiladas. Freeze the other pan without the sauce to use another day.
Thanks for sharing! We LOVE enchiladas! We will be trying these for sure! For the softening of the tortillas, my mom always heated a little water in a frying pan, then placed the tortillas on a flat strainer. That might be more work than your microwave trick though! 😀
We’ll be adding this to our freezer meal list, it looks yummy.
I’m so glad you posted this recipe! I have some frozen enchiladas Guelita sent me but I’m all out of sauce and I had no idea how to make it!
Thanks for posting your recipe. It is quite similar to mine, except I have to use flour tortillas (homemade) now. Caboose has a corn allergy. I won’t give up tamales though. Your sauce recipe is a little different than the recipe my friend from Mexico city taught me. Where is your family from originally?
I’m so excited for this, I’ve never had the recipe for the sauce!!!
Thanks so much for posting this! I think I will make a batch this week. Now, how about that tamale recipe???
Happy birthday, Special Dark!
These look delicious.
Yum, Yum, Yum, YUMMIE!!!!! Those look sooooo gooood!!! I will be adding them to my recipe list and meals for the freezer list! Thank you for sharing….=D
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO SPECIAL DARK……=D I can’t believe he is two already!!!!
salsa roja con enchiladas de pollo debe ser un pecado. Muchisimo mejor con salsa verde. 🙂 A nosotros nos gusta KNORR para el consome. 🙂 Maggi no esta mal, pero me encanta la gallina del KNORR. 🙂 Gracias por los recuerdos. 🙂
Sylvia,
I’ve served enchiladas with red and green sauce but the non-hispanics out here prefer the red sauce.
I’m with you on the KNORR consome. The taste is SO much better. It’s just I couldn’t find a good image on the net for the Knorr brand so I used the Maggi instead.
Do you have a recipe for salsa verde?
I can’t wait to try your recipe; the finished dish looks so delicious I can practically smell it! Thanks a million for sharing.
Thank you!! These look delicious and I know my family will love them!! I’ve been looking for a good recipe, and I think this it!!