Chicken and Black Bean Enchiladas

Chicken and Black Bean Enchiladas with homemade red enchilada sauce, a delicious Mexican dish to make at home with little prep and just a few simple ingredients. The rotisserie chicken speeds up the cooking process, making it a hearty, healthy meal to enjoy with the whole family.

I must be one of the very few people in the world who aren't quite that crazy about Mexican flavours. I know, shock and horror! What really puts me off it is the use of cumin in way too many dishes.

Don't get me wrong, I do use cumin in a lot of Indian dishes, but somehow, it actually works perfectly well together with other Indian spices, and curries are one of my favourite family dishes to enjoy at home.

But the overuse of cumin doesn't really tickle my taste buds, hence why I decided to make my own homemade enchilada sauce where I can actually be in control of the amount of cumin that goes in.

By all means, jarred sauce is totally acceptable if you don't have that extra time or ingredients around to make your won sauce, but making it yourself is way better, trust me. At least if, like me, you are particular about flavours.

Jump to:

• How to make red enchilada sauce
• How to use the chicken for the filling
• How to assemble the enchiladas
• Easy swaps
• Chicken and Black Bean Enchiladas

How to make red enchilada sauce

Ingredients:

• tomato passata
• chicken stock/broth
• tomato paste
• salt & pepper, garlic granules, chilli powder, cumin & oregano
• olive oil
• flour

Step-by-step

• heat up the oil in a pan, add the flour and whisk to get a smooth paste
• add the tomato passata together with the spices and tomato paste and give it a good stir
• add the broth and tomato paste, and whisk well, then leave to simmer for 10-15 minutes or until the sauce thickens slightly

How to use the chicken for the filling

As for the filling, if you happen to have leftovers from a good old roast chicken, or you use rotisserie chicken, nothing simpler, just flake it and it's good to go.

Otherwise you can either roast or poach some chicken breasts, you just have to allow some extra time for that. My Juicy Baked Chicken Breast can be easily flaked for these enchiladas, so there are quite a few options here.

How to assemble the enchiladas

• Use a quarter of the sauce to cover the bottom of the dish, so the enchiladas don't stick to pan while baking.
• Spread a tablespoon of the sauce over a tortilla, making sure the edges are clear
• top with shredded chicken, black beans and grated cheese, then roll and arrange on the dish - repeat with the remaining tortillas
• top the enchiladas with more sauce, beans and cheese and bake in the preheated oven at 200 degrees Celsius (390 Fahrenheit) for 15 minutes or until the cheese has melted and the enchiladas are bubbling hot

Easy swaps

It's a super simple recipe that can be a life-saver on a busy midweek night when life is kind if hectic and a cooked dinner is more than welcome.

Leftover chicken is just one idea, any other leftover meat can be used, especially if, like me, you enjoy a good Sunday Roast. I have these amazing recipes for: Easy Roast Beef Recipe, Roast Pork with Crackling and Honey Mustard Gammon which would also work brilliantly here.

Apart from black beans, which are so yummy, any other beans would work, plus sweetcorn, chickpeas, or a combination of them.

As for cheese, I am a big fan of the cheddar cheese and red Leicester, but any other hard cheese would work. If you like enchiladas, how about my Ground Turkey Enchiladas? They are so good!

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