I’ve always loved Mexican food. Growing up, my brother was a pretty picky eater, but we could always come together around tacos, taco salad, or enchiladas—so we had them quite frequently. When I moved away to college, I didn’t eat as much Mexican, unless it was with a couple of margs at the local dive. Then a friend shared a recipe with me: Honey Lime Chicken Enchiladas. I’d been looking for some dishes to make for larger groups, and since this was easy to make and made a lot of food at once, I figured I’d give it a go.
The recipe I use most frequently is one from Oh Sweet Basil. There are lots of versions of it online, and they’re all pretty much the same, but I’ve used that one every time and they always turn out perfectly (which, I assure you, is due in no way to the fact that I’m some sort of chef. LOL no.)
HONEY LIME CHICKEN ENCHILADAS
There are a few things I do differently than the original recipe, but they’re just small tweaks. I use flour tortillas over corn tortillas and salsa verde instead of green enchilada sauce. I also use all the cheese. All of it. Sometimes I add in corn or black beans (especially if I know I’ll be feeding a lot of people), and if I’m in a hurry, I don’t always brown the tortillas prior to stuffing them. Sometimes I use a disposable metal casserole dish rather than a glass pan because… well, so I don’t have to wash it later.
Here’s my slightly amended ingredients list:
⅓ cup honey
¼ cup lime juice
1 tbsp. chili powder
½ tsp. garlic powder
2 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
12 flour tortillas, taco size
4 cups Mexican cheese blend
1 12‒16 oz. jar of salsa verde
½ to ¾ cup heavy cream
Nonstick cooking spray
9×13-in. baking dish
Optional items:
1 can Mexican corn
1 can black beans
Preparation:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Whisk honey, lime juice, chili powder and garlic powder together in a small bowl and add the cooked and shredded chicken to it. Add Mexican corn or black beans as well if you plan to use those. Mix together thoroughly and allow to marinate in the fridge for a half-hour or so.
Spray a heated skillet with nonstick cooking spray and heat tortillas about 15 to 20 seconds, until they are flexible and golden-brown spots appear. Place them between paper towels and set aside.
Spray the baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Combine salsa verde and heavy cream in a bowl and pour half the mixture into the dish, making sure it’s spread evenly.
Fill each tortilla with the chicken mixture and a good pinch of cheese (don’t be stingy. I use way more cheese than necessary, because… cheese). Roll them and place them seam-down into the baking dish, on top of the salsa/cream sauce. When you’ve used all the chicken, add the remaining honey/lime/chili powder mixture to the remaining salsa/cream mixture and pour that over the tops of the rolled tortillas. Top this all with the rest of the cheese (yes. All of it).
Bake the enchiladas for 30 minutes or so, until the cheese is melted and beginning to brown.
Interesting recipe… as a Mexican I don’t think I have ever seen that kind of enchiladas cooked anywhere in Mexico :) actually the only thing that sounds like enchiladas is the tortilla preparation… I’ve always enjoyed reading recipes for “Mexican” dishes done by people from different countries, mostly they sound like anything but mexican lol I’ve tried many and to this day it is beyond me how the “mexican” restaurants from around the world get any customers at all haha Anyway, thank you for sharing!!!
A little extra note: is it really called Mexican cheese blend?? that’s by far the biggest mystery for me, I have heard this expresion from quite a few people and I can never understand which kind of cheese that is :) we have many different kinds of cheese… 0.o