When I got married in 1997 there was one meal that my husband raved over: chicken enchiladas with a white sauce. I had never had enchiladas with anything but a red sauce so I was intrigued, but it wasn’t until our friend made them for us that I fell in love with the recipe as well. She had tweaked it slightly to make it her own and I’ve been making them that same way ever since…until now. ☺
David & I have both been losing weight using the Trim Healthy Mama method. This is a lower carb plan and the tortillas & flour in our favorite chicken enchiladas recipe were not on plan. I started playing around with the recipe to make the dish a THM friendly meal.
The first recipe I tried worked just fine for eating them fresh from the oven but I love to find things I can freeze in individual portions and reheat easily for lunch. The first time I tweaked the recipe it didn’t freeze/reheat well. The sauce kept breaking and butter was everywhere. Now, I do love butter but not all over my plate of enchiladas.
I played around with it some more and it kept working fine when eating fresh out of the oven but when frozen and reheated I just couldn’t get it to work. I had substituted the flour for THM baking blend and something in that substitution didn’t like being frozen. Just a week ago my sister had a brilliant idea! We tweaked the recipe a little more and it worked!!! I am beyond excited to share it with you.
The best part is, it totalllllly tastes the same as the original! I’m a picky mama. For real, I am so.so.picky. This truly tastes just like the original dish AND you won’t even miss the tortillas. Sounds bizarre, I know, enchiladas without tortillas…say what?! But truly, it’s like the Lazy Lasagna recipe with no noodles. You won’t miss them. I promise.
The other amazing thing is, it truly works to make as individual portions (just like I did with the lazy lasagna) to freeze and reheat. I (again) used the mini loaf pans, layered the different ingredients and baked them. Then I let them cool and popped them in the freezer. Once they are solid I like to pop them out of the loaf pans and put them in plastic freezer bags. I’d love to get a food saver but for now my freezer bags will have to do. Then I just take one out, heat it in the microwave for 3-4 minutes and enjoy! You can always heat it in the oven if you’d prefer that. This is an S meal that I am certain your whole family will enjoy.
HINT: This recipe calls for cooked chicken. To prepare the chicken ahead of time you can use rotisserie chicken, baked chicken, sautéed chicken, grilled chicken, or even boiled chicken. One of the easiest methods would be to throw your chicken into the Instant Pot on the trivet (comes with the IP) with a cup of water in the bottom and push the poultry setting. However you prefer to prepare it will work. ☺
THM Chicken Enchiladas by: Mary Bondurant & Lynn Tolley
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1/4 cup THM Baking Blend
- 10 oz chicken broth
- 3/4 cup water (more broth and less water is fine)
- 16 oz sour cream
- 2–3 cans chopped green chilis (Lynn would say 2, Mary says 3 ☺ they aren’t spicy, just add flavor)
- 8 oz block of cream cheese (softened)
- 4 chicken breasts (cubed or cut into slices)
- 4 cups colby jack cheese blend
- 1–2 shakes dried onion
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Melt the butter with the baking blend over medium heat to make a roux.
- Slowly add in the water and chicken broth.
- Stir until it starts to bubble. This will be a thinner than normal sauce at this point.
- Once bubbly take it off the heat and stir in the sour cream, chilis and cream cheese.
- Stir until melted. Set aside.
- Pour a layer of the sauce into the bottom of the pan(s) (an inch thick in the mini loaf pans or 9×13, whichever you prefer).
- Add a nice layer of cubed or sliced cooked chicken. I use at least half a chicken breast per mini loaf pan. Use all of the chicken if putting it in the 9×13.
- Sprinkle with a light layer of cheese and a shake of dried onion (I don’t measure the shake lol).
- Pour the remaining sauce over the top (if putting it in the loaf pans just separate it out).
- Top the pan(s) with a thick layer of the shredded cheese.
- Bake at 375 for 20 minutes or until browned & bubbly.
Lorelle Hinote says
Any ideas on what I could use if I don’t have the THM Baking Blend?
Beca says
You can use half coconut flour, and half amlond flour. If you look at the ingereidet in the baking blend, all it ha is flax meal, coconut flour, and almond flour.
Lana W. says
Super yummy and easy! Family loved it!
★★★★★
Patty says
This recipe looks delicious! Have you ever prepped this and froze it for later?
Mary says
Yes! It freezes well!
Robin says
I made this tonight when I didn’t know what else to do with 4 chicken breasts. DELICIOUS!! Thank you!
★★★★★
Wendi says
Do I cook the chicken first??
Mary says
Yes cook the chicken first. 🙂 You can used cubed frozen chicken.
Linda says
How many servings does this make?
Mary says
Around 8-10.
Wretha says
Do you think we could wrap the chicken &some cheese in wonder wraps and then pour the sauce on top?
Mary says
Sure!
Shari says
How many servings does this make so I will know many mini loaf pans I need?
Genet says
This is SO GOOD! RUn to your kitchen and make it right now! I did also wonder if anyone has assembled this and frozen his for later cooking ?
★★★★★