Best Ever Chicken Enchiladas

For a recipe with this many ingredients, it’s super helpful to have everything chopped, cut, measured and ready to go. If you’re on TV, you get a whole bunch of separate little glass bowls (not that I know personally), but any dish will do. The goal is to make this easy.

THE CHICKEN
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2.. In a 12″+ skillet, heat the vegetable oil over medium/high heat. (Don’t use a non-stick pan if you can help it).
3. Pat the chicken breasts dry on both sides
4. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, garlic powder and cumin. (If the chicken is moist, it won’t brown in the skillet).
5. Once the oil is hot (a drop of water will sizzle), add the chicken.
6. Cook for approximately 5-7 minutes on each side (depending how thick your chicken is). It is done when the juices run clear and it’s no longer pink inside.
7. Set the chicken on a serving plate to “rest” and cool off.
In the same pan, add the onions and garlic to the chicken juices. Saute until clear, about 2-3 minutes. Set aside.

THE SAUCE
8. Add the tomato sauce, corn, chilies, chili powder, salt, pepper, cumin, sugar and water to a saucepan.
9. Stir and simmer for 5-7 minutes on low/medium heat.

THE ROLLING OF TORTILLAS
10. Heat the tortillas in the microwave between two moist paper towels for about 30-45 seconds until warm. They roll much easier and won’t tear while you’re rolling them.
11. Using your hands, shred the chicken and place in a bowl. Spray a 9×13 baking dish with olive oil or gluten free cooking spray.
12. Line up the baking dish, tortillas, shredded cheese and shredded chicken near the enchilada sauce on the stove.
13. Dip each corn tortilla in the sauce so both sides are saucy, but not soaking.
14. Place on a plate and add about 1/2 Tablespoon cheese and 1 Tablespoon chicken for each tortilla.
15. Roll it and place it seam-side down in the baking dish. 16. Repeat until they are all lined up.
17. Cover completely with the remaining sauce.
18. Sprinkle the remaining cheese down the middle.

THE 20 MINUTE OVEN BAKE:
19. Bake covered loosely with foil for 15 minutes.
20. Remove foil and bake another 5 minutes until the cheese is bubbly on top.

THE FINALE
21. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with fresh cilantro, scallions and tomatoes.
22. Serve with sour cream (and guacamole – not pictured) on the side.