I am going to be honest and say that this is one of my favorite recipes I have developed. It is so layered and flavored, and everyone I have served it to has raved, and asked for the recipe. And I have made it many times, for family and friends. But I haven’t posted it before, because my photography skills just don’t do it justice. Some foods, like casseroles, are just hard to capture. But that doesn’t mean they are delicious. I am recipe developer and a writer and some of the other skills involved in creating and maintaining a blog don’t come easily to me. So I hope you can give me a little grace, because this dish inspired by Mexican street corn is full of flavorful chicken and corn wrapped in tortillas with a creamy, cheesy sauce, all with a hint of chili and lime is an absolute delight.
There are some steps here, but none of them are hard, and you can do it in stages. Best of all, the entire dish can be made up to two days ahead, so you are ready for a party! I use lots of Tajin chili-lime seasoning here which has become a staple in my house (try it on popcorn). It is an easy way to pack in loads of flavor. Use a smaller “fajita-sized” flour tortilla and fill it generously with the chicken-corn filling, but not so much that they fall apart or are hard to roll. You can always stuff some extra filling in the ends once you’ve placed them in the dish. Queso quesadilla I a Mexican style melting cheese I find readily at the grocery sold in bags of shredded cheese, If you can’t find it, Monterrey jack is a decent substitute. The cotija is easily found too but you can use queso fresco as well. I like to serve this with some lime wedges for squeezing over the top and some chopped cilantro for color and brightness.
Kitchen Favorites
Ingredients
- For the Filling
3 chicken breasts
½ cup chicken broth
Juice of half a lime
2 teaspoons Tajin chile-lime seasoning, such as Tajin
1 teaspoon Mexican oregano
1 teaspoon kosher salt
10 ounces frozen corn kernels
6 ounces cotija cheese, crumbled
½ cup chopped cilantro
Juice of half a lime
1 Tablespoon chili-lime seasoning
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 cup mayonnaise
- For the Sauce
3 Tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons flour
2 cups chicken broth
Juice of half a lime
4 ounces cream cheese
8 ounces shredded queso quesadilla, divided
1 4 ounce can diced green chiles
1 teaspoon chili lime
1 teaspoon salt
- Assembly
remaining shredded queso quesadilla
10 flour tortillas, small fajita sized
Directions
- For the Filling
- Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a baking dish that just fits the chicken with cooking spray. Pat the chicken breasts dry with paper towels, then place them in the dish. Pour the chicken broth around the breasts and squeeze in the lime. I then drop the empty lime peel in the dish for extra flavor. Sprinkle the breast with the chili-lime seasoning, oregano and salt. Cover the dish tightly with foil and cook until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees, about 40 minutes. Leave to cool for a few minutes, then place the breasts in a large bowl (or the bowl of a stand mixer) and use an electric hand mixer to shred the chicken finely. You can also do this with two forks or your hands. Spoon enough of the cooking liquid over the chicken just to moisten it, but with no extra pooling liquid. Cool the chicken completely. You can make this up to one day ahead and keep it covered in the refrigerator.
- When ready to assemble the enchiladas, add the corn, cotija cheese and cilantro to the chicken and use your good clean hands or a large fork to evenly distribute the ingredients. Squeeze over the lime juice, add the chili-lime, cumin, salt and pepper and stir to combine. Add the mayonnaise and stir until all the filling is well coated in mayo
- For the Sauce
- Now make the sauce. Melt the butter in a large high sided skillet or a large saucepan over medium high heat. Add the flour and whisk until smooth and pale – almost white. Pour in the chicken broth and lime juice and whisk constantly until smooth, then whisk frequently until the sauce has thickened. Add the cream cheese, cut into cubes, and stir until it is completely melted and smooth. Stir in the green chiles and salt, then ½ cup of the queso quesadilla until smooth and melted.
- Assembly
- Spray a 9 by 13 inch baking dish with cooking spray. Spread a thin layer of the sauce over the bottom of the dish.
- Place about 3 Tablespoons of the chicken filling in the center of a tortilla and roll up tightly, pressing down to spread the filling to the ends. Place on the sauce in the baking dish, seam side down. Continue with the rest of the tortillas, fitting them tightly together in the baking dish (you may need to put one or two down the side of the dish. If there is leftover filling, use your fingers to stuff it into the ends of the enchilada rolls. Pour the remaining sauce over the enchiladas, then sprinkle the remaining queso quesadilla evenly over the top. Sprinkle some chili-lime seasoning over the top decoratively. You can cool, cover and refrigerate the enchiladas for up to two days.
- When ready to bake, heat the oven to 375 degrees. Cover the enchiladas loosely with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Remove the foil and cook a further 10 -15 minutes until warm through with golden brown edges and spots on the top.
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