By:
Jess Meyer
Former deputy food editor, delicious.
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Published: 4 May 21
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Updated: 18 Mar 24
These classic Mexican enchiladas verdes are filled with tender chicken thighs and covered with cheese and rich tomatillo sauce for a filling family dinner.
Planning a Mexican feast? Check out 100+ more Mexican recipes, including Tex-Mex enchilada bake.
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Serves 4-6
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Hands-on time 30 min
Ingredients
- 6 skinless and boneless free-range chicken thighs
- 400g tin pinto beans (or use black beans if you prefer)
- 200g mature cheddar, grated
- 6 large tortilla wraps
- Small bunch coriander, leaves picked, to serve
- 1 small red onion, thinly sliced, soaked in cold water, to serve
- 1 red chilli, thinly sliced, to serve
- 1 green chilli, thinly sliced, to serve
- 100g queso fresco cheese or feta, crumbled, to serve and cut in half if large
For the tomatillo salsa
- 790g tin tomatillos
- 50g coriander, leaves and stalks roughly chopped
- ½ white onion, roughly chopped
- 1-2 fresh jalapeño chilli, halved, seeds removed
- 2 large garlic cloves, peeled
- Grated zest and juice 2 limes
Method
- Heat the oven to 160ºC fan/gas 4. To make the salsa, put all the ingredients in a food processor or blender with a large pinch of salt and whizz until everything is finely chopped. Put the chicken thighs in the roasting dish and toss with 150ml of the salsa, cover tightly with foil, then cook in the oven for 30 minutes until cooked through. Shred the chicken and mix in a large bowl with the pinto beans, 150g of the cheddar and 2-3 tbsp of the salsa.
- Increase the oven to fan 180ºC/gas 6. Pour half the remaining salsa into the baking dish. Dip a tortilla into the salsa, lightly coating both sides. Divide the chicken mix into 6 portions, then arrange one portion along the middle of a wrap. Roll up and put in the baking dish. Repeat with the remaining tortillas and filling. Drizzle over the remaining salsa, sprinkle with the remaining 50g cheddar, then bake in the oven for 20-30 minutes until bubbling and golden.
- Serve piping hot, topped with the coriander, onion, chillies and queso fresco/feta, with extra lime and sour cream on the side if you like.
Recipe from June 2021 Issue
Nutrition
Nutrition: per serving
- Calories
- 569kcals
- Fat
- 22.2g (11.8g saturated)
- Protein
- 38.2g
- Carbohydrates
- 50.1g (8.7g sugars)
- Fibre
- 7.6g
- Salt
- 2.25g
delicious. tips
Next time: Use pork shoulder steaks instead of chicken thighs. They may need an extra 15-30 minutes’ cooking.
The salsa and chicken can be made 1-2 days ahead. Cook the chicken, then shred and store in a sealed container in the fridge until ready to assemble.
Queso fresco is a fresh cheese widely used in Mexican cuisine. It can be tricky to find in the UK but you can substitute good quality Greek feta. Soak the feta in cold water for 30 minutes before crumbling it to remove some of the saltiness.
Tomatillos are part of the nightshade family and resemble a small green tomatoes or large green physalis. They are commonly used in Mexican cuisine, especially for making green salsas like this one. If you can find them fresh, you can use them in this recipe but they will need cooking first – we used tinned cooked tomatillo, widely available online from Sous Chef or Mex Grocer.