
Chicken enchiladas
Chicken enchiladas used to be the one thing I always made for my family when I was at home. Dad used to request them frequently, the deal being that he’d cut up the chicken and I’d do the rest. It wasn’t really all the tricky considering the corn tortillas came in a packet and the enchilada sauce in a jar. It was just a case of cooking them up, rolling, baking and eating.
For some reason, you can’t buy the sauce in jars or the packets of tortillas anymore. You can only buy those expensive make-at-home packs that have a tiny pouch of sauce. I’m not a fan of paying $6 for something that I then have to add meat to. Plus I don’t like being told that something contains eight serves when Will and I use the whole packet for the two of us. It’s like it says ‘you’re a pig’ right there on the box.

Enchiladas
So my mission, which yes I chose to accept, was to create homemade chicken enchiladas from scratch. I’ve already mastered making flour tortillas so I figured corn couldn’t be that much harder and the sauce, well I just made it up as I went.
The result? I’m pretty sure they’d pass the dad test. Probably the only difference was that mine were a little spicier than the packet mix (because I didn’t read the jar that said HOT when I thought it was mild) but I loved them.

Tortilla ingredients
I’d been hanging out for maize flour before I made these so when I found some at a Paddington health food shop, enchilada making was on. Good thing I did a little bit of Googling first. Ok when I say Googling, what I mean is that I checked out the Old El Paso website and found the ingredients for their corn tortillas. Turns out they’re only 20% maize flour and the nice yellow corn colour comes from the turmeric. Detective work complete it was back to tortilla making.

Mixing the dough
I just used my flour tortilla recipe and adapted it a little to make them corn. You just throw everything in the mixer and use a dough hook to bring it all together then keep kneading until it’s nice a smooth.

Resting the dough
Form it into a ball and then cover it with plastic wrap and leave it to rest for an hour.

Chop chop
I like little tortillas, plus it’s easier to cook them when they’re small, so I divided the dough into 12 pieces.

Rolling the dough
There are a couple of options for rolling out the dough. Option one is you can go fully traditional and roll them out with a rolling pin. I don’t seem to have the strength to get them thin enough this way. Option two is that you’re lucky enough to own a tortilla press. Sadly that’s not me so that leaves my latest discovery, option three. I use the pasta roller attachment on my mixer. Sure they’re not perfect circles but it gets them nice and thin (thickness 4).

Cooking the tortillas
Then all you do is heat up a bit non-stick pan (I don’t even oil mine) and cook it on one side until bubbles start to appear then flip it over and cook the other side for another 30 seconds or so. You don’t want to over-cook them all they’ll turn crunchy.
Wrap the cooked tortillas in a damp tea towel straight away to stop them from crisping up and keep them like this until you’re ready to use them.

Enchilada sauce
For the sauce I did a bit of stealth research again but really just made it up as I went.

Flour and spices
Start by heating the oil in a medium saucepan and then throw in the flour, herbs and spices and cook them. This step is important so the sauce doesn’t taste like flour.

Onion
Once the spices and herbs are fragrant, add the onions and cook for a few minutes.

Getting saucy
Add the rest of the ingredients and bring it to a boil then reduce to a simmer for about 30 minutes or until it thickens. Season it to taste. If you want a smooth sauce you can puree it once it’s cooled but I left mine chunky.

Tortillas ready for filling

Line up the chicken
To prepare the enchiladas, cook the chopped up chicken in some of the sauce and then lay it in a row down the middle of each tortilla.

Ready for dressing
Roll them up and put them on a lined baking tray.

Ready for the oven
Spread them with more sauce and then top with grated cheddar cheese then it’s into the oven at 180C fan-forced for about 15 minutes or until the tortillas start to crisp up.

Chicken enchiladas
I’m super lazy when I make enchiladas, there’s not even a side dish. Maybe that’s why we ate the whole tray just the two of us. Enjoy!

Chicken enchiladas
What about you? Do you by make at home meal kits or do you make things from scratch?

Chicken enchiladas
Corn tortillas (Claire K Creations original recipe)
- 2 cups bakers flour
- 1/2 cup maize flour
- 1/2 tsp turmeric
- 1tsp salt
- 3tbsp oil
- approximately 3/4 cup warm water
Stir all the ingredients together in the bowl of an electric mixer using a dough hook and knead until smooth.
Roll the dough into a ball and leave to rest for 1 hour.
Divide dough into 12 portions and roll each one out a thin as possible into a circle.
Heat a large non-stick pan over medium heat.
Cook the dough on one side until it starts to bubble then flip it over.
Wrap cooked tortillas in a damp tea towel so they don’t turn crispy.
Repeat with the rest and keep them in the damp towel until you need to use them.
Chicken enchiladas made from scratch
Ingredients
Instructions
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An alternative to those pesticide ridden tortillas from the store?! This is wonderful. Thank you so much for sharing every step. You are an angel!
You’re very welcome! They really are easy and delicious!
Can i make them using corn flour instead of maize flour?
Hi Mohamed. I can’t say 100% but I don’t see why not.
Hi Mohamed.
You can use maize, corn, sweet corn, Indian corn or mealie.
Thanks for the amazing recipe! Made the tortillas (but with half half masa lista and bakers flour) and the yummy yummy enchalada sauce. I absolutely love the idea of using the pasta attachment! I actually find the rectangular shape much easier to roll than circles. Yay!
So glad you liked it Chanfie!
Okay – I officially must try this. You make those tortillas look so do-able, and I totally believe that you can taste the difference between fresh homemade and the packaged stuff. Turmeric to make it yellow? Intriguing. I guess turmeric doesn’t have a terribly strong taste, but could you taste it at all?
I could taste the tiniest hint of it so I reduced it in the recipe but it wasn’t really noticeable.
Well done on making everything from scratch. And I too am sick of buying things that say, ‘Feeds 4’ when there’s only enough for two. Who are they kidding? xx
I think they just do that to make it seem healthier because the true calorie/fat/everything else count is huge if it only serves two!
Great recipe, Claire! We love tortillas – although we use a tortilla press, and they don’t come out nearly as thin as yours! Must try the pasta roller next! :)
I thought the tortilla press would be really thin Celia?! Yes I’m pretty glad I had the stroke of genius to put them through the pasta roller or I would have given up on making them myself a while ago.
Claire, Woolies at Brookside had the packs of El Paso Tortillas last week.
Thanks Carolyn I’ll keep my eye out. Now that I’ve mastered them at home though they’ll just be for emergencies.
I really need to try making my own corn tortillas. The store versions are never good enough.
Give them a go Jen!
I bought one of those tortilla makers from the states and I’ve “blown up” every damn one of them. The directions tell me I’m pressing too hard but if I don’t press hard they are thick and useless. But.. now I know I can run them through the pasta machine. Yay! These look scrummy.
I didn’t know you could blow them up Maureen oh dear! They’re not perfect this way but it does get them nice and thin.