A Delicious Spinach and Chicken Enchilada Casserole With Our Go-To Green Sauce

When I saw the recipe for “Spinach and Chicken Enchiladas” on Mary’s Vegetable Recipes blog I thought it sounded good for our Friday get together.  I’m pretty sure an enchilada is a corn tortilla wrapped around a filling which hers isn’t so I added the word casserole which I believe is more accurate.  I made the enchilada sauce using the second recipe below and I used about twice as many tortillas for the casserole as shown in the recipe below.  You can tell from my plate that I remembered the pic late into the meal.

Spinach and Chicken Enchilada Casserole – Adapted from Vegetable Recipes

Ingredients:

28 oz. green chile enchilada sauce about 3½ cups, divided

⅔ c. sour cream

14 oz. great northern or white kidney beans drained

4 oz. can chopped green chile about ½ cup worth

1 tsp. granulated garlic or garlic powder

1 tsp. ground cumin

½ tsp. cayenne pepper

½ tsp. kosher salt

¼ tsp. freshly ground black pepper

3 oz. baby spinach about 2 packed cups, roughly chopped

½ c. cilantro roughly chopped

4 c. cooked chicken shredded or chopped small (about three large breasts)

24 oz. Mexican cheese blend about 6 cups, shredded

8 white corn tortillas or (4) 8-9" flour tortillas cut like a pie into 6 triangles

tortilla chips for serving (optional)

Instructions:

1. Trim chicken breasts as needed and bake to an internal temp. of 160F.

2. After cooling, slice the chix lengthwise and season with seasoning salt (I used Lawry’s) then cut lengthwise again and crosswise into cubes or shred with a few pulses in a food processor.

3. Add to a bowl and mix well (I did this the day before).

4. Make the enchilada sauce using the recipe below (I did this the day before).

5. Preheat the oven to 350°F.

6. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together 2 cups of enchilada sauce with the sour cream. Stir in the beans, green chile, garlic powder, cumin, cayenne, salt, and pepper (I did this the day before).

7. Pour ¼ cup of green chile sauce into the bottom of a 9×13 or 10x12 baking pan.  Tilt to coat the bottom of the pan. 

8. Layer ⅓ of the tortillas across the bottom of the pan. 

9. Pour half of the bean mixture over the tortillas. 

10. Top with half of the spinach and cilantro and half of the chicken. 

11. Sprinkle with 2 cups of cheese.

12. Layer tortillas across the cheese layer and repeat the layers. 

13. Layer the remaining tortillas over the top. 

14. Pour the remaining green chile sauce over the tortillas, making sure that each tortilla is coated.

15. Bake until the edges of the pan are bubbling, about 20-25 minutes.

16. Sprinkle generously with the rest of the cheese and bake until it has completely melted – about 10 more minutes.

17. Remove from the oven and let rest 5-10 minutes before serving.

18. Sprinkle with additional cilantro and some green onions (I had them chopped but forgot to use) then serve with tortilla chips for dipping.

Green Enchilada Sauce 

Ingredients:

2 tbsp. olive oil

1 med. white onion, peeled and diced (1 cup)

1 jalapeño, cored (seeds removed) and diced

8 cloves garlic, peeled and minced (2 tbsp)

7/8 c. vegetable stock

4 (7-ounce) cans diced green chiles

1½ tsp. ground cumin

1 tsp. fine sea salt

1/2 tsp. freshly-ground black pepper

Instructions:

1. Heat oil in a sauté pan over medium-high heat.  Add onion and jalapeño and sauté for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onion is softened and translucent.  

2. Add garlic and cook for 1-2 more minutes, stirring occasionally, until fragrant.

3. Transfer the onion mixture to a blender or food processor.  

4. Add vegetable stock, green chiles, cumin, salt and pepper.  Then puree until completely smooth.

5. Taste and season with additional salt, pepper and/or cumin if needed.

6. Serve immediately, or refrigerate for up to 4 days, or freeze for up to 3 months.

We sided the casserole with salad and some refried beans from the freezer.

Verdict:

Everyone thought the dish was delicious and, while it had just a slight heat, even our non-heat eaters enjoyed it.  Easy and delicious makes it a definite keeper.  I loved the sauce and will be using it for all things with green sauce in the future and by using mild canned chiles it had only a very small amount of heat.

And for dessert, Bev made a rum cake from our neighbors recipe which includes a box cake mix and for hers, Bev chose red velvet cake and it was delicious.

Photos can be enlarged by clicking on them and the blue words are links.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

Larry

11/4/22 meal date