The sauce in this Enchilada dish is a lovely blend of mild poblano peppers and fresh spinach, with chicken broth and milk. I adapted this recipe by making my own chicken broth, and reserving the chicken for the enchiladas, but you can use a rotisserie chicken if you wish. The sauce can easily be made the day before and then assembled to bake the following day. Delicious!
I’ve been on a cookbook diet, for at least a year. I don’t mean Diet Cookbooks. I mean that I’m resisting the urge to buy too many cookbooks. That’s not easy to do, because I love cookbooks.
My collection has, over the years, taken over my husband’s bookcase. (I don’t think he’s too amused by that.)
Today, is an exception, because it’s time to add a Rick Bayless Cookbook to my carefully chosen collection. I love Mexican food (no surprise, given my father’s heritage) and this recipe was outstanding– and different than the more traditional red enchiladas.
A fellow food blogger friend made this recipe and couldn’t stop raving about it. I decided I would make it and see for myself.
The sauce has a blend of fresh spinach and Poblano peppers, and is blended with milk and chicken stock into a silky white and green sauce. Only recently, have I discovered how easy it is to char, peel and chop Poblanos (sometimes labeled as Pasilla Peppers), when I made Chicken-& Cheddar Stuffed Poblano Peppers.
You can do this directly onto a gas burner, but I found that placing them in a cast-iron skillet, under the broiler worked great. Cover them with plastic wrap and let them sweat a bit– and the peels come right off. If you’re afraid these peppers might be too hot, they aren’t. They’re very mild, in fact.
You can use a Rotisserie chicken, and purchased chicken broth, to save a lot of time. But, that’s not how I roll, on a Sunday. That’s when I enjoy slow cooking. Sooooooooo…. I used chicken thighs, bone-in (less expensive to buy and quite moist). I added chili powder, cumin some peppercorns and bay leaves and covered it with water.
I let them chicken simmer for a couple of hours, removed the chicken and drained the broth, and reserve two cups of the broth. UPDATE: Since I posted this recipe, I have switched over to my Instant Pot Pressure Cooker– and that it only takes 20 minutes to have tender chicken.
The Best Creamy Chicken and Spinach Enchiladas
Ingredients
If making your own chicken and broth:
- 1 Tablespoon chili powder
- 2 tsp. ground cumin
- 6-8 peppercorns
- 2 Bay leaves
- 2 garlic cloves
For the sauce (can be made a day ahead):
- 3 poblano chiles charred peeled and roughly chopped
- 1 cup cilantro roughly chopped, optional
- 1 cup fresh spinach leaves roughly chopped; frozen is not recommended
- 2 cups milk
- 2 cups chicken broth you can use store-bought
- 6 tablespoons butter
- 3 garlic cloves finely minced
- juice of 1/2 lime optional
- 1/2 cup flour
- salt
For the enchiladas:
- 6-8 chicken thighs bone-in or 3 cups coarsely shredded cooked chicken (you can use a rotisserie chicken)
- 12 corn tortillas
- A little vegetable oil for brushing or spraying
- 1 cup Mexican melting cheese Chihuahua, quesadilla, asadero, Monterey Jack, or mild cheddar– or a combination
- cilantro and/or sour cream for garnish
Instructions
For the homemade chicken broth (optional): This can be made up to a few days ahead, if you wish.
- In a pot, add the chicken, chili powder, cumin, garlic cloves, Bay leaves and cover with water. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer for about 1-1/2 hours. Likewise, you can speed up this process if you have a pressure cooker. I use my Instant Pot for 20 minutes of pressure, then a natural pressure release. Remove the chicken, remove skin and shred with a fork; set aside.
- Strain the chicken broth and toss away the aromatics.
For the sauce:
- Roast the poblanos directly over a gas flame or a baking sheet 4 inches below a very hot broiler. NOTE: I put my peppers in a cast-iron skillet. Turn regularly, until the skins have blistered and blackened on all sides, about 5 minutes for an open flame, about 10 minutes under the broiler. Place in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and allow to steam for at least 10 minutes. When cool enough to handle, rub off the blackened skin, tear open and pull out the seed pod and stem. Quickly rinse to remove any stray seeds or bits of skin. Roughly chop set aside.
- In a blender, add the peppers, spinach and cilantro (if using) to a blender (or food processor).
- In a medium saucepan, combine the milk and broth, set over medium-low heat to warm.
- In a large (4quart) saucepan, melt butter (or heat the oil) over medium heat. Add the minced garlic and cook for a minute to release its aroma, then add flour and stir the mixture for a minute.
- Raise the heat to medium-high. Pour in the warm broth mixture and whisk constantly until the sauce boils. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat.
- Carefully, pour half the hot sauce into the blender with the chiles and spinach. Cover loosely and blend until smooth.
- Pour the mixture back into the saucepan with the remaining sauce. Taste and season well with salt, usually about 2 teaspoons. If desired, add the lime juice for some bright acidity– which is what I did.
Finishing the enchiladas:
- Smear about 1 cup of the sauce over the bottom of a 13×9 inch baking dish.
- Stir 1 cup of the sauce into the chicken.
- Next, lay half of the tortillas (six) on top of the sauce that you added to the 13 x9 baking dish (NOTE: I would dip each corn tortilla in the remaining sauce to pre-soften them.)
- Lay all of the chicken mixture on top of the tortillas making sure to spread the chicken in an even layer on top of the tortillas.
- Finally, layer the remaining six tortillas on top of the chicken and cover the tortillas with the remaining sauce (this will seems like a lot of sauce but the enchiladas really absorb it well so go ahead and use it all).
- Top the sauce with the shredded cheese and place in the oven for about 20-25 minutes or until the cheese begins to brown.
Notes
Oh, Debby, this sounds wonderful. I am so exhausted from vacation (how can that be?) that I will take the shortcuts…I think I may through in a couple of jalapenos also….yummy!
I definitely remember Kim's rave review about these! They really sound super tasty.
Over the years I have slowly cut down on bookmarking recipes knowing full well that I will never live long enough to make all these delicious treats, but for this recipe I make an exception.
When both Kim and you prepare a recipe and both give it your thumbs up, then it HAS to be a winner/keeper. Plus I love enchiladas and the special word "creamy"!
you had me at Rick Bayless. used to live in Chicagoland and RB's restaurants, Topolobompo and Frontera Grill, were our favorite places to dine for special occasions.
if you EVER go to Chicago, these HAVE to be on your must-eat-at list.
thanks for sharing!
I'm with Jenn. Love Rick! My sis brought me back some of his hot sauce from his Chicago. How perfect for enchiladas! Sooooo excited to try these. Maybe with the corn or bell pepper addition? These pregnancy cravings are getting to be very fun.
Sounds great… and I agree about the onions. I rarely make a recipe without adding onions!
This looks delicious !
This recipe is making the rounds! I saw it on Kim's sight too and bookmarked it to make soon. It looks incredibly delicious!
That is one rocking enchilada dish! Wow! I have a couple of Rick Bayless cookbooks ( I have the same cookbook affliction as you) well worth, adding his books to the collection.
Velva
This sounds incredibly delicious and I appreciate all of the detailed pictures. Thanks Debby.
I come on your blog since some years now. And I have always been fill with wonder by the quality of your dishes.
Congrats.
Oh wow! That sounds and looks outstanding!
If it's one of Rick's recipes I know I will like it. This one is literally making my mouth water, Debby. Can't wait to try it.
YUMMY!!! I have been convicted lately to use the massive amounts of cookbooks that I have sitting on my kitchen shelves. The problem is, online makes finding, saving, and sharing recipes so easy that I tend not to look at my books. Even on my iPhone, I am able to take screen shots that instantly become accessible on my Mac.
Thanks for sharing this recipe!
Karen
Idaho
P.S. I am having a FREE TEA GIVEAWAY, just because. Drop by if you would like. 🙂
YUM.
As a former Chicago resident, I am a huge of fan of Rick Bayless' cuisine. These enchiladas look wonderful. I agree that dipping tortillas in the sauce first helps to soften them. Sometimes I wrap them in a damp paper towel and microwave for 12 seconds before dipping in the sauce to make them extra pliable. Thanks for the recipe!