Sour cream chicken enchiladas recipe
When I was in college, on Saturday afternoons a large group of us would celebrate the weekend by going to lunch at the local Tex-Mex restaurant. We’d toast our break with tall glasses of iced tea and salty chips dipped in salsa, and as we were in North Texas, most of us would order the house special—sour cream chicken enchiladas.
Tex-Mex is the large umbrella phrase that covers what people have determined to be Americanized Mexican food, but it’s a very broad term as a Tex-Mex plate found in North Texas will be very different than a Tex-Mex plate found near the Gulf.
This is what I discovered when I went to college in the small town of Sherman near the Oklahoma border. Green sauce was gone, with sour-cream enchilada sauce to be found in its place. Different, yes, but just as satisfying.
The sour cream enchiladas were stuffed with shredded chicken that had been spiced with generous amounts of salt and black pepper, a simple formula that still yielded plenty of flavor. The sauce itself was a creamy blend of sour cream and chicken broth.
Sometimes, a few pickled jalapeños were added, yet they provided more color than fire, as all that dairy mitigated any heat. What this sauce lacked in piquancy, however, it made up for it in creamy comfort and a taste so smooth I’d always order an extra bowl on the side.
My love for these enchiladas is firmly embedded into those four years I was in college—I hadn’t eaten them before and I had rarely eaten them since. While my tastes have changed since those days, I am still a fool for sour cream (give me a spoon and a carton and I’ll be eating myself silly in no time) so I decided to revisit this North Texas classic.
After following what was purported to be a close approximation of this restaurant’s recipe, I was struck by how bland the sour cream sauce was—I couldn’t believe I used to love it so much! I tried punching it up with some cayenne, garlic, and cumin, but it was still too flat for me—it needed some tang.
Because I was afraid lime juice would curdle the sauce, I pureed it with some tomatillos instead. A handful of cilantro was also added for an herbal boost.
I took another bite. This time, I wasn’t bored! In fact, this sauce was a nod to two long-ago favorites as it was the marriage of my Houston green sauce with my North Texas sour-cream sauce.
But I shouldn’t have been too surprised. While I’ve certainly changed since I was 18, why couldn’t my sour cream sauce change as well? And if I do say so myself, we’re both much improved by the changes made through the years.
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Sour cream chicken enchiladas
Ingredients
Ingredients for the filling:
- 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoon safflower oil
Ingredients for the sour cream sauce:
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 6 fresh tomatillos, husked and cut in half or 1 (10-ounce) can tomatillos
- 2 Serrano chiles, seeded and diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- Dash cayenne
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 2 cups sour cream
- 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
Ingredients for the enchiladas:
- 2 tablespoons safflower oil
- 12 corn tortillas
- 1/2 medium-sized onion, diced
- 3 cups (12 ounces) shredded Monterey Jack cheese
- 1/2 cup chopped cilantro, for serving
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350° F and lightly grease a 9×13 baking dish.
- Sprinkle the chicken breasts on each side with the salt and black pepper. Heat the oil in a large cast-iron or ovenproof skillet set on medium heat. When it shimmers, add the chicken and cook on each side for 3 minutes.
- Place the chicken in the oven and bake uncovered for 25 minutes or until an inserted thermometer is 165°F. When the chicken is done, remove it from the oven, keeping the oven on since you'll be using it again.
- Allow the chicken to cool, and then shred it with 2 forks. Taste the shredded chicken and add more salt and pepper if desired.
- Meanwhile, to make the sauce, in a medium pot melt the butter on medium-low. Add the tomatillos and diced Serrano chiles and while occasionally stirring, cook until soft, about 4-5 minutes. Add the minced garlic and cook for 30 seconds.
- Whisk in the flour, cumin, salt, and cayenne and cook for 1 more minute or until lightly toasted and fragrant. Pour the chicken broth into the pot, and while whisking, cook until the broth has thickened, about 2-3 minutes. Stir in the sour cream and cilantro, then remove from the heat.
- Pour the sour cream sauce into a blender and puree until smooth. Taste and adjust seasonings.
- To make the enchiladas, In a skillet, heat up the oil on medium-low heat. One at a time, heat up the tortillas in the oil, and then keep them wrapped in a cloth or tortilla warmer until all the tortillas are heated.
- Pour 1 cup of the sour cream sauce into the bottom of a 9z13 baking dish.
- To assemble the enchiladas, take each warm corn tortilla and place in the middle 1/3 cup of shredded chicken, 1 teaspoon of diced onions, and 1 tablespoon of cheese (I’m not usually this scientific but if you’ve never made them before and desire exact measurements this would be it!).
- Roll the tortillas around the filling and place the rolled tortillas seam side down in the baking dish. Cover the enchiladas with the remaining sauce and cheese and bake uncovered for 25 minutes or until the the top is brown and bubbling.
- Serve warm topped with chopped cilantro.
Lisa, I did some searching and found that Manuel's is still going strong in Odessa. There is actually a video posted on YouTube. It's very "retro" now! lol I cooked up your recipe this weekend and thought it was amazing. I sauteed the onions before adding them to the chicken mixture plus I added a little cream cheese to the chicken, onion, and cheese- It was the first time I tried tomatillos and they were a perfect addition. Question for you, do you remove the seeds and membranes from your serrano chilies before chopping them? Anyway..your version of this great dish was the best I have tried. Thanks so much!
Our move was accomplished without a hitch, but our first experience in a "Mexican Food Restaurant" in our new town was painful! I resolved that night that I would make these enchiladas asap. We had them for dinner tonight and they were a hit! I managed to preserve one for my lunch tomorrow and I furtively packed it away before licking the pan clean–that sauce is awesome! ~K
I tried this recipe tonight, and it was delicious! I added extra garlic and a can of diced, mild green chiles to the sauce, and next time I will probably throw in a few more tomatillos and a chopped jalapeño or 2 for some extra kick. But your tip about heating the tortillas in oil worked like a dream (even heating them in the microwave, I've always ended up with messy, broken enchiladas), and the sauce was just the perfect creamy consistency. Thank you for posting this!
Not that you need to hear this again…but this was one of my favorite dishes when I lived in Dallas too. I fry my tortillas in heated shortening for the best results in flavor and texture for about 15 seconds. I also add a little coriander to the sauce. I have found that this recipe is a little bland, but I usually forget to add some jalapeños to it. I can't believe I never thought of tomatillos! I will have to try your recipe and try to tweak that other one as well and maybe I'll find that "perfect" taste that I remember from whichever restaurants I was at. (El Taquito on East Grand was one I used to frequent.) Thanks for putting up your creations. It is inspiring as I sometimes feel like I don't know enough to publish my creations, so maybe I'll get around to blogging my experiments one of these days.
Oh my GOD, this is the best sour-cream sauce I've ever tasted! Tangy-smoky, lots of depth. I could've drunk it by itself! Thank you so much for sharing the recipe! Upon next batch I'll make a few tweaks:
– increase to 2-1/2C sour cream and 2-1/2C chicken broth, to make a little more sauce (I had enough filling/enchiladas for 2 pans)
– increase to 3 serrano peppers and 10-11 tomatillos (to compensate for additional sauce, plus a bit more spice too)
– I added 1 diced large red bell pepper for color/flavor — and I sautéed the onion/bell pepper in a bit of butter for just about 2 minutes before building the enchiladas
– increase to 1 whole onion; with only 1/2, I ran out before I finished up the chicken (even with the bell pepper)
– I just fried each tortilla about 30 seconds per side; longer made them too crispy
– increase to 3C cheese; 2C wasn't quite enough (again, 2 pans)
Again, thank you soooo much for this spectacular dish! I hadn't had good sour-cream chicken enchiladas since moving from Dallas to LA 16 years ago — and these were better than anything I'd had back then! 🙂