Healthier Chicken Enchiladas: A Lightened Up Comfort Food

With the help of weekly meal prep, these Healthier Chicken Enchiladas are a 30-minute meal perfect for a busy weeknight dinner. Using just a few healthy ingredient swaps, this lightened up version of a traditional comfort food is simple, yet fancy enough for entertaining dinner guests.

What’s your favorite lightened up comfort food?

These Healthier Chicken Enchiladas are both delicious and made more healthy with some simple ingredient swaps. The healthier swaps this recipe uses are corn tortillas instead of flour tortillas, non-fat plain Greek yogurt instead of sour cream, and shredded cooked boneless skinless chicken breasts instead of chicken thighs. These enchiladas are flavored with chopped Chipotle and fire-roasted chopped green chiles. They’re topped with chopped cilantro, fresh chopped tomatoes, and fresh, sliced jalapeños, then served with a squeeze of fresh lime juice.

Our family has found these Healthier Chicken Enchiladas totally satisfying and addicting. They are super flavorful due to the combination of spices and chilies. We’ve been eating them for breakfast, lunch, and dinner! I love that one 9 x 13-inch pan makes 14-16 servings making this one-pan dish great to feed a crowd.

The corn tortillas make these Healthier Chicken Enchiladas low carb. You should know once they are baked within the casserole, they do not perfectly hold their shape as a flour tortilla would. You can still serve them in sections as you would a regular enchilada dish (see photos). The effect of the corn tortilla makes them become more “one” with the other ingredients.

Cook the chicken ahead during weekly meal prep!

To Cook Chicken in the slow cooker, you’ll need:

1 1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
1 cup chicken or vegetable broth (low sodium)
1/2 tsp minced garlic (optional)
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp Kosher salt

Helpful Kitchen Tools for Healthier Chicken Enchiladas:

9 x 13 inch baking pan
flat serving spatula
plate for the corn tortillas
small bowls for toppings/ingredients
chef’s knife
cutting board
measuring spoons and cups

Plan ahead to prep for a 30-minute meal on a busy weeknight!

I’m including directions for cooking the boneless skinless breasts in the slow cooker. I find that this method produces the best, most moist shredded chicken. Of course, if you prefer to bake your chicken or cook on the stove top, that’s totally up to you. I do not include the time it takes to cook the chicken in the recipe card because this can be done ahead of time. Even store-bought cooked chicken can be used. I would probably just use breast meat from a rotisserie chicken.

You could even use the same amount of lean ground chicken, pork, or beef in place of shredded chicken in this recipe. You can brown the meat in the pan with the oil before adding the rest of the ingredients and then proceed with the recipe.

If you are using Thanksgiving or Christmas turkey leftovers, this is a fantastic recipe for doing just that. Just measure out the same amount of turkey and make sure it’s shredded to absorb all those spices.

Tip for Success:

A key tip for success is to get the filling to be moist, but not wet. You don’t want the corn tortillas to get soaked or they will fall apart more easily when assembling. Corn tortillas come apart more easily than flour tortillas. In a traditional enchiladas recipe, you would typically “wet” the tortillas with enchilada sauce as you are assembling.

Yum

Healthier Chicken Enchiladas

Prep Time: 1 hour

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour, 20 minutes

Yield: 9 x 13-inch baking dish

Serving Size: 1 enchilada

Healthier Chicken Enchiladas

Ingredients

Cook Chicken (in the slow cooker):

1 1/2 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
1 cup chicken or vegetable broth (low sodium)
1/2 tsp minced garlic (optional)
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp Kosher salt
1/4 tsp fresh ground pepper, amount to taste

For the Healthier Chicken Enchiladas:

3 tbsp olive oil (or same amount Canola oil)
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp hot Mexican-style Chili powder
1 red onion, chopped
2 tsp garlic, minced (1-2 cloves garlic, minced)
1 cup frozen corn, thawed
4 oz fire-roasted green chilies, jarred or canned, chopped
4 Chipotle chilies, seeded and coarsely chopped
1 28-oz can stewed tomatoes, with canning liquid
14-16 small corn tortillas
1 1/2 cups enchilada sauce (jarred or canned)

Toppings:

1 bunch cilantro, washed, dry, and chopped
1 medium tomato, washed and chopped
drizzle of non-fat Greek yogurt, amount to taste (about 1 tbsp/dollop or more per serving)
1 cup shredded Mexican cheese blend (optional)
1 jalapeño, sliced
1-2 limes, cut into wedges for serving

Instructions

Cook the Chicken:

In a slow cooker, add 1 cup chicken broth, 1/2 tsp kosher salt, 1/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper, 1/2 tsp minced garlic, 1/2 tsp garlic powder, 1/2 tsp onion powder, and stir. Add whole boneless, skinless chicken breasts. Put on high for 3-4 hours or low for 6-8 hours. When they are cooked, take 2 forks and shred the chicken breasts. Now the shredded cooked chicken is ready to start making the enchiladas.

Make the Healthier Chicken Enchiladas:

In a large skillet, over medium high heat, add the 3 tablespoons olive or Canola oil, add the cooked, shredded chicken, stir to coat with the oil. Add 2 tsp cumin, 2 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp hot Mexican-style Chili powder, stir to combine.
Add chopped red onion, 2 teaspoons minced garlic, and thawed corn, stir to combine and cook until onions are tender.
Add green chilies, Chipotle chilies, stewed tomatoes with canning juice, stir to combine and simmer for a 5 minutes or until the bulk of the moisture is cooked off. Remove from heat.
Microwave the corn tortillas for 30 seconds to get them to be more pliable for assembling the dish.
Ladle enough enchilada sauce to coat the bottom of the 9x13-inch pan. Spoon 1/4 cup amount of the enchilada filling into the middle of each corn tortilla, roll and place into the baking pan. This should take 14-16 corn tortillas.
Pour the remaining enchilada sauce over the top of the dish and spread until coated over the rolled tortillas.
If you are using cheese, sprinkle that evenly over the top, top with jalapeño slices. Bake for 20 minutes or until bubbly and hot through (I would bake as little as 15 minutes and as much as 25 minutes).
When it's done, allow to sit for 5 minutes, sprinkle with chopped cilantro, chopped tomatoes, and serve with non-fat Greek yogurt, lime wedges, more kosher salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy!

Notes

Home Chef Tips: 1) Use a plastic condiment squeeze bottle (or squeeze bottle used in candy making) for drizzling the non-fat Greek yogurt to get those long, even lines for topping. These can be bought online or in craft or culinary stores. 2) Cooking the chicken ahead: a) You could even use the same amount lean ground chicken, pork, or beef in place of shredded chicken in this recipe. You can brown the meat in the pan with the oil before adding the rest of the ingredients and then proceed with the recipe. b) If you are using Thanksgiving or Christmas leftover turkey meat, this is a fantastic recipe for doing just that. Just measure out the same amount of turkey and make sure it’s shredded to absorb all those spices.

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We hope you enjoy these Healthier Chicken Enchiladas from SoFabFood Home Chef, Sara from Life’s Little Sweets. If you love this lightened up comfort food, be sure to visit our 30-Minute Meals Section for more like it. For daily recipe inspiration, like us on Facebook and follow us on Pinterest. Enjoy!