Discover what enchiladas verdes are and how to prepare them with the traditional Mexican recipe.

The joys of the Mexican tortilla

In simple terms, an enchilada is a rolled tortilla (often fried) with a vegetable or meat filling and bathed in sauce, which can be made from a wide variety of ingredients with or without chilli.

Green enchiladas (Enchiladas verdes)

Green enchiladas (Enchiladas verdes)

Enchiladas are a very common dish that can be found in most Mexican homes or in small restaurants known as “fondas”, where they are prepared daily to be served as part of very affordable 3-course meals.

The magic of enchiladas (as in many other Mexican dishes) lies in its two basic components: sauce and tortillas. This time we will use green sauce (salsa verde).


How to prepare enchiladas that taste authentically Mexican

Follow this green enchiladas recipe to impress your family and friends…

Ingredients

  • 500 g of tomatillos without the husks

  • ¼ onion (for the sauce), plus ½ onion thinly sliced (for garnish)

  • 4 serrano chillis (you can use more or less depending on our own taste for spiciness).

  • 2 garlic cloves

  • ½ teasp. ground black pepper

  • ¼ teasp. ground cumin

  • 4 sprigs of fresh cilantro (disinfected)

  • 2 ½ cups of water

  • ½ cup of regular or sour cream

  • 18 Santa Rosa corn tortillas (they will be briefly dipped in hot cooking oil)

  • 1 chicken breast, cooked and shredded (about 400 g).

  • 100 g of fresh cheese (grated)

Preparation

Chicken

  1. Place chicken breast in a pot of water with piece of onion and salt. Once it’s cooked through, cool and shred it.

Sauce

  1. In another pot cook the tomatillos in water until they change color.

  2. Place cooked and drained tomatillos, chillis, garlic, ¼ onion, and cilantro in a blender or food processor. Process until smooth.

  3. Pour the sauce into a saucepan, season with salt, pepper and cumin. Add 2 ½ cups of water. Simmer stiring constantly until the sauce thickens slightly. Remove from heat, but keep warm.

Now, for the whole enchilada…

  1. Pour a thin layer of oil into a frying pan and heat through. Just barely heat the Santa Rosa tortillas in the oil, one by one, on both sides. Tortillas must remain soft for rolling.

  2. Quickly dip each tortilla into the sauce and stack on a plate.

  3. Fill each tortilla with shredded chicken and roll it up to make a slender taco. Place two or three on the plate for every serving and pour a little sauce to cover the enchiladas.

  4. Garnish with thin slices of onion, cheese and sour cream (Pro tip: Add avocado)

Go for it! Try something new, different and delicious!

It might be complicated to prepare a new (perhaps unknown) dish, but try this recipe several times until you achieve the flavor you want or expect.  In this case remember the crucial basics: sauce and tortillas.

In BC you will not find better tortillas than Santa Rosa’s, made with high quality ingredients following legendary Mexican recipes.