I've been overflowing with tomatillos lately so these Enchiladas Suizas have been in my kitchen non-stop over the past couple weeks.
They are wildly satisfying so if you're new to them please consider giving them a go.
But don't sweat the chicken too much as you'll be getting loads of flavor from the Suiza sauce!
How To Make Enchiladas Suizas
The original version of this recipe poached the chicken and that's always a good option.
But when I'm not in a rush I will brine-and-bake the chicken.
Letting the chicken rest in some saltwater gives it a massive bump in flavor and it's worth a try if you don't mind waiting an extra half hour for dinner.
And of course, in a pinch you could always use rotisserie chicken.
But again, don't sweat the chicken too much as your Suiza sauce is far more important! You'll get loads of flavor from your creamy green sauce and that's the key to this dish.
Start by roasting your tomatillos and poblano in the oven at 400F. Sure, you can always pan roast these but I think the oven is the easiest and it's equally effective.
The tomatillos typically need less time to roast than the poblano, but I usually just leave them in until the poblano is blistered and peeling, somewhere around 25-30 minutes. More info on working with tomatillos.
Once the poblano has cooled a bit you can de-stem and de-seed it. You can also pull off any loose bits of skin, but don't worry about getting every last bit as it won't affect the flavor.
Add the roasted poblano and tomatillos to a blender along with:
1/2 white onion
2 garlic cloves
1/2 jalapeno pepper
10-12 cilantro sprigs
Give it a whirl and take a taste for heat.
If you want more heat you can add the other half of the jalapeno pepper (or more!). This mixture will get diluted a bit by the cream and stock, so I tend to make it a bit more spicy than usual. Are poblano peppers hot?
Once you're happy with the heat of the green sauce, add a glug of oil to a saucepan over medium heat. Add the sauce from blender and cook for a few minutes.
Once it's heated we'll add:
1 cup stock (I used this chicken stock)
1/4 heavy cream, or creme fraiche
Cook over medium-low heat until heated throughout. You're really just bringing it up to temp so there's no need to overcook it.
And say hello to your Suiza sauce!
It's got vibrancy from the tomatillos, some depth from the roasted poblano, and savoriness from the cream 🙂
Once the sauce is done you can start building your enchiladas.
Use two forks to shred the chicken. Combine it with a few tablespoons of finely chopped onion, 1 cup shredded cheese, and dashes of salt.
This is the inner mixture of the enchiladas. You also have the option of adding a few tablespoons of the green sauce to this mixture.
Next we'll heat up the tortillas -- this will make them easier to roll up. I used the microwave for this batch but you could always just stick 'em in the oven for a bit. 3 ways to warm up corn tortillas.
Prepare your baking dish for the enchiladas by adding a few spoonfuls of the Suiza sauce to the dish. This will prevent the enchiladas from sticking.
On a plate, add a couple spoonfuls of the Suiza sauce. Dredge a tortilla in the sauce, flip, and fill with a small handful of the chicken mixture.
You can optionally add more cheese if you want your enchis to be kind of gooey 🙂
Roll tight and place seam side down on the baking dish.
Keep going ‘til the chicken is gone. This recipe will make 6-8 enchiladas depending on the size of your tortillas.
Add the remaining sauce on top of the enchiladas along with a layer of cheese.
Bake for 10-15 minutes or until all the cheese is melted.
Getting hungry?!
I added freshly chopped cilantro to this batch but they really don't need much else so you can consider that optional.
Sweet Suizas, no?
Give 'em a go if your kitchen needs a kickstart -- once you get the green sauce to your liking you'll find all sorts of excuses to make them 🙂
Buen Provecho.
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Enchiladas Suizas -- Chicken Enchiladas with Creamy Green Sauce
Ingredients
- 5 tomatillos
- 1 jalapeno (or serrano)
- ½ white onion
- 2 garlic cloves
- 10-12 sprigs cilantro
- 1 poblano
- 1 cup chicken stock
- ¼ cup heavy cream
- 8 corn tortillas
- 1 large chicken breast
- 2 tablespoons white onion finely diced
- 1 cup shredded cheese (I used Jack)
- freshly chopped cilantro (optional)
Instructions
- Feel free to cook the chicken however you want. I go back and forth between poaching it and the brine-and-bake method.
- To poach the chicken, cover the chicken breast with water in a saucepan and bring it to a boil. Add a half onion, cilantro sprigs and a pinch of salt for additional flavor. Once boiling, reduce heat and let simmer for 20 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. Once cooked, set aside to cool.
- To brine-and-bake the chicken, add 1/4 cup salt to a quart of water in a mixing bowl. Dissolve the salt and add the chicken, letting it brine covered in the fridge for 30 minutes or so. If the chicken isn't fully submerged then add a bit more water. Once brined, pat dry the chicken and add it to a baking sheet. Bake in the oven at 400F for 20 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and no longer pink inside (160F).
- Meanwhile, de-husk and rinse the tomatillos. I usually de-stem them as well. Roast the tomatillos and poblano in the oven at 400F for around 25-30 minutes.
- Cut off the stem and de-seed the roasted poblano. You can also remove any loose bits of skin. Add it to a blender along with the tomatillos, 1/2 onion, 2 garlic cloves, 10-12 sprigs of cilantro, and 1/2 of a jalapeno pepper. Pulse blend and taste for heat level, adding the other half of the jalapeno if you want more heat.
- Heat a glug of oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the green sauce from the blender and simmer for a few minutes. Add 1 cup chicken stock and 1/4 cup heavy cream to the mixture. Cook on medium-low until heated through.
- Use two forks to shred the chicken and add it to a mixing bowl along with 2-3 tablespoons finely chopped onion, a handful of cheese, and dashes of salt. You can also add some green sauce if you want.
- Heat the corn tortillas in the oven for a few minutes. (Or nuke them in some damp paper towels for 60 seconds.)
- Prepare the baking dish by adding a few spoonfuls of the green sauce to prevent sticking.
- On a plate, add a couple spoonfuls of the green sauce. Dredge a tortilla in the sauce, flip, and fill with a small handful of the chicken mixture. You can optionally add more cheese on top. Roll up and place seam side down on the baking dish. Keep going ‘til the chicken is gone. Add the remaining sauce on top of the enchiladas along with a final layer of cheese.
- Bake for 10-15 minutes (400F) or until the cheese is melted.
- Serve immediately. You can optionally garnish with freshly chopped cilantro.
Don't have poblanos or cream? You can simplify and make a batch of Enchiladas Verdes.
Once you're familiar with this style of making enchiladas you can swap out a few ingredients and make our Red Sauce Enchiladas or our Colorado Enchiladas.
And for a list of even more Mexican entrees you can make tonight, click here.
Still hungry?!
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Doris
OMG! Here it is, the recipe I was looking for. I am printing off right now. Can not wait to make these Patrick! Thank you!
Patrick
Ahh okay glad you found it. Easily one of my favorites on the site so I hope it treats you well! Cheers.
Diya
Hi Patrick,
This was absolutely delicious!! Your instructions were so helpful. I followed each step and the enchiladas came out perfect! My husband was very impressed!! So happy to have found your website 🙂
Many Blessings,
Diya
Patrick
Awesome, thanks Diya!
Ruth
Wondering if you have tried freezing these enchiladas? I love making a double batch of enchiladas and freezing half to pull out for supper on a busy night. But I am concerned that the cream in the sauce won't work after it is frozen. Please let me know.
Patrick
Hi Ruth! I never freeze these enchiladas because, like you, I'm hesitant to freeze creamy sauces. One workaround could be to build the sauce without the cream and then just use the cream as a final garnish when you re-heat the enchiladas. It might not be the same but you could probably get pretty close to the original flavor profile by doing it this way. Hope that helps a bit. Cheers.
Maira
love this recipe!!! I however followed a recipe that called for 5 Serranos and that was way to spicy for my taste. I am making these again for a potluck this weekend and I will go ahead and follow your recipe. I am excited to add the chile poblano I didn't do this in the last recipe I followed. one thing I did do different and took the enchiladas to another lever was to mix the shredded chicken with melted cream cheeses and onions. I brought the left overs to work the next day and my coworkers loved them.
Patrick
Thanks for your note Maira! Yeah serranos have some serious heat -- you can always add them incrementally and taste test along the way, this will prevent your sauce from turning nuclear. Cream cheese with the chicken is a great idea and if you use it with this Suizas recipe you'll be a very happy camper.
Leiry
Hi, I was wondering if I could store the green salsa in jars?.If yes, how long can I store them? By the way I made this recipe with mom yesterday and it was so delicious.
Patrick
Awesome, thanks for the feedback Leiry!
Hmmm the green salsa will keep for at least a few days in the fridge, but to be honest it will lose some of its zip after a day or two. That's assuming you don't add any cream to it before storing as I feel like the salsa with cream added wouldn't last too long.
If you want to make a big batch of the green salsa I would plan on re-seasoning before use by adding some additional jalapeno/serrano for heat and also some salt to taste, and then adding cream as a final step just before eating.
I hope that helps a bit. Let me know if you have any other questions! Cheers.
Sylvia
Doubled the recipe, used a whole chicken, put some green sauce, cream, and cheese on chicken. These were amazingly delicious. Will definitely make again. Thank you so much for postin.
Patrick
Great Sylvia! Thanks for your feedback, I'm glad they worked out for you.
Jess
I just made these. They are pretty fantastic! I used Mexican crema, I usually make Mexican dishes at least twice a week so it is always on hand. I am more of a beef enchilada person but I had a few tomatillos I needed to use up and now I think I will have to make these again!
Patrick
Awesome, thanks for the feedback Jess! Been a few months since I've had these and now craving them 🙂
Diana
I made these last night with the leftover Thanksgiving turkey. Maybe I'm finally getting better at cooking because these did not seem like the pain to make as I usually find enchiladas to be. I like how I can just throw the vegetables in the blender and I don't have to chop, chop, chop. Finishing the sauce on the stovetop was a breeze.
My only regret was that I didn't have the creme fraiche, which I swear I had that morning. I had bought it previously for the taquito recipe on this site (which are delicious, by the way). I must have inadvertently thrown it away while cleaning the fridge from some Thanksgiving leftovers. Dang. So, I used cream cheese, which doesn't melt as easily. Next time I make this, I'll do the creme fraiche.
Regardless, we all found it scrumptious and this will be my go-to suiza enchiladas recipe. Thanks, Patrick.
Patrick
Cheers Diana! Turkey Suizas sounds like a really, really good idea 🙂
Yup, that is the only downside of including creme fraiche in a recipe....not a common kitchen staple. Here is a good article on creme fraiche substitutes:
http://oureverydaylife.com/can-used-substitute-creme-fraiche-22325.html
Top of my list would probaby be Crema or heavy cream. Followed by plain Greek yogurt with maybe a hint of mayonnaise. All cooked at a mild simmer so they don't break down.
Thanks much for your note Diana, it's so helpful.
Patrick
Christine Rooney
That enchilada sauce looks awesome - totally going to try these!
Patrick
Thanks Christine! Let me know how it turns out 🙂
Rachel @ Bakerita
These enchiladas look absolutely amazing! Enchiladas verde are always my favorite kind, and your version is calling out to me. I must try these soon!
Patrick
Thanks Rachel! Hope they treat you well 🙂