Chicken Enchilada Casserole

Life is real, and that’s why 5-ingredient meals are a thing. This cheesy layered chicken enchilada casserole is a real-life dinnertime wonder: just chicken, beans, sauce, cheese, and tortillas.

This is a Chicken Enchilada Casserole, and it’s sososososo delicious.

It’s like taking all the goodness of an enchilada, but making it easier by stacking it up, and making it all even more cozy, if that is possible, baking it under a layer of cheese. It’s also incredibly easy.

Hello, did you see that there are only FIVE ingredients here? As I was writing the recipe out I kinda couldn’t believe it. This enchilada casserole presents like something that took a really long time to make. It’s like free work or something.

How to Make a Yummy Enchilada Casserole

Here’s whatcher gonna do.

Put some sauce down. Now layer away. We’ve got tortillas, beans, chicken, cheese and sauce all up in there. Go for it.

Now let’s top it all off with ze cheese. You pick! I used Mozzarella because I had it on hand – as one does.

But, more normally for an enchilada casserole, you could use Monterrey Jack or Provolone or Colby Jack or Mexican flavored cheese or anything you want. It’s a baked Tex Mex situation, okay? Lots of cheese is necessary.

Let’s Talk Enchilada Sauce Options

• Make your own enchilada sauce! I might recommend this blender enchilada sauce for something homemade, yummy, extremely easy, and ready in approximately five minutes. I also like Cookie and Kate’s enchilada sauce which is also delicious – it’s just a bit more involved.
• If you are BUYING enchilada sauce, that’s cool, too. I really like the Frontera brand for all things pre-made Mexican and Tex-Mex, including enchilada sauce.

Yummy Variations for Your Enchilada Casserole

• Use green enchilada sauce instead of red enchilada sauce.
• Use ground beef instead of chicken.
• Use vegetarian taco meat or veggies like sautéed mushrooms, peppers, or onions instead of meat (veg lovers unite!)
• Use vegan cheese and aforementioned veggie filling to make this a vegan enchilada bake.
• Use flour tortillas instead of corn (they’ll be softer and more melty / mushy – personal preference).

If I’m being honest, I ate this enchilada casserole goodness at 9am on a Sunday morning while Bjork was still asleep.

And that, my friends, is the definition of food blogging.

More Enchilada Goodness:

• Easy Veggie Enchiladas
• Simple Enchiladas Verdes (that homemade verde sauce!!)
• Roasted Tomatillo Chicken Enchilada Casserole
• Breakfast Enchiladas with Roasted Poblano Sauce (because obviously enchiladas for breakfast)
• Butternut Squash & Mushroom Enchiladas

Check out our video for how to make Chicken Enchilada Casserole:

Chicken Enchilada Casserole

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★★★★★

4.8 from 43 reviews

• Author: Pinch of Yum
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 30 mins
• Total Time: 45 minutes
• Yield: 10-12

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Description

A 5-ingredient stacked enchilada casserole layered with tortillas, beans, and chicken and covered with cheese and enchilada sauce.

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Ingredients

• 2–3 cups cooked, shredded chicken
• 2 ½ cups enchilada sauce (store bought or homemade)
• 2 cups shredded Mexican cheese
• 6–8 small flour tortillas (corn works too)
• 1 can refried beans 

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Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
2. Place a few spoonfuls of enchilada sauce in the bottom of a glass square baking dish (mine was 9×9) to prevent sticking.
3. Place 2 tortillas in the bottom of the dish, overlapping to cover the entire surface.
4. Layer the beans, chicken, cheese, sauce, and tortillas; repeat once to make a total of 2 layers. (For me this was about 1/3 cup refried beans, 1 cup of the chicken, ½ cup cheese, and about 3/4 cup enchilada sauce in each layer.)
5. Cover the top with the remaining enchilada sauce and 1 cup cheese. Cover the baking dish with well-oiled aluminum foil and bake for about 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake uncovered for an additional 5 minutes or until cheese is starting to brown and sauce is bubbling.
6. Allow to rest for at least 15 minutes so it can firm up a bit before cutting and serving. Top with cilantro, lime, sour cream, or avocado.

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Notes

To get each layer completely covered with tortillas, I cut 2 additional tortillas into fourths and used them to cover the corners. This is not necessary but it helps when you layer your ingredients.

My favorite refried beans are Amy’s Refried Black Beans!

• Category: Dinner
• Method: Bake
• Cuisine: Mexican

Keywords: enchilada recipe, enchilada casserole, casserole, chicken enchiladas, enchilada sauce

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Creamy Thai Sweet Potato Curry

So now we know what kind of food they serve in heaven.

It’s for surely gotta be sweet potato curry, for surely for sure. There just cannot be anything else.

I’m not just talking about just any old curry -> I’m talking about the kind of curry that hits that perfect spot between silky-creaminess and fire-breathing flavor all in one sweeping, saucy bite.

For example, just off the top of my head: Creamy Thai Sweet Potato Curry that can be made in about 20 minutes and that just makes your heart sing for joy when you remember that you have at least three servings of it left in the fridge and you are about to win big at Leftovers Lunch.

There is not one single thing I don’t love about this type of food.

You know those recipes that you make once, and then you make twice, and then suddenly a week has gone by and you’ve really only made that one same recipe and you realize that you’re either a boring person for making the same thing over and over again or (more accurately) a winner for knowing which recipes are worth your time?

This is that.

It’s too good NOT to make. It is all this and more:

• nutritious
• quick
• easy
• COMFORT FOOD TO THE MAX

Let’s Talk Curry Paste

Store bought red curry paste works just fine in this recipe. It’s how I started making it, actually. But then I did something that ended up being magical: I started adding a spoonful of homemade yellow curry paste in with the store bought red curry paste and BOOM! Flavor explosion. Maybe it’s all in my mind, but probably not – the curry paste combo is just epically delicious.

You laugh now, but we’ll see who gets the last laugh here. WE’LL SEE.

Three Curry scenarios here:

1. You are intimidated by curry-making. Just buy some red curry paste (available at most grocery stores these days) or grab some on Amazon because you have Prime with 2 day shipping, don’t you, you little smartie? I knew we were twinning on that. Curry Paste: http://amzn.to/2f1WVea (affiliate link)
2. You are not intimidated by curry-paste-making. In which case you are probably too advanced to be reading this blog.
3. You are semi-intimidated by curry-paste-making, but you are intrigued. Friend, you are the perfect middle child that I seek for this assignment. I so strongly encourage you to try your hand at making this adapted, familiar-ingredients version of homemade Thai yellow curry paste. Keep that jar of golden love close at hand because it will go on to gift you many batches of fragrant, cozy curries all through the winter with just the swish of your spoon. I am very, very excited for you.

How to Make Creamy Thai Sweet Potato Curry

Step 1: Start your HOMEMADE curry paste (you rockstar, you). Roast your garlic, shallots, and ginger. Hydrate your chili peppers. Blitz it all up in the food processor with some spices, lemongrass paste, and cilantro. Easy peasy.

Step 2: Add your shallots, sweet potatoes, and curry paste to the pot.

Step 3: In goes the coconut milk to make things extra luscious. Add your broth and cover. After your sweet potatoes have softened for a bit, add the spinach.

Step 4: Let your fresh herbs, peanuts, and fish sauce (omit if vegetarian/vegan!) join the party. Stir to combine.

Step 5: Serve over hot, fluffy rice and top with more peanuts and cilantro (obvi). DIVE IN and live your best curry-loving life.

All the Vegetarian Curry, Please

And if you’re into all the goodness that is vegetarian curry, here are a few other favorites to keep you full and happy:

• Instant Pot Cauliflower Curry
• Bangkok Coconut Curry Noodle Bowls
• Coconut Curry Ramen
• Red Curry Lentils (Instant Pot version, too!)
• 5-Ingredient Green Curry

Voila! Look at you, Curry Master.

Check out our video for how to make Sweet Potato Curry:

Creamy Thai Sweet Potato Curry

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★★★★★

4.7 from 65 reviews

• Author: Pinch of Yum
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 20 mins
• Total Time: 30 minutes
• Yield: 4-5 (4 in our house)

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Description

Creamy Thai Sweet Potato Curry – packed with nutrition! our favorite easy, healthy, winter comfort food recipe. vegetarian and vegan.

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Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon oil
• 2 shallots, thinly sliced
• 2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 3–4 cups fresh baby spinach
• 2–3 tablespoons curry paste (see notes)
• 1 14-ounce can regular coconut milk
• 1/2 to 1 cup broth or water
• 1/2 cup chopped peanuts and cilantro
• fish sauce to taste

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Instructions

1. Start your rice, if you’re serving this over rice (highly recommend)!
2. Heat the oil over medium high heat. Add the shallots and stir fry until soft and fragrant. Add the sweet potatoes and stir to coat with oil. Add the curry paste and stir until well-combined.
3. Add the coconut milk and broth and let it simmer over low heat for 10-15 minutes until thickened. Stir in the spinach until wilted.
4. Add half of the peanut/cilantro mixture; reserve the rest for topping. Add a quick splash of fish sauce to the curry to make the whole thing just sing harmony in your mouth. Yummy.
5. Serve over rice, topped with remaining peanuts/cilantro.

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Notes

For some reason, I am loving the taste of combining red curry paste and yellow curry paste in this! I’ve made it with both strictly red and strictly yellow and they’re both great as well. If you are a curry lover, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE make yourself some homemade yellow curry paste. It’s amazing. This recipe uses familiar ingredients and works perfectly for quick last-minute batches of curry if you keep it in the freezer!

For vegetarian/vegan option, just double check that your curry paste is compliant or make your own. Also, obviously, omit the fish sauce.

Nutrition is for 1 out of 5 servings, not including rice or fish sauce.

• Category: Dinner
• Method: Simmer
• Cuisine: Thai-Inspired

Keywords: vegetarian curry, sweet potato curry, red curry, yellow curry, curry paste

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This recipe is part of our collection of best healthy gluten-free recipes. Check it out!

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Eating in Real Life (Sugar Free, Part 3)

We believe that one of the best, most interesting, most inspiring ways to talk about food is in the context of REAL LIFE EATING.

We’re super excited to bring you this mini-series (and bring it to a close today – sad!). All month long, you’ve be hearing from a POY team member as they bring you into their very real, very normal, very regular-home-cook life (during Sugar Free January!) to show you what’s been keeping them full and happy without the sugar.

Let’s dive in!

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Meet Eman

Name: Eman

Role at Pinch of Yum: Content Success Strategist

Have you done Sugar Free January before? Sure have! Three years in a row now!

What does Sugar Free January look like for you this year? Things have been looking a little different for me this time around. In the past, I’ve cut out too much at once that by the time February rolled around, it just wasn’t realistic to maintain. This year, I’ve been reframing what I think healthy looks like for me and right now that means just avoiding sweet treats and sugary cocktails but including honey / maple syrup, fruit and dried fruit, and a few refined grains during my Sugar Free January.

What is your favorite part of Sugar Free January? Reminding myself (and my body) that there are so many yummy and fun ways to make meals without all of the extra sugar.

What is your biggest challenge during Sugar Free January? Making sure that I have options that fit into my SFJ stocked / prepped / at the ready! It’s easier for me to get into a realistic and healthier eating routine if I take out the decision making behind what I eat and what I’m watching out for right now.

What was the number one, most easy / delicious / favorite best recipe you made this week? It’s gotta be the Cashew Golden Milk Lattes! With a little bit of ice in a fancy cup if you want (you do!), it’s been the perfect late afternoon pick-me-up without the caffeine buzz that’d keep me up all night.

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Breakfasts This Week

Toast But Make It Fancy

Breakfast is one of those meals I’d be okay going without, but I’m making it a point to eat a lil’ something to start my day. Just a piece of whole grain crispbread here topped with a bit of almond butter and hemp seeds and a cute clementine on the side.

Just Your Average Yogurt Bowl

Keeping things easy here with a few dollops of cashew milk yogurt (yes, this is a thing!), fresh blueberries, and a sprinkling of chia seeds.

Lunches This Week

Long Live Burrito Bowls

These Roasted Cauliflower Burrito Bowls could be on repeat all week long and I would have exactly zero problems with that.

Sweet Potato Tortilla-Less Soup

Okay, yes. I went tortilla-less for a tortilla soup, but everything about this Instant Pot Sweet Potato Tortilla Soup just says cozy and ready for winter.

Snacks This Week

The Greatest Muffins of All Time

Obviously these apple muffins needed to make an appearance during my Sugar Free January. I mean, how could they not?

Next-Level Lattes

I am L-O-V-I-N-G these Cashew Golden Milk Lattes! Best part here IMO is getting to that ginger / cinnamon combo that’s starting to settle near the bottom. It’s like sipping the last of the Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal milk minus the sugar high.

Also: yes, how cool is that straw? I bought it years ago and can’t find it now, but here are some similar ones. Reusable straws FTW!

(affiliate link above!)

Dinners This Week

Red Curry Lentils

My favorite kind of dinners are the ones that come together in a pinch and bring big time flavors and these Instant Pot Red Curry Lentils DELIVER!

Mediterranean Bowl Mashup

It’s called an I-need-to-use-up-things-in-the-fridge situation. Pan-fried halloumi, fluffy quinoa, crisp cucumbers, juicy tomatoes, and fresh mint piled high on a bed of greens with a bit of Roasted Red Pepper Sauce for good measure.

Soup Round 2

It’s soup season and this Jalapeño Lime Chicken Soup is here for it!

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Thanks for joining us for the final edition of Eating In Real Life!

What foods/meals/snacks/treats are saving your life this week?

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Spicy Sofritas Tofu

THIS, my friends.

This is tofu. This is sofritas. This is like homemade Chipotle sofritas at its finest.

The truth is that I am sort of 75% there on tofu, like most people, I think? but I am 200% there on sofritas tofu – like the stuff you get at Chipotle, and as of now, the stuff that you make at home.

It’s to the point where Ineedthemeveryday.

There is no burrito, rice bowl, taco, quesadilla, breakfast skillet, or nacho platter that does not benefit in some way from a heap of spicy, saucy sofritas.

First of All, What is Sofritas?

Thanks to popularization from Chipotle, I think many people now associate the term sofritas specifically with spicy shredded or ground tofu in a peppery, tomatoey sauce. At Chipotle, sofritas = tofu.

But more generally, according to our lady of the internet, Wiki: “sofrito, sofregit, soffritto, or refogado is a sauce used as a base in Latin American, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese cooking. Preparations may vary, but it typically consists of aromatic ingredients cut into small pieces and sauteed or braised in cooking oil.”

Okay So… What’s in Sofritas?

Okay, good question.

• First and foremost, in this case, TOFU! Main ingredient.
• Chipotle peppers.
• Roasted poblanos.
• Garlic.
• Salsa (shortcut ingredient to get us some onions, tomatoes, and rockstar flavor)
• Cilantro

All the big flavor players get pureed into a sucker punch sauce and poured all over your crumbled, browned tofu, and the whole thing gets gently simmered into flavorful yumminess.

SO MUCH YUM.

Ways To Eat Sofritas

The sofritas is the showstopper, but don’t stop there.

• Bowls: with pinto beans, fresh guac, rice, and if you’re feeling fancy, maybe some tomatoes and corn, and sautéed peppers? YUM.
• Tacos! with more of the same.
• Burritos, like so.
• Vegan Crunchwraps. YES I SAID VEGAN CRUNCHWRAPS.
• In a tortilla casserole because what else?
• Just chips? Also, Cotija cheese because it’s so deliciously salty and I can’t not crumble that stuff on ev-er-y-thing.

This combination is everything my heart ever wanted in the homemade vegetarian Mexican food department.

How to Make Sofritas: The Easy Version

Step 1: Make a sauce.

Step 2: Pan fry and crumble some tofu. Beans or no beans – this is a choose your own adventure here, and there is no wrong answer. Add sauce and simmer.

Step 3: Sit your sofritas on a pile of hot, fluffy rice, add a nice thwap of guacamole, and BOOM! Instant happiness in a bowl.

Other Favorite Vegetarian Mexican-Inspired Goodness:

• Cauliflower Walnut Taco Meat
• Vegan Crunchwrap Supreme
• Easy Veggie Enchiladas
• Vegan Sheet Pan Fajitas
• Healthy Mexican Sweet Potato Skins

Check out our video for how to make Sofritas:

Spicy Sofritas Tofu

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★★★★★

4.7 from 52 reviews

• Author: Pinch of Yum
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 1 hour
• Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
• Yield: 6

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Description

Spicy Sofritas Tofu, like homemade Chipotle! Think spicy peppers, garlic, tomatoes, and fresh cilantro in a flavorful simmer sauce for your tofu!

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Ingredients

• 1 poblano pepper
• 1–3 individual chipotle peppers canned in adobo sauce (1 for mild/medium, 3 for very spicy)
• 2 tablespoons of the adobo sauce
• 2–3 cloves garlic
• 1/2 cup salsa (I like to use the fresh salsa that is refrigerated)
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 14-ounce package extra firm tofu

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Instructions

1. Roast your poblano: Hold the poblano over the flame on a gas range until it’s hot and blistery. Alternatively: turn your oven to the broil setting, coat the poblano with oil, place on a baking sheet, and roast for 15 minutes at a time until it’s soft and blistered. 
2. Make a sofritas sauce: Place everything in a blender (EXCEPT tofu). Pulse until a mostly smooth paste forms.
3. Make the sofritas tofu: Slice the tofu and press with paper towels to remove excess moisture. Heat a drizzle of oil over medium high heat. Scramble the tofu into small bits with a spatula or wooden spoon. Add the sofritas sauce with 1/2 cup water. Simmer for 15-20 minutes until the sauce is richly colored and thickened slightly. Add more water as necessary, and season to taste with salt and lime juice.
4. Serve: Serve in tacos, burritos, and mega rice bowls!

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Notes

Poblano thoughts: I did not remove the skins of my poblanos, but you can do it either way. If you are in a pinch for time, try subbing one or two small cans of diced green chiles for the poblano.

• Category: Dinner
• Method: Sauté
• Cuisine: Mexican

Keywords: sofritas, vegetarian Mexican recipe, vegetarian recipe, vegetarian tacos, tofu recipe

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This recipe is part of our collection of easy tofu recipes. Check it out!

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