Creamy Cheesy Chicken Enchiladas

A few months ago our local Dillon's had a great deal on Philadelphia cream cheese, it was $1. If you buy cream cheese, you know that is an awesome deal.  I am pretty snobby when it comes to cream cheese. I will use the store brand for a lot of things, but not cream cheese. I have never found one that compares to good old Philadelphia, and we use A LOT of cream cheese at our house. In fact, just about every dip I make seems to have a block of cream cheese in it. One of my kids favorite snacks is pretzels and cream cheese. If you've never had it, you are missing out. I seriously purchased about 50 blocks when it was on sale. Well, we have gone through most of it, but I had some nearing the expiration date.

I have a recipe for a Chicken Verde Enchilada Bake that we love so I began thinking of how I could have similar flavors, but incorporate the cream cheese. This is what I came up with. Let me know what you think. 

Creamy Cheesy Chicken Enchiladas
2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts, seasoned liberally with salt and pepper, baked and diced into bite size pieces
3  tablespoons butter
1  medium onion, diced (about 3/4 cup)
2  cloves garlic, minced (1 teaspoon)
3  tablespoons flour
1  can (10 ounce) Rotel, undrained
1  can (28 ounce) Green Chile Enchilada Sauce (I used Las Palmas brand)
1  package (8 ounce) cream cheese, softened and cut into bite sized pieces
1  teaspoon cumin
1/4  teaspoon ground red pepper
1/4  cup chopped cilantro, plus more for garnish if desired
2  cups shredded cheese (I used Mexican blend)
10-12 flour tortillas (8")

Melt the 3 tablespoons butter in a Dutch Oven over medium heat. Add the onion and saute for about 3-4 minutes until soft. Add the garlic and saute another minute or two, until fragrant. Add flour and mix; continue cooking for 2 minutes.

Add the rotel, green chile enchilada sauce, cumin and the ground red pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.  Remove from heat and mix in the cream cheese and cilantro. Stir until the cream cheese is melted.

Place the cooked and diced chicken in a medium sized bowl and add 1 cup (4 ounces) shredded cheese and 1 cup cream cheese enchilada sauce. Mix well.

Put 1 1/2 cups of the cream cheese enchilada sauce in the bottom of a large lightly greased pyrex dish.

Wrap tortillas in a damp paper towel and microwave for about 30-45 seconds, to soften.

Divide the chicken mixture evenly between the tortillas (about a heaping 1/2 cup) and roll up. Place seam side down in the pyrex dish.

Cover with the remaining cream cheese enchilada sauce and top with the remaining shredded cheese.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 35- 40 minutes until hot and bubbly. Garnish with additional minced fresh cilantro if desired.

For our recipe for our Corn & Black Bean Salsa go here.

Enjoy!

Kim

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