This gluten-free chicken enchiladas recipe uses an easy creamy homemade red sauce and is baked in a casserole dish with kale. All the ingredients get roasted together on a sheet pan in the oven, before the chicken is shredded and added to the roasted tomato sauce. You can make it dairy-free by using plant-based cheese or turn them into Low FODMAP enchiladas by omitting the garlic.
My chicken Green chile enchiladas have previously required a warning label. Or, so I’ve been told.
The recipe for gluten-free chicken enchiladas from my first cookbook is to my repertoire what engagement chicken is to Ina’s. If you’re not sure whether or not a prospective significant other is a keeper, it’s best not to make them my enchiladas.
My best friends’ little brother had an entire dating sequence that stemmed from these enchiladas. If she made it to the fourth date, it was time for her to experience the Veggie enchiladas magic. Upon which, she would be hopelessly under his spell. And since he has officially wed a longtime enchilada conquest, one might say that the effect lasts for life.
Despite this lore and my reputation for comfort food style Gluten-free recipes, I’ve never really considered myself to be an enchilada girl. If someone were to pull a similar move, he’d be better off with gluten-free chicken tenders or fish pie. Or, in the case of Charlie’s first meal for me, lamb chili.
I think part of the reason is, since limiting dairy in my life, I haven’t eaten a whole lot of chicken enchiladas in the last decade. Up until I tried my hand at Julia Turshen’s recipe, I had forgotten their bewitching appeal. But having done so, I am under her spell for life. At least, in the friendship department.
This easy gluten-free dairy-free chicken enchiladas recipe is from her new book Now and Again, which is organized by menu, and gives you hundreds of make-ahead entertaining ideas, and more importantly, ways to reinvent whatever your guests don’t manage to inhale.
The gluten free enchilada sauce was part of a spread for a card night with friends, which seems like a much more fitting occasion in your 30’s to whip out such a dish, since most people in my life have already married their former purveyor of homemade Tex-Mex recipe ideas, myself included.
There are a few brilliant things about this recipe’s gluten free dairy free enchilada sauce that make it both surprising and authentic. First, Julia uses whole tomatoes from a can. This makes it accessible for any season, while a quick roast in the oven caramelizes the flavors and makes them taste like they’re at their peak.
Per her suggestion for ways to use up the leftovers, I made a double batch of the gluten-free enchilada sauce and used it as a base for tortilla soup and tacos. I.e. some of the other things that would make me want to marry myself.
Only, after trying this roasted chicken number, I might just have to add gluten free dairy free chicken enchiladas to the list. Even without the sour cream and cheese, which I subbed for coconut cream and shredded Miyokos, and even with a heaping helping of kale in the filling, they were insanely decadent and satisfying. The roasted tomato sauce was drinkably good, which only made me doubly happy to have extra portions to do just that with in soup form.
Read on for the recipe, and for more creative, unfussy meals to make keepers for life, make sure to pick up a copy of Now and Again!
You can find more gluten-free chicken recipes here, including comforting faves like my gluten-free chicken pot pie!
With health and hedonism,
Phoebe
p.s. this recipe is also very easy to adapt to the low FODMAP diet!
Gluten-Free Dairy-Free Shredded Chicken Enchiladas
Ingredients
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- Kosher salt
- 1½ lb [680 g] boneless skinless chicken breasts
- One 28-oz [794-g] can whole peeled tomatoes
- 1 jalapeño chile roughly chopped (discard the seeds if you like)
- 2 large handfuls of fresh cilantro leaves a little bit of stem is fine!
- ½ cup [120 g] plant-based sour cream or coconut cream
- 1 bunch lacinato or tuscan kale tough stems removed and thinly sliced
- 3 Tbsp canola or other neutral oil plus more as needed
- Ten 6-in [15-cm] corn tortillas
- ¾ cup [85 g] coarsely grated Monterey Jack or dairy-free cheese
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 425°F [220°C]. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, stir together the garlic, cumin, olive oil, and 1 tsp salt. Add the chicken breasts and coat them with the garlic mixture. Place them in an even layer on one side of the prepared sheet pan.
- Pour the can of tomatoes into a sieve placed over a bowl to catch the juice. Reserve the juice. Place the drained tomatoes and the jalapeño on the other side of the sheet pan.
- Roast the chicken and tomatoes until the chicken is firm to the touch and golden brown and the tomatoes are a bit concentrated, about 35 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and leave the oven on.
- Transfer the chicken to a large bowl and let it cool down a bit. Transfer the tomatoes and jalapeño to a blender or food processor and add any cooking juices from the sheet pan, the reserved tomato juice, a handful of the cilantro, the sour cream, and 1 tsp kosher salt. Process until smooth. You should have about 3 cups [720 ml] sauce.
- Once the chicken is cool enough to handle, shred it into bite-size pieces directly into the bowl in which it is already sitting. If any liquid remains in the bowl from the chicken, leave it there, as it will become part of its own sauce! Add the kale and add one-third (about 1 cup/240 ml) of the reserved tomato sauce and stir well to combine.
- Pour another third (about 1 cup/240 ml) of the tomato sauce in the bottom of a 9-by-13-in [23-by-33-cm] baking dish. Spread the sauce to cover the bottom.
- In a large nonstick skillet over high heat, warm the canola oil. Place a tortilla in the pan and fry until coated with oil on both sides and just barely softened and pliable, about 10 seconds per side. Repeat with the remaining tortillas, transferring them to a work surface as you go. As long as your skillet is nonstick and nice and hot, you shouldn’t need more oil, but if the skillet goes dry before you are done with the tortillas, add a splash more.
- Divide the sauced chicken evenly among the tortillas. Roll up the tortillas tightly around the chicken and line them up, seam-side down, in the baking dish. Pour the remaining tomato sauce (about 1 cup/240 ml) evenly over the stuffed tortillas and sprinkle with the cheese.
- Bake the enchiladas until the cheese is melted and golden brown and the sauce is bubbling, about 20 minutes. Sprinkle with the remaining handful of cilantro and the red onion and serve immediately.
Frankie says
I didn’t know about Miyoko’s! This may make all the difference, since going dairy-free I thought enchiladas were verboten – so frustrating. Thanks, Phoebe!.
Phoebe Lapine says
oh it’s a game changer
Little Cooking Tips says
That’s an amazing recipe Phoebe! We never had enchiladas, and your adapted recipe looks and sounds like an awesome way to try them:) After all, we love the Italian equivalent, cannelloni, so we know we’re gonna love these:):)
Sending you our love,
Mirella and Panos
Phoebe Lapine says
yesss can’t go wrong with cannelloni!! big kiss you two! xoxo
Jenna Ferrara says
What’s the best way to freeze these enchiladas for later?
Phoebe Lapine says
Just assemble and cover with foil! You can bake off right in the tray.
Kate says
This enchilada sauce is the best! I made a vegetarian version of this using a mixture of sweet potatoes, carrots and peppers, and it was delicious! I coated them with the oil, cumin and salt just as you would the chicken, and roasted them for about 30 minutes.
Phoebe Lapine says
Love this idea!! Thanks for letting me know how the veggies turned out!
Cait says
I don’t see the calorie and nutrient breakdown, where do I get it?
Herb H says
Made this recipe last night and it was fantastic. The directions were easy to follow and the end result was probably one of the most authentic enchiladas I’ve ever had. Many stars, this was great and thankfully I’ve got tons of leftovers
Phoebe Lapine says
That’s so wonderful to hear!