Lazy Chicken Enchiladas with Red Sauce

This recipe is something I created in college and it has truly become a family/friend favorite. My friend always made these awesome chicken enchiladas and I really wanted to try to recreate them. The only problem for me is keeping the tortillas from splitting. I got flustered one night and ended up sort of throwing “Lazy Enchiladas” together by tearing the tortillas and layering them. Little did I know that this would turn out to be pretty darn good. This recipe is even better the next day, can be made ahead of time and can be frozen too. I have used all meats (beef, chicken, veggie crumbles) and they all taste great. I also created a version of this with White Sauce, but, that is another recipe for another time.

Lazy Chicken Enchiladas with Red Sauce

28 oz Old El Paso Mild Enchilada Sauce (the large can – any brand)
1 small onion(s), diced (optional)
1-2 lbs cooked chicken
12-15 corn tortillas
1 small can sliced olives
8 oz Kraft 2% Milk Natural Cheese Mexican four cheese shreds

Instructions

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.

Spray a nonstick pan with cooking spray and saute chopped onion until soft and slight browned. Add to a large bowl.

You can boil 4-6 chicken breasts for 20-25 minutes, use left over chicken or buy a rotisserie chicken. You need about 2 cups or 1 lb. Shred chicken breast and add to onion bowl. Add enough enchilada sauce to coat. Sprinkle with garlic salt and pepper if desired.

Slice tortillas into 1/4 slices. Slice olives or buy pre-sliced olives.

In a 9×13 pan, start w/ spreading 1/2 c sauce and top with tortillas. Add 1/2 the chicken mixture and 1/2 c cheese. Top with a few olive slices. Add another layer of tortillas, 1/2 c sauce, the rest of the chicken mixture, 1/2 c of cheese and a few olive slices. Add final layer of tortillas, top with the rest of the sauce, cheese and olives.

Bake for 30-35 minutes or until cheese is melted and sauce is bubbly.

Enjoy with ff greek yogurt or sour cream, salsa and guacamole if desired.

**Make it Vegetarian by using veggie crumbles
*** Make it Vegan by using your favorite beans (black beans) and soy cheese.

Nutritional information per serving, 8 servings:

Calories 239.3, Total Fat 7.5 g, Saturated Fat 1.9 g, Polyunsaturated Fat 1.1 g, Monounsaturated Fat 2.5 g, Cholesterol 20.6 mg, Sodium 1,046.5 mg, Potassium 156.8 mg
Total Carbohydrate 28.2 g, Dietary Fiber 4.3 g, Sugars 1.5 g, Protein 15.5 g

I served mine up tonight with a little FF greek yogurt, green onions and slice avocado (mmmm, avocado!) on the side.

For our veggies, we took the leftover Cucumber Salad from last night and topped some freshly chopped romaine. We also added some avocado to this too!

This was so tasty and comforting. However, I was wanting something sweet for dessert. So, I had one of the leftover Chocolate Covered Peanut butter eggs and took some leftover frosting and topped a lowfat cinnamon graham cracker (so good!). Did you all ever have this as kids? I STILL love it!

Last chance to VOTE for your favorite baked sale item as the Poll closes tomorrow! Have a super night and get ready for Part 2 of the Annie’s Giveaway!