Enchiladas are a very typical Mexican dish that as its name says, is for enchiladas! In a green enchilada dish we find two of the many ingredients that are the basis of Mexican gastronomy: corn and chile tortillas.

There is a wide variety of the enchilada recipe. Perhaps the most typical in Mexico City are the green enchiladas . They are easy to prepare and are consumed daily. Each ingredient requires attention in its preparation, as it is an essential part of the dish, to achieve a delicious combination together.

How to prepare green enchiladas

Green tomato, chicken, green chile and corn tortilla are the basis of this recipe . However, you can add your personal touch to create a unique recipe, since enchiladas have as many different shapes as there are regions in the country.

This recipe for green enchiladas is to be shared with 4 people.

1. The ingredients

To prepare green enchiladas, you will need these ingredients .

  • ½ kg of chicken breast
  • ½ onion
  • 2 serrano peppers
  • 7 green tomatoes
  • 1 garlic clove
  • 1 branch of coriander
  • 1 lettuce cut in julienne
  • 1 fresh cheese
  • 16 tortillas
  • Oil
  • Salt
  • Cream

2. The chicken

The chicken breast should be cooked with onion and salt . Once it is cooked it is left to cool down so that it can be finely shredded. The stock resulting from this cooking will be used later for the broth of the green enchiladas.

3. El caldillo

To make the caldillo you have to cook the tomatoes and the serrano peppers in boiling water. When they feel soft, you have to blend the tomatoes and chillies together with the garlic clove and coriander , and add salt to taste.

It is recommended that for blending, the water be replaced with chicken broth. It should be in small amounts so that the broth in our green enchiladas is somewhat thick.

This broth is added to a saucepan with very hot oil and allowed to boil for a few minutes before the next step of preparing the green enchiladas.

4. Tortillas

Usually 4 tortillas per person are served on the plate, so 16 tortillas are required for this recipe. The best thing is that they are freshly made and preferably warm so that they are soft.

Put oil in a pan, just enough to cover the tortilla and let it heat up. Once it is hot enough, put the tortillas in the oil.

The secret to preparing enchiladas is that the tortillas are only “passed” through the hot oil , that is, they should not be left there for long because the tortillas should not be crispy.

Once they come out of the oil they are bent to start preparing the dish.

5. Assemble the plate

The tortillas should be sunk in the chilli and green tomato broth . Then they are filled with the shredded chicken and folded. Garnish with julienne lettuce, cream and grated fresh cheese sprinkled all over the plate.

And these delicious green enchiladas are ready!

Variations

Green enchiladas have many variations and can be adapted according to taste. To the original recipe you can add poblano peppers , which should be roasted, put in a bag so that they “sweat” and it is easy to remove the skin to blend them with the serrano green peppers and green tomatoes.

Sliced radishes or finely chopped coriander can also be added to the final decoration. The chicken can be replaced with shredded pork or the chicken can be changed for stuffing and placed on top of the tortilla.

You can add more serrano peppers to make the dish really spicy, or you can reduce the number of peppers in case someone is not used to spicy food but does not want to miss out on this dish.

All these variations of enchiladas verdes are common to find in all Mexican homes, because everyone adapts them to their preferences; however, the base of this spicy and delicious dish is the tortilla, the chile and the meat.

Bibliographic references:

  • Flores Escalante, J. (2003). Brief history of Mexican food. Mexico: Grijalbo.