Chicken Enchilada Casserole

I love enchiladas and I have made them at home many times. Keeping Cinco de Mayo in mind, I wanted to make something easy, yummy, Mexican(ish) and big enough to feed 6. So instead of hand rolling all those enchiladas and using 2 dishes to put them in, I decided to make a casserole instead.

Here is my recipe, make sure to add anything else you like to it!

Chicken Enchilada Casserole:
1 roasted chicken, shredded
2 large cans verde enchilada sauce (you can use red sauce if you prefer)
1 large onion
1 package mushrooms
1 cup sour cream
1 1/2 pounds Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
18 corn tortillas

Add To Taste:
cumin
garlic
chili powder
salt pepper

Garnish:
salsa (see Lydia's post from 5/5/10)
avocado
olives
sour cream

• Rub a tablespoon of cumin, garlic, salt & pepper on a raw chicken. Roast the chicken at 350 degrees until the internal temperature of the chicken is 180 degrees. Remove the chicken from the oven and let about 30 minutes (you can also use a roasted chicken from the grocery store).

• Shred the roasted chicken and place in a large bowl.

• Dice the onion and slice all the mushrooms. Over medium-high heat, saute the onions until translucent. Add mushrooms and season with cumin, chili powder, salt and pepper.

• Add the onions & mushrooms to the shredded chicken and mix together.

• Pour the verde sauce in a large mixing bowl and wisk in 1 cup of sour cream.

• Add 1/4 cup of the verde & sour cream sauce to the chicken mixture and 1/4 cup of the verde & sour cream sauce to a large casserole dish.

• Place 6 corn tortillas on the bottom of the casserole dish (it is okay to have them slightly overlap). spread half of the chicken mixture over the tortillas, then lightly cover with verde & sour cream sauce; sprinkle with cheese (this is the first of 2 layers). Repeat the process starting with the tortillas to create a second layer.

• Top the casserole with a final layer of corn tortillas, then add the remaining sauce and cover with cheese.

• Cook at 375 degrees until the cheese is bubbly and slightly brown.

• Serve over tortilla chips and garnish anyway you like!

Notes:
I had a whole chicken in my freezer, so I thought that this would be a good use for it - in the future, I would use a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store to save time. This makes a ton, we had it again the following night and it was still delicious - I did add a little chicken broth to keep it moist. Because it makes so much, this would also be a great party dish that people could scoop at with chips.