i usually love making dinner. i love chopping vegetables, i love sauteeing them, i love making a mess in the kitchen. (i don’t love cleaning it up.) but i know i’m not the only one that has busy days when making dinner is just another daunting task on the to-do list, and i know i’m not the only one that sometimes just wants to have dinner already made because i simply do not feel like making it.
slow cooker meals and freezer meals are both excellent ways to get the job done without having to spend your precious time in the kitchen. it may take a little bit of work at some point, like, say, on a saturday or sunday, or even in the morning on a weekday. but it can be done when it’s convenient for you and not at 5:00 pm when everyone’s hungry.
chicken enchiladas are one of our favorite freezer meals – we make a double batch, eat half of it for dinner that night, and stick half of it in the freezer for those busy/i-do-not-feel-like-cooking days.
here is the recipe for 1 batch (it makes 8-10 enchiladas, depending on how much of the chicken filling you put in each one).
- 2½ cups chopped (or shredded), cooked chicken
- 1 (4oz) can diced green chilies
- 2 cans cream of chicken soup
- 1 cup sour cream
- 2 cups grated monterey jack cheese
- small flour tortillas
- mix chicken and chilies in a bowl. set aside.
- heat soup to a boil and add sour cream and ½ cup of grated cheese, and stir until smooth.
- stir ¾ cup of soup mixture into chicken mixture.
- dip each tortilla into soup mixture. fill with ¼ cup of chicken mixture, top with a sprinkling of cheese, and roll up. place in a 9x13 baking dish.
- repeat until all the chicken mixture is gone. put extra cheese on the top of all the rolled enchiladas.
- bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until bubbly. enjoy!
- *if freezing, place enchiladas in a freezer-safe dish. cover with tin foil after topping with extra cheese. freeze. to bake, remove from freezer and let thaw in fridge all day. bake as normal. if you do NOT remember to remove from freezer, add more time to baking when baking from frozen - bake for 45-60 minutes, instead of 30.
what are some shortcuts you use for dinnertime? do you have any favorite freezer meals?? please share in the comments! i love to hear what you have to say!
Super idea and looks soooooo good!
Yum! Can’t wait to try this!
I made this for dinner tonight and it was absolutely delicious! We don’t really have diced canned chillies so I added a diced red capsicum, corn and parsley. Also subbed in parmesan cheese because we don’t really have Monterey Jack. It was really nice – thanks for sharing!
Awesome, Symone! So glad you liked them! I’ll have to try them with your substitutes next time – great ideas!
Question! Do you bake them before freezing?
The chicken is baked/cooked, but the enchiladas – once they’re assembled – are frozen unbaked. I think the texture turns out way better if you freeze them unbaked and then just bake them when you’re ready to eat! Thanks for the question!
When you boil the soup, do you add the recommended amount of water or just the condensed soup alone?
Just the condensed soup – no water!
Thanks Katie, You answered my question as well. Keep the soup undiluted.
Thanks, Sherri! I’ll update that info in the blog post!
How long can it be frozen for?
I’d freeze them for 3-4 months.