Last week I shared some of my favorite whole chicken recipes. Since I make them quite often, I usually have leftover shredded chicken lying around, and I’ve learned some really good ways to turn this into a cheap meal using ingredients I usually have in the house.
Here are two of my favorite (easy) recipes that I basically made up (they’re still edible, I promise!):
Chicken Enchiladas
Oddly enough, I invented this before I had ever looked at an enchilada recipe, much less made some myself. It may not be the most authentic way to do it, but it tastes delicious and better than some I’ve had in restaurants (in my humble opinion). Plus, my husband could eat about a hundred, which makes me feel validated!
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Ingredients:
- Corn tortillas
- 1 can red enchilada sauce
- Onions (diced)
- 1 Tbsp Olive oil
- Cumin
- Shredded Chicken
- Cheddar cheese or Mexican cheese blend
Directions:
- Pour olive oil into skillet and heat. Put in your diced onions, a couple of shakes of cumin. Cook until onions are transparent. Add leftover shredded chicken and cook until chicken is heated through. Cool.
- Pour 3/4 can of enchilada sauce in a wide, shallow bowl.
- Wrap some tortillas in a paper towel and heat in the microwave for 15-20 seconds, until warm and flexible. If you try to fill and wrap the tortillas when they are cold, they will break apart, so this step is important.
- Dip tortilla in enchilada sauce (both sides), lay in 13×19” baking pan and fill with chicken/onion mixture. Top with some cheese. Roll tortilla up and place the rolled end face down in pan so it stays closed. Continue with all tortillas, placing them next to one another in the pan until you’ve used up your chicken/onion mixture.
- Pour remaining 1/4 can of sauce over enchiladas (along with any that is left over in your bowl from dipping). The less sauce you use, the drier your enchiladas will be, so pour based on preference. Top with cheddar cheese.
- Bake in oven at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes until sauce is boiling around the edges.
Chicken and Rice casserole
This recipe is super simple and quick to assemble (not to mention, cheap). It’s comfort food that makes good leftovers.
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Ingredients:
- 1 box Rice-A-Roni wild rice (or your favorite brand/flavor)
- 1 can cream of chicken soup (you can pretty much use an “cream of” soup here, including cream of celery, cream of mushroom, and cream of broccoli)
- Frozen or fresh broccoli or cauliflower
- Shredded chicken
- 1 1/4 cups water
Directions:
- Mix all ingredients in casserole dish and stir.
- Cover with glass lid or foil and bake for 45 minutes – 1 hour, or until rice is thoroughly cooked and casserole is bubbling. I usually remove the cover for the last 5 minutes to help any excess liquid evaporate and to thicken the casserole.
Optional: Top with cheese and let bake for 10 additional minutes.