Love and Olive Oil

Chicken & Goat Cheese Enchiladas

Chicken & Goat Cheese Enchiladas

In our house, I usually make the grocery lists, so I’m responsible for making sure we don’t accidentally use something up that we’re going to need later in the week. Especially when I know we need to photograph something, I’m usually pretty good about letting Taylor know what foodstuffs are off limits until the shot is done.

This time, my system didn’t work quite so well. Taylor, unawares of our Mexican-food-packed week (enchiladas, tacos, and burritos, oh my!) unknowingly made himself a few breakfast burritos for lunch, using up most of what was left of our container of sour cream and two of the few remaining good tortillas.

So when it came time to make enchiladas for dinner that night, I found myself with shoddy stuck-together tortillas (I’m never buying that brand again) and a measly two tablespoons of sour cream. Yes, it was probably my fault for not buying more to begin with, but I secretly wanted to blame him for using something he should have known not to, even if I had never actually told him so.

Knowing that these enchiladas needed sour cream, I stubbornly scraped what was left into a squeeze bottle, thinking that it was maybe just barely enough.

But as I went to squeeze out an artful drizzle over the freshly baked and bubbly enchiladas, what I got instead was a nice loud phffffffffthththtthph and a splatter of sour cream all over my beautiful enchiladas (and my backdrop. And my linens. And my shirt…)

I could have flipped out. I could have thrown the squeeze bottle across the room and stomped off in a huff. I could have made a scene out of something that was so minor and trivial that I would have looked like a total food blog-zilla (and, I admit, I’ve done so before).

Instead, I laughed. At myself. At the ridiculousness of the situation. At the fact that my Pollock-esque spatters of sour cream and crudely clumped cilantro thrown down in a fit of restrained rage ended up looking better than if I had precisely placed each perfect leaf with a pair of tweezers.

Such is life.

Such are enchiladas.

And you know what? That’s ok. Because these enchiladas taste amazing.

Chicken & Goat Cheese Enchiladas

They’re based on Gina’s amazing enchilada recipe from the Skinnytaste Cookbook. I have to admit, I’m pretty good at un-skinnyfying her skinny recipes, swapping in full fat for low fat and so forth. Even so, these enchiladas are full of flavor and still manage to be somewhat healthy. We added the goat cheese (because everything is better with goat cheese), as well as some pickled jalapeños to the filling for a bit of a kick. You can use jarred Enchilada sauce (the Trader Joe’s brand is surprisingly good!) or make your own if you prefer.

Spicy Jalapeño Chicken & Goat Cheese Enchiladas

In this crazy food-blog world where a kind of ‘perfect imperfection’ runs rampant (I know I’m not the only one to have thought, ‘there’s no way that crumb was unintentional’ on more than one occasion), sometimes you just have to accept that things might come out looking/smelling/sounding like a big juicy… uh, well, not what you originally intended.

This will henceforth be known as the Enchilada Incident, and will serve as a shining example of that one time when everything went wrong and I had no choice but to sit back and laugh at the absurdity of the situation.

And honestly? I think we’d all be a lot happier if we were able to laugh at ourselves more often.

Chicken & Goat Cheese Enchiladas

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Ingredients:

  • 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
  • 1 medium onion, chopped (about 1 cup chopped)
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1/2 cup canned tomato sauce
  • 1/3 cup chicken broth
  • 9 ounces cooked shredded chicken (from about 2 smallish chicken breasts)
  • 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, plus more for topping
  • 1/4 cup pickled jalapeños, drained and chopped
  • 1 teaspoon chili powder
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 8 flour tortillas
  • 1/2 cup (4 ounces) soft goat cheese
  • 1 1/2 cups enchilada sauce
  • 1 cup Mexican blend cheese
  • sour cream, for garnish

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly spray a 13-by-9-inch baking pan with cooking spray.
  2. Heat oil in a non-stick skillet set over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and stir until softened, about 2 minutes. Add tomato sauce, chicken broth, chicken, cilantro, jalapeños, chili powder, cumin, oregano, and salt. Simmer until slightly reduced, 4 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat.
  3. Lay a tortilla flat on a clean work surface. Spread a generous tablespoon of goat cheese in a stripe down the center, then top with about 1/3 cup of chicken mixture. Roll up and place, seam side down, in prepared baking pan. Repeat with remaining tortillas. Pour enchilada sauce over top and sprinkle with grated cheese. Cover with aluminum foil and bake until heated through and cheese is melted, about 20 to 25 minutes (if you like your cheese speckled with brown, remove the foil during the last 5 minutes of baking).
  4. Serve warm, topped with fresh cilantro and a dollop (or splatter) of sour cream if desired.

Adapted from the Skinnytaste Cookbook.

All images and text © / Love & Olive Oil

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34 Comments

  1. Made this last night. It was super yummy! Is a keeper. I added a titch more spice, and our enchilada sauce was not great, but this was sooo good! Thank you. 

  2. Chicken & Goat Cheese Enchiladas very attractive. I want to taste this dish. Thanks a lot

  3. Like most of these other people, I have never tried goat cheese with Mexican but now I must have that never changed. Stomach just wait!

  4. Hmm… never used goat cheese with Mexican… interesting!  And I just had a similar sour cream using husband story… shouldn’t they know just about everything in the fridge is off limits in food blogger land?!?

  5. Love this recipe! Where did you get those forks?! I really like them. 

  6. These look delicious! I love goat cheese but haven’t tried putting it in enchiladas. But nevertheless, this is just so fantastic! Thanks for sharing this dish.

  7. Ummm done and done and done.

    and done.

    and done.

  8. Yum – thanks so much and have a great Sunday!

  9. This looks so yummy yummy! I have made a few creations with chicken and goat cheese but never thought of making enchiladas. I might swap the chicken for spinach to make it vegetarian. Great recipe, thanks for sharing!

  10. This looks like a little chicken crepe. Surprisingly adorable and delicious, obviously. Thanks for sharing the recipe dear.

  11. How have I never put goat cheese on an enchilada before?! Now this is all I can think about! I can’t wait to try it

  12. Haha I so know that feeling! I’m constantly telling my fiance not to eat the “pretty ones” before I can photograph something. It’s a rough life :)

  13. you’re so right! everything IS better with goat cheese! I buy the 2 10-.5-oz. packages at Costco on a regular basis. we go through them like crazy!

  14. Love your humour! Anyway it seems it was a successful culinary adventure!

  15. I would never have thought of putting goat cheese in an enchilada. Brilliant!

    The Old Fat Guy

  16. I am so making these as recently I had goat cheese enchiladas at a restaurant and they were amazing!! Looking forward to trying these out!!

  17. Love your story Lindsay :) So true!! And your enchuladas look as amazing as it was planned to look like that! You could never produce something terrible looking ;)

  18. These enchiladas look wonderful, Lindsay. Glad to hear that everything worked out in the end with them. :D 

  19. Work with what you’ve got, right?? :) These look fantastic, however, I really don’t like the Trader Joe’s enchilada sauce — the one in a bottle, at least. Is there a canned version I don’t know about? I’m not very picky, and I usually love anything Trader Joe’s. I was actually really surprised not to like it :(

  20. Haha…this story was the best! We’ve all been there! And you know what? It really does look great…like sour cream art. :)

  21. Oh how I hear you on this one! I’m totally in your camp, if you can’t laugh then why bother? I think the hardest part about food blogging is not overstyling my photos. Gotta keep it real, glad you did because these look great. 

  22. Love your attitude! I think I would’ve totally flipped out. But knowing enchiladas in my mouth were at the end of it all, maybe not. Especially these yummy ones!

  23. The filling looks great, but using flour tortillas for enchiladas is a no-no!

  24. These look magnificent! I can’t wait to make them..Chicken and Goat cheese? doesn’t get much better than that! 

  25. I love that you use goat cheese in these enchiladas. They look amazing!

  26. Mmmm i love it !

  27. I can relate to your story, sometimes things that may drive me nuts and I may have a fitt over end up not being such big deals after all. Can’t wait to give this recipe a try. This reminds me of the first meal I made to introduce my parents to my husband’s parents 20 years ago. ??

  28. Haha I love this story because it’s absolutely true! I think people can relate more to the perfectly imperfect foods because it looks more real. P.S. I am very much in love with the idea of goat cheese in enchiladas.

  29. I love the idea of using goat cheese in these enchiladas.  (I also LOVE your Hibiscus enchiladas)  Nicely done.

  30. I love goat cheese but have never paired it with Mexican dishes..this looks amazing!

  31. The Trader Joe’s enchilada sauce is actually one of my favorites! It’s taste isn’t too bitter like some other brands I’ve had.  I too agree that everything is better with goat cheese! I’m not sure if this throws off the “mexican” flavor of enchiladas, but I just live for anything goat cheese so I must try it! Great recipe!

  32. What a fantastic little recipe! 

    Must give this a try :) 

    With love from London, Hayley x

  33. These look delicious! Have you ever tried using greek yoghurt in place of sour cream? Since I always have it in my fridge I use it and it’s really good!

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