This recipe is “the whole enchilada,” so to speak. Â I’m giving you a method for poaching the chicken, making the enchilada sauce from scratch, and assembling the actual enchiladas. Â The only thing we’re not covering today is how to make corn tortillas, and I am sure homemade corn tortillas are the only thing that would make these enchiladas better. Â If you buy cooked chicken and canned enchilada sauce, you don’t really need a recipe to make enchiladas. Â Not judging of course, because we’ve all been there and shortcuts have their time and place. Â But if you can plan ahead, these are amazing. Â My entire family loves these and let me tell you, they’re a tough crowd.
I grew up on Long Island and didn’t even taste Mexican food until I moved to Los Angeles after college. Â My kids have grown up in LA and they are Mexican food experts, sometimes having lengthy discussions about which local taco joint has the best this or that. Â So when I make something Mexican that gets the thumbs-up, I am relieved and proud at the same time. Â Ironically, these are not my personal favorite enchiladas. Â I am more of a green (tomatillo) sauce person, so I am obsessed with the enchiladas verdes here. Â But my family digs these. Â I’ve been making enchiladas rojas for years and my son (Mr. Picky) used to call these “chicken tacos with Mexican tomato sauce.”