Honey Lime Chicken Enchilada Bake

I haven’t felt too adventurous lately when it comes to our meals. I’ve been making things that I know we like and most have been pretty easy to prepare.

However, I’ve been seeing recipes for Honey Lime Chicken Enchiladas on Pinterest. These sounded good, so I decided to make some small changes to one of the recipes and give it a try.

Ingredients

(Adapted from this recipe.)

For the marinade

• 6 tablespoons honey
• 5 tablespoons lime juice
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• ½ teaspoon garlic powder

For the enchiladas

• 1 lb. chicken
• 8-10 (6-7 in. diameter) flour tortillas
• 1 cup heavy cream
• ½ cup sour cream
• 1 (10 oz.) can green enchilada sauce
• 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Instructions

Whisk together the marinade ingredients and toss with the chicken in a zipper baggie or airtight container. Allow the chicken to marinate in the fridge for a few hours. Cook the chicken using your preferred method (I used a Crockpot). Shred the chicken once it is cool. Refrigerate until you are ready to assemble the bake.

Preheat the oven to 350°F. In a medium bowl, whisk together the heavy cream, sour cream, and enchilada sauce.

Line the bottom of a lightly greased 2.5-qt. casserole dish with half of the tortillas. Top with half of the chicken, half of the enchilada sauce-cream mixture, and half of the cheese. Cover this with the remaining tortillas. Top the tortillas with the remaining chicken and sauce, then sprinkle with the remaining cheese.

Bake for 30 minutes, or until the top begins to crisp around the edges. Allow to cool at least 5 minutes before cutting and serving. Yield: 5 servings.

Notes

There are two secrets to making this an easy-to-prepare dish. One is to cook the chicken in advance. You can cook it anywhere from a few hours to a couple of days before you make the bake. The chicken, by the way, is tasty enough to eat on its own! The marinade makes it very flavorful. The second is to layer the ingredients (as I’ve described above) instead of rolling them in individual tortillas (which is the traditional way to make enchiladas and the method described in the original recipe). These two changes made it possible for me to prepare this on a busy weeknight.

This had a very yummy flavor. It wasn’t spicy, which is something my kids appreciated. It was savory and even a bit sweet. The tortillas got a little soggy, so I will use corn tortillas instead of flour tortillas next time. I’ll also add riced cauliflower (as I do with my regular enchiladas) or black beans so there are a few more nutrients in the bake. If you want to cut back on some of the fat in this recipe, try using half-and-half or plain Greek yogurt instead of cream.

Have you made any yummy bakes recently? I’d love to hear about them.