Chicken Enchilada Bake

Uggghhhh this whole thing started when our refrigerator in our garage broke. Insert that eye rolling emoji here. Yes I have a refrigerator in my garage, it’s a total luxury I am completely thankful for because it allows me to save portions of meals for those nights when I’m riding solo as a parent and need a healthy choice for diner. It also lets me stock up on all the goodness from Costco, and honestly gives me an awesome place to “store” my wine. 

But our refrigerator for reasons unknown has decided that it’s done working hard and decided to just up and quit. Fine. Thankfully we discovered this before all the food in it went bad and thankfully we can replace it so really no harm done minus the inconvenience of moving things and now having to figure out how to ditch a broken refrigerator.

In the midst of this, I discovered that I had a whole bag of chicken in the freezer that really REALLY needed to be cooked before it got freezer burn and was rendered useless. You know my feelings about throwing out food, so into the crockpot it went so I could make Shredded Chicken with the intention of ok I'll figure out what to do with this later.

Then later came and I was standing in front of my functioning fridge with an onion in my hand wondering legitimately what I would do with this shredded, cooked chicken. I looked at the onion, I looked at some leftover enchilada sauce and some cream cheese (I’m not kidding) and thought well this will work.

So here we are with a recipe that literally came out of nowhere but everyone in my house, child included (and we know how much that matters) ended up loving. Needless to say I'll be making this one again, but with more purpose behind it next time.

Chicken Enchilada Bake

Prep time: 20 minutes

Cook time 50 minutes

Serves 6

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 onion, diced

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 cup corn, frozen or thawed

1 15 oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed

3 Roma tomatoes, diced

1 4oz can diced green chiles

2 oz. cream cheese

1 cup enchilada sauce

2 cups of shredded, cooked chicken

1 cup shredded Pepper Jack cheese

Preheat your oven to 350 and spray your 9x13 pan with non-stick spray. Grab a medium skillet, heat your olive oil over medium heat and add in your onion and garlic. Cook until the onions are translucent, around 3 to 4 minutes. Add in your corn and black beans, cooking for an additional 5 minutes and then add in your tomatoes, cooking for an additional 5 minutes or until the tomatoes start breaking down. Once the tomatoes start to break down, add in your green chiles and cream cheese, sautéing until the cream cheese is melted completely. Then place that whole mixture into a large bowl with your shredded chicken, add in your enchilada sauce and mix until well combine. Cover and cook for 30 minutes, uncover, top with the cheese and cook for an additional 10 minutes or until the cheese is melty.

Serve immediately! I liked this one topped with avocado, sour cream, cilantro and green onions! Enjoy!