Authentic Mexican enchiladas verdes de pollo are great, but for a few weeks out of the year, a New Mexico harvest can really ramp up the flavor. Fresh Hatch chiles are swapped into the salsa verde base for this recipe, and the flavor they add is simply amazing. I love making these with fresh, flame-roasted Hatch chiles, but you can find canned or jarred chiles year-round as well.
What Are Enchiladas?
Enchiladas are wholly a part of Mexican cuisine, and date back to at least the Aztec Empire, with an even older but similar preparation known to have been made by the Mayans.
The base of the modern recipe is that a corn tortilla is wrapped around a filling and covered with a chile-based sauce. From that archetype, almost anything goes as fillings can range from different meats to cheeses to beans to vegetables and any combination between. Sauces can be from red or green chiles to moles to cheese or cream sauces and even tomato sauces.
As mentioned above, these enchiladas are a spin on the classic enchiladas verdes de pollo, or green chicken enchiladas. The sauce is typically made like a salsa verde, which is a blend of tomatillos and green chiles, and fried in a little oil.
What Are Hatch Chiles?
Hatch chiles are New Mexico chiles specifically grown in the Hatch Valley area of New Mexico. There’s a large set of land that runs up and down the Rio Grande where this chile is grown and gives it it’s unique flavor. They’re a big deal in New Mexico and they celebrate with a Hatch Chile Festival every Labor Day weekend each year. They have a short season as well, usually starting in August and ending in September.
Almost identical in look, the Anaheim, or California chile, was cultivated as an offshoot from Hatch chiles and bred to be milder in heat. While the Anaheim can vary between 500-2500 on the Scoville scale, Hatch chiles can vary between 1,000-8,000 SHU depending on the exact variety. This places their heat somewhere between a poblano and a hot jalapeno. Recognized around the world for their earthy taste, Hatch chiles really shine when roasted and have an earthy, smoky, buttery flavor that’s very unique.
Ingredients for Hatch Chili Enchiladas
Enchiladas can be broken down into 3 distinct components: the sauce, the filling, and the toppings. Some Hatch recipes for enchiladas and salsa verde will rely on nothing but the Hatch chiles with maybe some onion and garlic added in. For this recipe I wanted to stay close to a typical green enchilada sauce, but still have the Hatch flavor shine through as the main star.
The Green Salsa
Hatch Chiles – The main flavor should come from these. Normally for a salsa verde you will use 1-1.5 pounds of tomatillos, instead you’ll use 1 pound of Hatch chiles, about 7-8 of them. Roast them to get the best flavor.
Tomatillos – Use some to round out the flavor of the salsa, these are scaled back to about ½ a pound, about 4-5.
Jalapeno – Optional, but I like to add one just for some more heat. Could also use 1-2 serranos instead.
Onion – Use half of a white onion. Can save the other half to dice later as a topping also.
Garlic – 2-3 whole cloves for flavor.
Chicken Stock – If you’re poaching the chicken for this, reserve about a ½ cup of stock, or use store-bought. You shouldn’t need more than maybe a ¼ cup, as this is just to help thin out the salsa and makes mixing easier. Alternatively, you could just add a little water instead.
Seasoning – For this recipe I add in a little bit of salt, black pepper, cumin, and Mexican oregano. Mexican oregano does have a distinct taste to it, so if you don’t have it, omit rather than substituting regular oregano.
The Chicken
Chicken – One or two bone-in chicken breasts, or two boneless chicken breasts should give you plenty of meat. Alternatively, you can skip poaching the chicken altogether and simply use a store-bought rotisserie chicken instead.
Poaching Aromatics – You can use the other half of the white onion here, or quarter it and use half here and half for the topping, 2 garlic cloves, 1 bay leaf, 1 teaspoon of salt, and a ½ teaspoon of black peppercorns.
The Enchiladas
Tortillas – Traditionally made with corn tortillas about 6 inches in size. This is mostly personal preference though. I like making a bunch of smaller enchiladas with 6-inch white corn tortillas, but you could also get slightly larger 7–8-inch tortillas that will fit your baking dish and make larger enchiladas.
Cheese – This can be used as a filling, a topping, or both. For this recipe I kept the enchiladas simple and only filled with chicken, then topped with Oaxaca cheese. Any decent melting cheese will work though, including mozzarella, jack, cheddar, Chihuahua, etc., or a blend.
Toppings – Common toppings include diced white onion, fresh cilantro, crema Mexicana (Mexican table cream), sour cream, crème fraiche, queso fresco, or cotija.
How to Make Hatch Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas
Let me start by saying that there are tons of ways to make enchiladas and its mostly down to how your family made them or personal preference. In this recipe I keep the filling simple with just the shredded chicken, but you could also add cheese with it, or mix the chicken with cheese and the salsa and use little to no cheese on top. After reading the recipe, please feel free to switch things up and fill and top these how you would prefer.
The Chicken
Start by poaching the chicken, if you’re using a rotisserie, skip ahead to the salsa.
Place your chicken breasts into a large pot along with the onion, garlic, bay leaf, salt, and peppercorns (optionally you can toss some fresh cilantro in as well). Add enough water to cover the chicken and bring to a soft boil. Once boiling, lower the temperature enough to maintain a simmer and cook until the chicken registers about 165°F, 15-20 minutes.
Once the chicken is done, remove from the pot and allow it to rest until cool enough to handle. Reserve a ½ cup of the stock as well. Remove the skin and pull the meat off the bones if using split breasts. Now shred the chicken with your hands, two forks, or a stand mixer on low speed. Optionally season with salt and pepper, then set aside.
The Salsa Verde
While the chicken is cooking, roast your ingredients. Remove the husks from the tomatillos and wash them. Remove the skin from the onion but leave the skin on the garlic (protects it from burning). Cut the tomatillos and jalapeno (if using) in half. Place on a foil lined baking sheet cut side up and drizzle with olive oil, then flip cut side down and make sure everything gets a coating in the oil. Place under a broiler on low for 5-7 minutes, until slightly charred, remove and allow to cool.
For the Hatch chiles, I love roasting them over an open flame on a gas stove, but this can be time consuming with 8 chilies to go through. Alternatively, place them on the same foil lined baking sheet, uncut, and broil on high heat, turning occasionally until heavily charred. Once charred, toss into a zipper lock back and seal, or a mixing bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let them steam at least 5 minutes, then remove.
The blackened skin should peel off easily after steaming. Once the skin is removed, you can open a slit down the side of the chile and pull the top off where most of the seeds are. A quick dip in a bowl of water will remove almost every remaining seed quickly and easily.
Place all the ingredients, including the salt, pepper, cumin, oregano, and a ¼ cup of reserved chicken stock into a blender. Remember to squeeze the roasted garlic out of their skins. Blend until you have a mostly smooth salsa verde or leave slightly chunky if you prefer.
In a saucepan, heat 2-3 tablespoons of oil over medium heat and then add your salsa. Cook until warm, 3-4 minutes, and set aside.
The Enchiladas
Preheat your oven to 350°F / 180°C.
Heat a small skillet over medium heat with enough oil in it to shallow fry the corn tortillas. Once hot, fry one tortilla at a time for about 10-15 seconds on each side and place on a paper-towel lined plate. This makes the tortillas more pliable for wrapping, as well as helping to prevent them getting soggy while cooking.
Once you have everything ready (the chicken, the salsa, and the tortillas), setup a quick assembly line next to a 13x9 baking dish. Add some of the salsa to the bottom of the baking dish to help prevent sticking, about ½ a cup or so. Quickly dip a tortilla into the salsa on both sides, then fill with chicken and roll it up. Place the rolled tortilla seam side down into the baking dish. Continue this process until the baking dish is full or you run out of chicken.
Add the remaining salsa over top of the enchiladas and cover with cheese. Bake 15-20 minutes until the chicken is heated through and the cheese has melted. Optionally, switch to broil for 2-3 minutes at the end if you want to brown the cheese more.
Remove from the oven and you can garnish it directly in the baking dish. Alternatively, let them cool and serve it in plates and allow people to garnish their own.
What to Serve with Hatch Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas
A classic pairing of Mexican rice and refried beans works great, but other options include:
Black Beans & Rice
Guacamole
Corn Salad
Mexican Street Corn, or Elote
Cilantro Lime Rice
Ensalada de Nopales
Jicama Slaw
📋 Recipe
Hatch Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas
Ingredients
The Chicken
- 1-2 split chicken breasts, or 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- ½ white onion
- 2 cloves garlic , smashed
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon black peppercorns
The Sauce
- 7-8 Hatch Chiles
- 4-5 to tomatillos, husks removed and washed
- 1 jalapeno , optional
- ½ white onion
- 2-3 cloves garlic
- ¼ cup chicken stock , reserved
- 1 teaspoon Mexican oregano
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 3 tablespoons oil
The Enchiladas
- 8-12 white corn tortillas, depending on size
- 1-2 cups Oaxaca cheese , shredded
- Oil for frying
Toppings
- White onion , diced
- Fresh cilantro
- Lime wedges
- Mexican table cream
- Queso fresco , crumbled
Directions
The Chicken
- Start by poaching the chicken, if you’re using a rotisserie, skip ahead to the salsa.
- Place your chicken breasts into a large pot along with the onion, garlic, bay leaf, salt, and peppercorns (optionally you can toss some fresh cilantro in as well). Add enough water to cover the chicken and bring to a soft boil. Once boiling, lower the temperature enough to maintain a simmer and cook until the chicken registers about 165°F, 15-20 minutes.
- Once the chicken is done, remove from the pot and allow it to rest until cool enough to handle. Reserve a ½ cup of the stock as well. Remove the skin and pull the meat off the bones if using split breasts. Now shred the chicken with your hands, two forks, or a stand mixer on low speed. Optionally season with salt and pepper, then set aside.
The Sauce
- While the chicken is cooking, roast your ingredients. Remove the husks from the tomatillos and wash them. Remove the skin from the onion but leave the skin on the garlic (protects it from burning). Cut the tomatillos and jalapeno (if using) in half. Place on a foil lined baking sheet cut side up and drizzle with olive oil, then flip cut side down and make sure everything gets a coating in the oil. Place under a broiler on low for 5-7 minutes, until slightly charred, remove and allow to cool.
- For the Hatch chiles, I love roasting them over an open flame on a gas stove, but this can be time consuming with 8 chilies to go through. Alternatively, place them on the same foil lined baking sheet, uncut, and broil on high heat, turning occasionally until heavily charred. Once charred, toss into a zipper lock back and seal, or a mixing bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let them steam at least 5 minutes, then remove.
- The blackened skin should peel off easily after steaming. Once the skin is removed, you can open a slit down the side of the chile and pull the top off where most of the seeds are. A quick dip in a bowl of water will remove almost every remaining seed quickly and easily.
- Place all the ingredients, including the salt, pepper, cumin, oregano, and a ¼ cup of reserved chicken stock into a blender. Remember to squeeze the roasted garlic out of their skins. Blend until you have a mostly smooth salsa verde or leave slightly chunky if you prefer.
- In a saucepan, heat 2-3 tablespoons of oil over medium heat and then add your salsa. Cook until warm, 3-4 minutes, and set aside.
The Enchiladas
- Preheat your oven to 350°F / 180°C.
- Heat a small skillet over medium heat with enough oil in it to shallow fry the corn tortillas. Once hot, fry one tortilla at a time for about 10-15 seconds on each side and place on a paper-towel lined plate. This makes the tortillas more pliable for wrapping, as well as helping to prevent them getting soggy while cooking.
- Once you have everything ready (the chicken, the salsa, and the tortillas), setup a quick assembly line next to a 13x9 baking dish. Add some of the salsa to the bottom of the baking dish to help prevent sticking, about ½ a cup or so. Quickly dip a tortilla into the salsa on both sides, then fill with chicken and roll it up. Place the rolled tortilla seam side down into the baking dish. Continue this process until the baking dish is full or you run out of chicken.
- Add the remaining salsa over top of the enchiladas and cover with cheese. Bake 15-20 minutes until the chicken is heated through and the cheese has melted. Optionally, switch to broil for 2-3 minutes at the end if you want to brown the cheese more.
- Remove from the oven and you can garnish it directly in the baking dish. Alternatively, let them cool and serve it in plates and allow people to garnish their own.
Notes
Your Notes
Nutrition
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