Gluten & Dairy-Free Chicken Enchiladas in Red Sauce

dairy free gluten free chicken enchiladas red sauce

Enchiladas are the ultimate comfort food. These Gluten & Dairy Free Chicken Enchiladas in Red Sauce are healthy and delicious!

 

A little background

 

I’ve been completely dairy and gluten free for about 2 years now and I can honestly tell you that it’s been life changing.  I believe the key to continuing this lifestyle is being able to adapt those everyday recipes that have gluten and dairy to fit our needs.  A lot of traditional gluten and dairy foods contain ingredients that bloat you or just make you feel icky at the end of the day.

 

I try to make recipes that resemble those of their gluten and dairy counterparts, with a lot less fat and, obviously, no dairy or gluten.

 

One food that is usually off limits are enchiladas due to all the cheese.  There are so many ways and variations to enchiladas, so this is just my take on a healthy one that is quick and easy to prepare.  Sometimes you need some comfort food and quickly.  This does the trick for me, keeps my nutrition on track, and keeps the bloating associated with gluten and dairy intolerances away.

 

Gluten & Dairy-Free Chicken Enchiladas in Red Sauce

 

Prep time: 20 minutes

Cooking time: 20 minutes

 

Ingredients

 

1 Rotisserie chicken or pre-prepared diced/shredded chicken

14 Corn Tortillas (I used Guerrero King Size White Corn Tortillas for this batch)

1 pouches of Daiya Shredded Cheese Mozzarella

2 pouches of Daiya Shredded Cheese Cheddar

1 28 oz can of Red Enchilada Sauce (I used La Victoria’s Mild Red Enchilada Sauce for this batch)

Half an onion diced

Half a red, orange, or green pepper diced

Splash of olive oil

Splash of white vinegar

Fresh Italian Parsley

 

 

 

Instructions

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

 

Pickle the onions and peppers

 

In a sauté pan, heat on medium your onions and peppers with a splash of olive oil and white vinegar.  Keep mixing it with a spatula until the onions turn clear and extremely soft.  The peppers will be really soft as well.  Turn off heat and move the pan to a burner that is cool so that your onions and peppers don’t continue cooking.

 

If you don’t like the pickled onion flavor, omit the white vinegar.  And if you are not a fan of onions or green peppers, you can skip this step as it’s not necessary.  I do it because I like the added flavor, but this is just a personal preference.

 

Dice the chicken and mix with the veggie filling

 

Chop up all the meat from your rotisserie chicken.  Take the onion and pepper mix that you just sauteed and mix it with your chopped chicken.  This is now your meat filling.

 

Red enchilada sauce

 

Spread a generous layer of red enchilada sauce on the bottom of your 9×13 inch pan.

 

You can use whatever your favorite red enchilada sauce is.  If you’re just trying to make a quick meal, you can pick up a 28 oz can of red enchilada sauce from your local grocery store.  They’re relatively inexpensive.  Here is a link to one that I sometimes use when I’m trying to make a quick meal:  Amazon.com : La Victoria Red Enchilada Sauce Traditional, Mild, 28 oz : Grocery & Gourmet Food.

 

Roll the corn tortillas with the meat filling

 

Place 7 corn tortillas inside a few damp paper towels and microwave them for 30 seconds. This softens the corn tortillas making them easier to roll up and less likely to crumble.  There are other traditional ways of doing this, such as, frying the corn tortillas until they puff up prior to rolling them.  You can choose to use this method if you want it a bit more traditional.  However, I shy away from this because I want it as healthy as possible.  I avoid the fried stuff as much as possible.

 

Take a corn tortilla and put a couple spoons of your meat filling, in the middle, going directly from one end of the tortilla to the other.

 

Then take a small amount of both cheddar and mozzarella shredded cheese and spread it evenly over your meat filling in the middle of your tortilla. Be careful not to overstuff your tortillas with filling because then it is more difficult to roll them.

 

Roll your corn tortilla and place seam side down into the pan with the sauce. Repeat with the other 6 tortillas.

 

Repeat the same process with the other tortillas

 

Heat up the other 7 tortillas the same way previously done.

 

Roll the remaining 7 corn tortillas to fit around the pan.  I usually do 2 rows of 5 enchiladas.  And then 2 rows of 2 enchiladas in the remaining space but you can get creative.

 

Once you’ve rolled all your enchiladas, pour the remaining (or less if you like them drier) red enchilada sauce over the enchiladas.

 

Add the toppings

 

Put as much mozzarella and cheddar cheese as you want.  I normally use a 2 to 1 ratio of the cheeses: 2 cheddar cheese pouches and 1 mozzarella cheese pouch.  I spread this evenly over the sauce.

 

Chop up fresh Italian parsley and sprinkle over the top as garnish.

 

Place in pre-heated oven on center rack and bake for 20 minutes uncovered.

 

Take out and let cool for about 5 minutes. I like to pour leftover red enchilada sauce on top so that it is nice and juicy since the cheese soaks up a lot of the red sauce while baking!

 

Serve and enjoy!

 

Recommended reading:

 

If you’re looking for something sweet to eat after these enchiladas, try making this super moist, banana bread that is also dairy free and gluten free!  Super Moist Gluten and Dairy Free Banana Bread Recipe (lifewithdenise.com)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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