For the entire month of September, I’ll be participating in the SNAP Challenge and attempting to eat on $4.50 per day. Read more here.
**UPDATE: Well, I overlooked the fact that you can’t buy rotisserie chicken with SNAP benefits! You can, however, buy a fresh chicken and roast a home if you have time. There are links throughout the post on how to roast your own chicken, if needed.**
I’m back! I’ve completed the move to my new house, my internet is hooked up, and I can finally update week four of the SNAP Challenge. I was worried about not having time to cook before packing up my apartment, but I made it work. I was able to whip up these enchiladas in just a short amount of time and they helped keep me fed all week through the tough move.
For these enchiladas I utilized the convenience of a grocery store rotisserie chicken. Roasting a chicken at home is actually quite easy, but you have to have a little time on your hands. If you’re short on time or too intimidated to do it yourself just yet (promise me you’ll try it eventually), grocery store rotisserie chickens can be a good option. Sometimes they’re the same price or even slightly less expensive than fresh chickens and all the work is done for you. Just make sure to price compare. My chicken was $6.99 and I used half of the meat (about two cup, loosely packed) to make the enchiladas. I’ll explain how I used the rest of the chicken, including the carcass, in the week summary. ;)
I made a quick and easy creamy red sauce similar to the sauce used for this Creamy Tomato and Spinach Pasta, except I used canned tomatoes with green chiles for a southwest flavor. I then added my usual can of black beans and a cup of frozen corn (I just love that combo) to fill out the enchiladas and stretch the meat a bit further. I quickly made a batch of my favorite red enchilada sauce to pour over top (seriously, only takes about ten minutes) and then they were ready to go in the oven. Pretty easy!
Creamy Chicken and Black Bean Enchiladas
SNAP Challenge: Creamy Chicken and Black Bean Enchiladas
Servings 8 enchiladasIngredients
- 1 Tbsp cooking oil ($0.02)
- 2 cloves garlic ($0.16)
- 1 15oz. can diced tomatoes with green chiles ($0.73)
- 4 oz. cream cheese ($0.75)
- 2 cups shredded chicken (about 1/2 of a rotisserie chicken) ($3.50)
- 1 15oz. can black beans ($0.89)
- 1 cup frozen corn kernels ($0.60)
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin ($0.05)
- 8 soft taco sized 8 inch tortillas ($1.12)
- 1 batch homemade red enchilada sauce (about 2 cups) ($0.80)
Instructions
- Mince the garlic and sauté it in a large skillet with cooking oil over medium heat for one to two minutes, or until slightly softened. Add the can of diced tomatoes with green chiles and let simmer for about 5 minutes, or until the tomato liquid has reduced by about half and become slightly thick.
- Cut the cream cheese into chunks and stir it into the tomato mixture. The sauce will become smooth and creamy as the cheese melts in.
- Rinse and drain the can of black beans, then add them to the skillet along with the frozen corn kernels, shredded chicken, and cumin. Stir to combine. Taste the filling and add salt if needed.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Scoop about 1/3 to 1/2 cup of the creamy chicken mixture into each tortilla and roll it up like a cigar. Place the filled and rolled tortillas into a 9×13 inch casserole dish, seam side down.
- While the oven is preheating, make a batch of homemade red enchilada sauce (or use canned), then pour it over the enchiladas in the casserole dish (you may or may not use all the sauce, it’s up to you). Bake the dish in the preheated oven for 40 minutes or until the sauce is bubbly and the edges of the tortillas are slightly brown and crispy.
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Notes
Nutrition
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Step by Step Photos
I used about half of the meat from one grocery store rotisserie chicken for this recipe. I was able to pull about four loosely packed cups of meat from one chicken. I find the meat easier to pick when it’s chilled, so I just popped it into the refrigerator when I got home from the grocery store. If you want to roast your own chicken instead, you can find great instructions at thekitchn.com.
I divided the chicken in two, about two loosely packed cups each. I froze half for use in a second recipe later.
To begin the enchiladas, mince two cloves of garlic then sauté them in one tablespoon of vegetable oil over medium heat for one to two minutes, or until the garlic is softened and slightly fragrant.
Next, add one can of diced tomatoes with green chiles. This is the generic version of Rotel. If you can’t find Rotel or a generic version at your local grocery store, you can sub one 15-oz. can of regular diced tomatoes and one 4-oz. can of diced green chiles (usually found in the ethnic food aisle). Add the can of tomatoes to the skillet and let it simmer for about five minutes, or until some of the liquid has evaporated and it’s a little thicker.
Next you’ll need 4 ounces (half a block) of cream cheese. Cut the cream cheese into pieces so that it melts into the sauce easier.
Stir the cream cheese into the tomatoes until it melts in. It will look a little chunky to begin with, but as it melts it will become smooth…
Like this!
Rinse and drain one 15-oz. can of black beans, then add them to the skillet with two cups of shredded chicken. one cup of frozen corn kernels.and 1/2 tsp of cumin.
Mix it all up and now you’ve got a creamy and delicious chicken enchilada filling. (taste the sauce and add salt if needed. I didn’t add any to mine, but that’s personal preference.)
Fill your tortillas with the chicken mixture, then roll them up like cigars. The amount of filling and number of enchiladas you get will depend on what size tortillas you buy. I prefer smaller tortillas for enchiladas, but these particular tortillas were buy one get one free this week, so I hopped on that. There is a lot of filling, so I was able to make eight large enchiladas.
Place the filled and rolled enchiladas into a large (9×13 inch) casserole dish, seam side down.
Start preheating the oven to 350 and whip up a batch of red enchilada sauce while you wait (or use canned, but this homemade sauce is FAR superior). That recipe makes about two cups of sauce and you may or may not use all of it on the enchiladas, just depending on how saucy you like them.
Pour the sauce over the enchiladas and pop them in the oven for about 40 minutes, or until the sauce is bubbly and the edges of the tortillas are a little brown and crispy.
I poured the remainder of my sauce over top when they came out of the oven and I happened to have some cilantro in the fridge, so I threw that on there for the photo’s sake. As I mentioned, these were fairly large so I ate one per sitting along with a big helping of some cilantro lime rice.
I never get sick of enchiladas!
Delish delish delish!! I made the rice and the homemade sauce too. I’m officially never using the canned sauce again!
I have these in the oven right now! Everything tasted so yummy before putting them together so I know they are going to turn out delish.
With the other half of the chicken I made a tortilla soup, used parts of your Chicken and Lime recipe and doctored it up a bit with stuff I had in the house (Mixed beans, since my black beans were used up)….I have to say I’m stuffed after a bowl of soup that was supposed to be an appetizer. Looks like we’ll be eating this stuff all week.
while it’s true that you can not buy the fresh cooked that day rotisserie chickens on SNAP, you can buy the ones from the day before. Which works well if all you are going to do it shred them ;)
Delicious! I’m eating these right now. Super easy to make, and super cheap. I had a coupon for rotisserie chicken and had it for dinner last night – used some to make this today, have the frame going in the crock pot for stock, and have enough left over chicken for chicken soup or something else later.
I added shredded cheese as soon as it came out of the oven, and topped it with sour cream once it hit my plate (I love dairy…).
Amazing! I used chèvre instead of cream cheese, and it was an amazing substitution.
Oooh, I love chèvre!
My boyfriend and I loved these! We followed the recipe exactly and it was wonderful.
Outstanding! Made it exactly to recipe.. Added shredded Mexican cheese in the last 5 mins. Next time I’m trying a verde enchilada sauce instead of the red sauce. More of a cali-mex style. Will make this again and again.
Like this sauce..
Chi-Chi’s Mexi-sauce:
Saute 1/2 cup chopped onion and 2 chopped garlic cloves in a skillet with vegetable oil. Add a pinch each of chili powder, cumin, sugar and salt; cook 30 seconds. Stir in two 4-ounce cans chopped green chiles (drained and rinsed); cook 2 minutes. Add 1 cup chicken broth and simmer until thickened, then puree. Stir in 1/4 cup chopped cilantro.
I love this recipe! It was a hit with my husband…before he even finished the first bite he said “Can you make this again?!”
I mucked up the recipe just a bit — only used 2 oz of cream cheese (was still nice and creamy) and realized I was out of tortillas too late, so I used naan. Even still, I’ll be making this regularly!
Hi Beth, I came across your website while looking for your basic chili mix recipe and ended up finding much much more..I thought to myself “finally…here is a person that is frugal, as well as having diverse tastes like my own!” Growing up with a southern mom and a South American father, we were exposed to
Many tastes. Thanks so much for the wonderful recipes and keep up the great job!!
Our local Walmart refrigerates some of their cooked chickens then place a EBT sticker on them. SNAP eligible!
As usual I have only good things to say about your site. I admire that you are working on a SNAP budget. (You’ve made me appreciate the challenges of so many Americans!) I am a teacher and know that many of my student’s’ families face economic challenges. Tomorrow is my day with no planning periods, a meeting at lunch, and a two-hour class after school. I pre-made the sauce and filling for this recipe when I got home today and am looking forward to assembling an easy and affordable dinner tomorrow night. Thank you!
Congratulations on moving into your new house, and I am SO happy that you are settled. I want to thank you for doing the SNAP challenge, because it’s important to bring awareness for those who are trying to get food on the table, but are unable to do that-due to their finances. I’ve read some of the comments about SNAP, and unfortunately, some people can extremely judgemental and ignorant, so what do they know about NOT doing without-especially a meal for a few days!! Again, thank you for bringing awareness to this issue.
I recently ran across this site looking for a slow cooker recipe for white bean soup. I have it cooking in the slow cooker now. What a great place to find recipes to stretch your food budget (money is s bit tight right now). I saw the comment on not being able to get rotisserie chicken with SNAP. You can if you wait until the end of the day when they put some in the deli department. You can buy them cold and just reheat. I am not on SNAP but I have been in the past and bought rotisserie chicken.
Fantastic recipes.
Congratulations on being settled in the house! Looks like a great dinner for our house! Especially something to do with leftover roast chicken from a Sunday!
Yum–I couldn’t resist adding some sauteed diced onion, and green chile (a lingering item from the very cheap Hatch chile specials at my grocery store from a couple of weeks ago–it was almost jalapeno hot–these things do vary–and cost about $.30)