Three Layer Chicken Enchilada Casserole

Yum

Serves 6-12

I've been playing around with this recipe for a few years and I think this version hits all the notes I'm looking for in this Mexican-flavor inspired casserole dish. Like a lasagna, you're building the layers up and then baking until it's all one nice set rectangle. Brining the chicken before cooking gives the chicken just a little bit more of it's own character instead of being a filler in this dish. If you like enchiladas and/or ugly cheesy messes, this casserole is for you. 

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Ingredients

15-ish Corn Tortillas
1 Can Refried Beans, 16 Oz
1 Can Mild Diced Green Chiles, 4 Oz
1 Can Medium Red Enchilada Sauce, 12 Oz
2 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts, Shredded
4 Cups Mexican Cheese Blend, Shredded
1 Cup Heavy Whipping Cream
1 Container Mexican Style Sour Cream, 16 Oz
Taco Seasoning, to taste

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Directions

1. Start by brining the chicken breasts. In a medium sized bowl, bring 1 1/2 quarts of very cold water together with 3 Tablespoons of table salt and once mixed together, add in Chicken Breasts and let sit in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to an hour. Any longer and the chicken will absorb too much salt water.

2. Once Chicken has been brined, wash off breasts and pat dry. Cover chicken breasts in Taco Seasoning and some ground black pepper, heat skillet, and begin to cook chicken breasts in a lightly oiled pan.

3. While doing step two, also pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees, pull out a 9x13 (or similar sized) pan, lightly grease it and prep your other casserole ingredients (Tortillas, Refried Beans, Chiles, Enchilada Sauce, Cheese) so that layering the casserole can be quick.

4. Once chicken hits 165 degrees F, take out of pan and shred with your preferred method. I use my stand mixer with a paddle attachment. You can also use a hand-mixer and also the ol' two-fork separation method. If you use the fork method, best to let it sit for like five minutes so you don't burn yourself. Once chicken is shredded to your liking, put (or keep) in bowl and bring it over to your other prepped ingredients.

5. Now the assembly. Essentially you just want to cover as much space in the bottom of your casserole dish with tortilla as possible, without a ton of overlap. This will be different for everyone based on what your pan looks like, but with mine, I was able to fit 5 standard six inch corn tortillas in the bottom layer of the pan; one full tortilla in each corner and then one ripped in half and laid in the center. If you want to cover more space you can rip them up smaller, but the smaller you make them, the harder the next step will be.

6. Next, use a spoon to drop about half of your can of refried beans into the center of the tortillas. Use a rubber spatula to gently push them around until you have them covering as much of the tortilla layer as possible. The beans are our glue in this casserole.

7. Once beans have been spread, layer your other ingredients evenly across the beanfield like so; half your can of Diced Green Chile, half of your shredded chicken, one cup of shredded cheese and about a third of your enchilada sauce.

8. Once your first layer is complete, start anew with tortillas, trying to cover as much space as possible with as few tortillas as you can. For me, that was once again 5 tortillas. Then layer your ingredients the same as in step 7.

9. Time for the top "crust" layer. Cover your second layer of toppings with your favorite tortilla covering pattern. Then distribute remaining two cups of shredded cheese across the top as evenly as possible. Next, try to evenly drop the last third of your enchilada sauce. Then pour the Heavy Whipping Cream across the top, trying to get it as evenly distributed between the top and the sides.

10. Time to bake. Set the casserole on your middle rack and let bake. Exact time will vary based on what dish you used, but I think a good rule of thumb is to check it at 20  minutes and check again every 10 minutes after that until the cheese starts to brown. For me, it was about 40 minutes.

11. Once cheese is sufficiently golden, pull out of oven and let sit for about ten minutes before serving. Cut yourself a slice and top with a dollop of Mexican Style Sour Cream and voilà.
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What Could I Do Differently

This is another recipe that will hold up to experimentation if you keep your flavor base in the same wheelhouse. You can swap your red enchilada sauce for green or for a hotter red sauce. You can choose your own blend of shredded cheeses, hotter diced chiles, adding a layer of a mexican hot sauce in as well.

You could swap the chicken out for a Mexican style pulled pork to I think great effect. I'd be really interested to try a Cuban Mojo Pulled Pork in place of the chicken.

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