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I’ve been making enchiladas with my mom since I was a teenager. I don’t even know where she learned how to make enchiladas, given her Asian roots, other than maybe she had picked up some know how from many of the restaurants where she worked during the years my brother and I were growing up. Anyway, to be fair, these aren’t your typical Mexican “street food” enchiladas. These are a full meal!

From what I know of living near the border, real Mexican enchiladas aren’t even baked in the oven, nor do they use flour tortillas, cheddar cheese, or even cumin! So for comparison sake, these are a Tex-Mex version of what we might call a meal north of the border versus Mexican street food, which is more traditionally composed of a white Cojita cheese filling with chicken or pork inside pan-fried corn tortillas, topped with a green dried chili and tomatillo sauce, and lightly sprinkled with Cojita cheese.

Okay, well enough about the origin of enchiladas… All I remember of my mom’s recipe is that she always put into the meat mixture cream of mushroom, which I think gives these enchiladas a fuller flavor (don’t worry, you can’t taste any mushrooms) and likely cuts down on the acidity of the tomatoes.

In my clean keto version, I’ve made a few adjustments so that I could get a cleaner version of the cream of mushroom without any additives, excess carbs, or the actual use of heavy cream to which I tend to be more sensitive to. My version does use some form of dairy that has less lactose in it than cream (I use Greek yogurt and/or lactose-free cream cheese), along with organic Reishi mushroom powder, which happens to be one of several great choices for providing immune support. However, my tortilla replacement–Folios Parmesan Cheese Wraps–at least until now, is not (preferably) pasture-raised organic. So the search will go on to that end, or I’ll recommend making this only occasionally.

If you’re doing my paleo version, I recommend using dairy-free yogurt in the meat mixture (the Forager Project brand seems to be the cleanest I could find), as well as the Daiya brand cheese shreds. However, finding a dairy-free cheese free of canola oil or carrageenan is difficult so I would choose the one you prefer or one that is at least free of GMOs. Also, if you can find a grocer that carries The Real Coconut brand grain-free coconut tortillas, it’ll save you some frustration. I find that many of these grain-free tortillas are not very pliable and tend to break easy. (I use these for my Mahi Mahi Fish Tacos. But, you do have to be careful of the carbs, if you’re doing keto.)

Otherwise, I think you’ll enjoy this Tex-Mex version of my tomato, cream of mushroom, and cumin-based meat sauce (including other spices) that’s topped with what many of us seem to love–cheese!

If you’ve made this recipe, I’d love to hear how it went with a comment below!

Keto Chicken Enchiladas

5 from 1 vote

Recipe by J. Irish, Ketolicious Eats Course: DinnerCuisine: Tex-MexDifficulty: Easy

Servings

servings

Prep time

minutes

Bake time

minutes

Enjoy these grain- and gluten-free chicken enchiladas the next time you’re craving a full Mexican (actually Tex-Mex) meal. Each enchilada is one serving and can be paired with my ‘cauli’ Mexican rice recipe. This is a great combo (or if you wish to eat two servings of enchiladas) for anyone doing intermittent fasting. The carbs from tomato-based sauces add up quick.

Macros Created from Cronometer.com
– 1 Folio Cheese Wrap enchilada: Approx. 36.6g protein | 7.7g net carbs | 23.6g fat
– 1 Real Coconut Wrap enchilada (clean/Paleo): Approx. 24.9.g protein | 13.4g net carbs | 11.6g fat
– 1/2 cup serv. of ‘Cauli’ Mexican Rice: Approx. 2.8p protein | 4.7g net carbs | 1.2g fat

Ingredients

3 packs 3 Folios Parmesan Cheese Wraps (each pack contains 4 tortillas)–You can find them at Trader Joe’s, but do note these are not organic for us clean keto eaters. I really wish they were, though! If doing clean keto or paleo, use the The Real Coconut brand organic Coconut Flour Tortillas you can find at health food stores, such as Jimbo’s Naturally. These are roughly 7 net carbs/tortilla.
2 2 large organic free-range chicken breasts, cut breasts in half so it’s half as thick. Then cut it into into long 1/4″ thick strips, as used in fajitas.
20 ounces 20 organic strained tomatoes–I like the Bionaturae brand that has no added salt or sugar, and it is sold in a glass bottle. I purchase mine from Thrive Market. Get 25% OFF your first order and a FREE gift when you join Thrive Market! (1 year and 1 month memberships available.
8 ounces 8 cheddar cheese, shredded, or chopped in a small food processor. I like the Organic Pastures pasture-raised raw cheddar cheese for keto and the Daiya brand Cheddar Style Shreds, if doing paleo, but you can use your own preferred paleo brands you like best.
1 1 medium onion, diced
4 ounces 4 tomato paste–I like the Bionaturae brand, which I also buy from Thrive Market (or at Sprouts in Southern California). No salt or sugar is added.
5 ounces 5 organic plain whole-milk Greek yogurt for keto (or Forager Project Cashewmilk Unsweetened Plain Yogurt for paleo)
1/4 c 1/4 Green Valley pasture-raised organic and lactose-free cream cheese. If you’re doing paleo, use 4 ounces more of the same coconut-based yogurt above.
1 tablespoon 1 avocado oil for sautéing the onions
1 tablespoon 1 avocado oil for coating the bottom of the baking dish
Spices
2-1/2 tablespoons 2-1/2 cumin powder
2-1/2 tablespoons 2-1/2 organic mushroom powder–I like the OM brand reishi mushroom powder for immune support.
4 cloves 4 garlic, minced, or 2 teaspoons pre-minced garlic
1 teaspoon 1 black pepper
3/4 teaspoons 3/4 cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon 1/2 Himalayan pink salt
1/2 teaspoon 1/2 chili powder
cilantro for a garnish, chopped (optional)
Equipment
9″ x 13″ medium-sized baking dish with lid
12″ stainless steel or ceramic coated skillet with lid

Directions

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit, and remove the cheese wraps from the refrigerator, if baking the enchiladas the same evening.
In a large 12″ skillet, add the avocado oil, and sauté the diced onions on medium high heat.
Then, add the chicken and dry spices, with the exception of the garlic. Mix well, and cook until the meat is done (about 10 minutes).
Turn the heat down to medium low. Then add the tomato paste, 1 cup of the tomato sauce, Greek yogurt, and cream cheese (or more of the dairy-free yogurt, if doing the paleo version). Then mix well.

The remaining 1-1/2 cup of tomato sauce will be used to top the enchiladas after they’ve been filled with the meat mixture. Any remaining left in the jar can be used for reheating leftovers with.
Add the garlic to the mixture, mix until well combined, and remove from heat. Allow the meat mixture to cool prior to storing (covered), if baking the enchiladas the next evening. Or, move onto the next step.
If baking the same evening, go ahead and begin loading each cheese wrap or coconut tortilla with about 3 full tablespoons of the meat mixture so that you can easily wrap the meat tightly into each tortilla without the meat spilling out from either end. (The coconut tortillas may occasionally break when squeezing the enchiladas into your baking dish, but that’s okay. Just use care when first filling these so that they don’t fall apart before they make it to your baking dish.)

Then place each enchilada down in the baking dish so that the folded ends are on the bottom of the dish. Continue filling tortillas with the meat mixture until you can fill the whole baking dish. I can fill about 10 enchiladas into a 9″ x 13″ baking dish, with two laying perpendicular to those laid side to side.
If there is any meat left in your skillet, just top the enchiladas with it, and evenly spread about 1-1/2 cups of the tomato sauce over the stuffed tortillas, making sure every part of the tortillas are covered.
Next, add your layer of shredded cheddar cheese or paleo dairy substitute.
Bake in the center of the oven for approximately 45 minutes, or until the cheese is completely melted and some of the juices bubble up from below.
Remove from the oven, allow to cool for about 10 minutes, and serve with a garnish (optional), salad and/or Mexican ‘cauli’ rice. Enjoy!

Notes

Time-Saving Tip: Prepare, cook and store in the refrigerator the meat sauce filling the night before you bake this meal, which should save you about 30 minutes. The following night you’ll just need to roll the meat sauce into each tortilla (about 10 minutes), unless you also do this step the night before. Then bake for approximately 45 minutes, or until the cheese is completely melted on top.
For leftovers, I like to add to the top of the enchiladas additional tomato sauce and any shredded cheese left from the night before to help maintain moisture while reheating the leftovers in a convection toaster oven or standard oven.
Whenever possible, I recommend using clean (additive and pesticide-free), organic ingredients.