Paleo Chicken Enchiladas

This Recipe Is: Free of gluten, dairy, soy, eggs and nuts. It is also paleo friendly.

Hi guys!

I’m happy to be sharing this recipe today! I say that a lot don’t I. Well honestly, I’m happy to be sharing all of my recipes with you guys. This one though, what an amazingly simple and amazingly healthy dinner. I’ve tried to reduce the amount of starches in our diet at home. With that, I’ve had fun creating some paleo recipes. If you’ve been watching my Instagram story this was the meal I was getting the cabbage prepped for! Yes cabbage! Cabbage instead of tortillas. Whaaat??? 🙂 I guess it’s not that crazy, right. It’s a simple switch but such a healthy switch.

Like most of my meals I post, this is a great weeknight meal. You can either make the entire meal ahead, put it in a baking dish and pop it in the fridge until you’re ready to make it. Or you can prep certain parts of the meal ahead of time so it’s easier to make the night you decide to have it. That’s how I did it this time. If you see the note section of the recipe card below, you’ll see my tips on prepping ahead.

Want ideas on making it a complete meal? I paired the enchiladas with re-fried beans and plantains. It makes sense to have re-fried beans as a side because you’re already using about half a can in the recipe. So might as well finish the can! If you’ve never had plantains I highly suggest them. They are paleo friendly and are soo delicious. I prefer the ripe plantains because they are sweet. A ripe plantain looks like an overly ripe banana. You want the plantain skin to be yellow with lots of black spots. I enjoy slicing the plantains and then cooking them on the stove top with some margarine or coconut oil until they are soft through and slightly crisp on the outside.

Paleo Chicken Enchiladas

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Serves: 3-4

Ingredients

  • Ingredients for Enchiladas:
    • 1 cabbage
    • 1 pound ground chicken - can also use ground turkey or ground beef
    • 2 1/2 cup canned mild enchilada sauce - use any brand you find in store
    • Half a can of re-fried beans
  • Ingredients for avocado sauce (optional):
    • 1 avocado
    • 2 tablespoons unsweetened plain dairy free yogurt - I used Kite Hill
    • 1 teaspoon lime juice
    • Seasonings to taste: Old Bay Seasoning, Onion Powder, Salt and Pepper

Instructions

Directions for Enchiladas:

  1. Put entire cabbage into a large pot of water and boil for about 10 minutes or until the leaves on the outside start to pull away slightly. The goal is not to cook the cabbage through but to soften the leaves enough for rolling. When cabbage is ready remove from water and let cool completely before you handle it.
  2. Brown the ground chicken in a pan of medium heat. You may have to drain out some liquid depending on the fat ratio of the meat. Be sure to not overcook.
  3. Preheat oven to 350°F
  4. Mix the ground chicken with your 1 cup enchilada sauce and re-fried beans.
  5. Peel away the leaves from the cabbage one by one. Do this very carefully. The leaves near the center will be too small so you can save that part of the cabbage for another recipe or slice and cook up to enjoy with your meal. You should have somewhere around 6 – 9 good sized leaves.
  6. To make the enchiladas put about 3 tablespoons of the chicken mixture into the center of your cabbage leaves and fold closed. Put the folded part down into a baking sheet. Continue until all are made and sitting next to each other in your baking sheet.
  7. Pour on the rest of your enchilada sauce.
  8. Bake for about 15 – 20 minutes.
  9. Optional: top with your avocado sauce and serve with the rest of your can of re-fried beans.

Directions for Avocado Sauce:

  1. Puree all ingredients in a high powered blender or a food processor until they are smooth and creamy. Taste as you go to make sure the seasonings are to your liking.

 

Notes

This is a great meal to prep ahead. You can easily make the enchiladas ahead and store in the fridge for a few days until you are ready to bake. Do not prep the avocado sauce ahead though because it will turn brown and watery.
You can also prep parts of the meal ahead to make your weeknight cooking easier:
- Cabbage can be boiled ahead of time and you can store the leaves you plan on using in a ziplock bag.
- Meat can be browned ahead of time and stored in the fridge. You can also brown it then mix with enchilada sauce and re-fried beans ahead and store all of that in fridge.
-- These two make ahead steps will save you lots of time when you do decide to put the meal together.

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