Mom’s Gluten Free Enchiladas for Every Fiesta

If I could only eat one entree for the rest of my life, these gluten free enchiladas may be it. I just love them, and so does everybody else! My mom always made them for my birthday parties with extended family growing up, and now I love to make them too! They are the perfect crowd pleaser. You can also make ahead of time, and then pop in half an hour before dinner time.

I’ve made these enchiladas for so many different occasions, as well as for weeknight dinners in between. Having a gluten free entree you can make ahead and depend on to turn out well is clutch in this gluten free world. 

It’s hard for me to think of someone in my life who hasn’t eaten these at one time or another either at a party, trip, or weekend at the lake. And these gluten free enchiladas always kill. People love them, I tell you. Here’s a little video overview of what’s entailed:

Pretty easy, right? Yours will probably even turn out prettier than mine since I was trying to hurry up and do them before #2 flipped out in her pack-n-play. Anyway, here’s more reasons why you’ll love my mom’s gluten free enchiladas.

Why You’ll Love ‘Em

There’s a lot to love, that’s for sure! We love the flavor combination of ingredients in this recipe, but my feelings won’t be hurt if you swap things out and make it your own.

A Word on Ingredients for Gluten Free Enchiladas

Chicken – I prefer to bake chicken breasts and cut them up into bite size chunks. Buying a rotisserie chicken and shredding it up also seems to be a popular option.  I use Chef Paul’s Poultry magic to season the chicken and bake at 400 at about 25 minutes depending on the size of the breasts. 

Enchilada Sauce – For years I have used Old El Paso’s Enchilada Sauce, but I recently discovered that Siete makes enchilada sauce and I had to try it. I’ve really fallen in love with this brand lately for their Mexican Wedding Cookies and Churro Strips. Their enchilada sauce was great too, though definitely pricier than Old El Paso’s, that’s for sure. Was it worth the change? I’m not entirely sold.

Tortillas – I’ve also used Mission’s gluten free tortillas and they have always worked well for me. Their spinach ones are fabulous, but the store was out this time! I also had to try Siete’s tortillas and I’m sad to report that they did not roll as well as Mission’s. The size of Siete’s is also a little small for enchiladas, it’s more of a soft taco size. Texture wise, I don’t think I could taste much of a different between the two with everything else going on in the enchiladas. If you do decide to use a smaller tortilla such as Siete’s, you’ll need more enchiladas than the 9 that are listed in the recipe. 12 or 13 would probably suffice. You also may need to get creative with how you configure them in the casserole dish. Of course, you could also make them more authentic and use corn tortillas since those are also gluten free. I just never seen the big corn tortillas available where I typically grocery shop.

Veggies – I love the flavor combination of the spinach, tomato, green onion, and jalapeño. If this isn’t your jam, switch it up and add some black olives, beans, and mushrooms. Maybe some cilantro?! I always think of including cilantro after the fact. I bet it would be delicious in there. 

Salsa – I try to switch up salsas every once in awhile, but my family is very stuck on medium Pace. It has a nice flavor and is inexpensive, woohoo! 

Corn Chips – I don’t know if it was my mom or I who discovered these first, but we both became obsessed with Xochitl corn chips at nearly the same time. They’ve ruined all other tortilla chips for me. They are so thin and light and not-overly salted. Ugh, I just love them. They also have festive colors around holidays which the kids love. 

Gluten Free Gopher’s Tips and Tricks

Veggie Chop Action

This recipe involves some chopping of ingredients, so it’s good to do it in steps. Baking your chicken and chopping your veggies the day before or earlier the same day you bake will leave you in a good spot to get the enchiladas in the oven in no-time. 

I was under the gun to get my veggies chopped while my little one was napping, so I cut my jalapeños length wise, scooped out the seeds and threw them in the food processor to chop the rest of the way. I then put the cherry tomatoes in the food processor, which did not turn out nearly as well. It basically just mashed them up and beat the juice out of them. I’ll stick to quartering them with a knife next time. 

Gluten Free Enchiladas – A Fab Make Ahead Dish

As stated earlier, this is a great make ahead dish. You could even go as far as getting the enchiladas completely stuffed, rolled up, and ready to go all on the day before you bake them.

Combine Your Veggies for Faster Adding

When adding the ingredients to your tortilla, you could sprinkle in each ingredient separately, but I’ve found its way faster and easier to mix all the veggies together before you start dishing them out. Then it’s one scoop of veggies per enchilada rather than 4 separate smaller scoops. 

Organize Your Assembly Line

Arrange a good area of counter space with a plate of tortillas, enchilada sauce plate, plate for rolling, chicken, cheese, vegetables, and casserole dish. It’s easier to get organized now then when your hands are covered in enchilada sauce. 

Every Little Thing Is Gonna Be Alright

Try not to worry too much about getting the exact same amount of an ingredient in each enchilada.  You can tuck any leftover chicken and vegetables around the open sides of the enchiladas once they are all in the casserole dish. You can also sprinkle any remaining cheese on top.  The ingredients always seem to work themselves out. I’m never eating an enchilada and thinking, gee that one needed a little more green onion or that one had way too much chicken. 

Little Helping Hands

This is also a great recipe for kids to help with. While rolling up the tortillas may be hard for littles, they can definitely help put the ingredients on the tortillas, while you do the rolling. My 5 year old helped me on this one and loved every minute of it.

Are you getting hungry yet?

 Please make a side of white rice with your gluten free enchiladas, they really deserve it and so do you! I love jasmine or texmati rice with them. Chips and salsa are also an excellent accompaniment. How about a margarita?! Yes, please.

That’s all I have for you. I hope you love these gluten free enchiladas as much as we do. Want some yummy appetizers? Check out my epic Super Bowl food post.

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