Listen up: I know we all crave Mexican food on the daily. And sometimes the only thing we can do is go to expensive Mexican restaurants or cheap Taco Bell. Let’s face it, you don’t want to have to put pants on and go out to eat when there is a simple solution you could have right at home. All you really need is salsa, chicken and tortillas. This recipe of baked chicken chimichangas is literally so easy a ten year old could do it. Good luck keeping your hands off these.
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 40 minutes
Total Time: 50 minutes
Servings: makes 4 chimichangas
Ingredients:
2 cups picante sauce or salsa
2 cups shredded cooked chicken
½ small onion
1 teaspoon of cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano
½ teaspoon table salt
4 flour tortillas (8-inch)
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
Toppings: shredded lettuce, guacamole, diced tomatoes, sour cream, etc.
Photo by Tiare Brown
Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 425°F. Before you do anything else, cook your chicken either slowly in a crock-pot or in a skillet on the stove. Then, take the hot chicken and shred it into tiny pieces.
Photo by Tiare Brown
2. Mix 2 cups of picante sauce, 2 cups of shredded chicken already cooked, ½ of a small diced onion, 1 teaspoon of cumin, 1 teaspoon of dried oregano, and ½ teaspoon of salt into a medium sized cooking pot. Cook this mixture over medium heat for about 10-15 minutes.
Photo by Tiare Brown
3. Take about one spoonful of the mixture and slather it over the middle section of the tortilla.
Photo by Tiare Brown
4. Drizzle shredded cheddar cheese over the picante and chicken sauce. If you are super into cheese, feel free to go crazy with this step.
Photo by Tiare Brown
5. This can be a tricky step. There is a certain way to fold the tortilla. First, fold each side of the tortilla inwards to form a rectangle.
Photo by Tiare Brown
6. Then, while still holding together the two sides of the tortilla, fold one end towards the middle and keep rolling until it looks like a mini burrito. Make sure they are tightly secured because you don’t want them to break open. We want to keep the yumminess inside.
Photo by Tiare Brown
Photo by Tiare Brown
Photo by Tiare Brown
7. Place on a cooking sheet already sprayed with cooking spray and bake for about 8 minutes. Optional to add more cheese on top of the chimichangas.
Photo by Tiare Brown
Photo by Tiare Brown
8. Top with desired toppings such as guacamole, sour cream or more picante sauce. Eat and enjoy this fiesta in your mouth.
Photo by Tiare Brown
Photo by Tiare Brown
Photo by Tiare Brown