One of my favorite recipes at our local Mexican restaurant is the chimichangas. It is an order I’ve made many times before, but literally never attempted to make at home.
Until today!
When I talked to Stephanie about making chimichangas, her first response was, “But we don’t have a deep fryer.” We decided to do a twist on the traditional restaurant chimichangas and do a baked version instead.
The restaurant typically offers a variety of protein options, so in this version, we went with chicken. Not just any chicken though. We chose to cook it with the punch of flavor from adobo peppers in chipotle sauce. For those that don’t like a little kick of spice, you can add a little bit of honey to the pan while cooking in the kitchen and it will be perfect.
Baked chimichangas at home! Put on a little salsa music and enjoy!
Baked Adobo Chicken Chimichangas
Ingredients
- 2 cups diced boneless skinless chicken breast (we used 5 flattened breasts)
- 1 can La Costena adobo peppers in chipotle sauce
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp oregano
- 7 flour tortillas (approximately 8 inch diameter size)
- 4 oz. Philadelphia cream cheese (softened)
- 1 4.5 oz. can diced green chiles
- 4 cups shredded monterey jack cheese
- 3/4 cup sour cream (for topping)
- 3/4 cup salsa (for topping)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees
- In a large skillet, add boneless skinless chicken breasts, 1 can of La Costena adobo peppers in chipotle sauce, 1 teaspoon cumin and 1 teaspoon oregano
- Cook chicken until done
- Remove chicken (you can discard the peppers) and dice
- Lay out one of the tortillas
- Spread a small spoonful of the softened cream cheese onto th middle of the tortilla and spread around the center of the tortilla with the back of the spoon
- Add a small spoonful of diced green chiles to the cream cheese
- Add about 3-4 spoonfuls of chicken to the top of the green chiles
- Add about 1/4 cup of shredded Monterey jack cheese to the top of the chicken
- Fold opposite sides of the tortilla about halfway to the middle of the tortilla, then roll to where the open seam of the tortilla is facing down to the table
- Set in a 9×13 pan
- Repeat this process for the remaining chimichangas
- Place 9×13 pan in the oven for 25 minutes or until the chimichangas are golden brown
- Let sit a couple minutes and serve
- Top with sour cream and salsa
Notes
Did You Know
Are chimichangas authentic to Mexico? The debate over whether chimichangas are authentic to Mexico has been going on for decades, with no clear answer in sight. Some say that chimichangas are a Mexican dish, while others argue that they were invented in the United States.
The first thing to consider when discussing the authenticity of chimichangas is their origin. While there is no definitive answer, most historians agree that chimichangas were likely invented in the 