We look forward to making Turkey Enchiladas with Tomatillo Salsa every year. We love enchiladas any time of the year, but after Thanksgiving, this dish is a must.
When we host Thanksgiving, we typically have a few guests for the weekend, and this dish is perfect for Saturday supper or Sunday lunch, after we’ve finished off most of the other Thanksgiving fare.
It’s nice to do something fresh and zesty with the turkey – Turkey Enchiladas with Tomatillo Salsa is on the menu!
Turkey Enchiladas with Tomatillo Salsa
Equipment
- 11 X 7 baking dish
Ingredients
Enchilada Sauce
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 1 pint tomatillo salsa
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
Filling and Finishing
- 12 ounces shredded turkey
- 1 cup chopped, seeded tomato
- 1 jalapeno
- 1/4 cup cilantro
- 1 T dried oregano
- 1/2 t salt
- 1 T ground cumin
- 1/4 t red pepper flakes
- 4 ounces cream cheese
- 12 5-inch corn tortillas
- 8 ounces pepper jack cheese
Instructions
- Make the sauce and preheat the oven – Add the broth and tomatillo salsa to a saucepan and bring to a boil, then lower the heat to medium and simmer until the mixture is beginning to reduce. Lower the heat again and pour in the whipping cream. Continue cooking until you have a creamy, saucy consistency. Preheat the oven to 400℉.
- Prep and combine the filling; grate the cheese – Deseed and chop the tomato, mince the jalapeno, and chop the cilantro. Add the shredded chicken, tomato, fresh cilantro, salt, cumin, red pepper flakes, and cream cheese to a bowl. Stir to combine. Grate the pepper jack cheese.
- Assemble the enchiladas and bake – Pour enough sauce into your baking dish to cover the bottom of the dish. Fill each tortilla with 2 T of the filling, and roll it up. Arrange the filled tortillas, seam-side down in your baking dish. Ladle some of the sauce over the enchiladas and top with the cheese. Bake, covered, for 15 minutes. Uncover and run under the broiler until the cheese is nicely browned and the edges of the tortillas are charred. Allow to rest for 5 minutes. Serve with chopped cilantro and any remaining sauce as garnish to taste.
ASSEMBLY NOTES: Many of the enchilada recipes I’ve read call for dipping the tortillas in the sauce before rolling, but that process is just too messy and fussy for me. Working one at a time, I microwave each tortilla for 10 seconds right before rolling, so that they become soft enough to roll without cracking. This recipe makes twelve enchiladas. I place two rows of six enchiladas each across the baking dish, and then spoon any leftover filling between the two rows. I pour a generous amount of the sauce down the center of each row, being careful to ensure that edges of the rolls aren’t covered. I love the charred edges. There wouldn’t be crispy edges if I had dipped the tortillas!
INGREDIENT NOTE: I make my Tomatillo Salsa (clickable link) from scratch in the summer when the tomatillos are falling off of the vines, so when I make Turkey Enchiladas with Tomatillo Salsa, I just pull a jar off of the shelf in the pantry. I have made this dish with store-bought tomatillo salsa too, and it was very good.
This looks delicioso!!! I appreciate the tip of not covering the edges to get the crispy ends. I bet your tomatilo sauce is amazing. I love the freshness of tomatilo vs a red salsa, which can be too heavy. This is a better use of leftover turkey than turkey tettrazini. Yum!!!!
I do think the tomatillo salsa is perfect for turkey enchiladas, but I still love spicy enchiladas! Do you have a particular recipe that you could recommend? You always inspire me. 🙂