Baked Chicken Chimichangas – Not too much guilt with this one.

This is one of favorite recipes for two reasons. One reason, a crock pot is involved, and I just love all things crock pot. They make life easy. They provide aromatic hugs when you walk through the door when you’ve been gone all day. Reason number two, like the title says, these chimichangas are baked. Healthy Mexican. Has there ever been such a thing?

After having what I thought was my last baby (Coconut #4), my dear friend Trish brought a pan of these to my house, along with side dishes and the cutest decorated cake to boot. It’s a meal that I have never forgotten because it was brought at a time when I needed it. The memory lives on every time I make baked chimichangas. The original recipe calls for pork, but since I don’t buy pork too much, I usually make it with chicken.

Just throw your chicken in the crockpot, frozen and all. The only thing you need to add is 1/4 cup of water. When you put it in, your face will scrunch up because you will be questioning why you have to do that. Just follow the directions. It helps with the moisture. Set that baby on high and let it go for about 8 hours. When you come home, your kitchen will smell delicious.

After 8 hours, your chicken will be ready to shred. It will be so easy, like buttah. When it’s all shred, set it aside for later.

Grab the above ingredients. I did miss one which was green chiles. Don’t forget the green chiles like I did.

First we’re going to heat up your pot with some oil.

Then throw in your onions, garlic, salsa verde, green chiles and cumin. Stir it around and let it saute for about 2 mins. I just realized I forgot to snap a picture of the flour part. After these have sauteed, add in your flour and stir. It’s going to get a little thick.

Grab your shredded chicken and dump it all in. Mix it up with that sauce you had going in the pan.

If your mixture is looking a little on the dry side, pour in some of that juice from your chicken that’s in the crock pot. You want this mixture to be more on the wet side. Once you’ve balanced out the moisture level in your chicken mixture, it’s time to assemble your chimichanga.

Here’s how I put mine together. Just grab a blank tortilla:

1. Put about 1/2 cup of the mixture inside.

2. Fold the two sides inward.

3. Fold up the bottom side and roll.

4. Lay down seam-side.

Now you’re a professional. Now you can come to my house and roll chimichangas, burritos, enchiladas, wraps, or whatever else I happen to be in the mood for that day. Just be ready with your ninja-tortilla-wrapping skills.

Place them in a 9×13 inch baking sheet seam-side down. Here’s the part that’s going to make it look fried —- you slather some butter/margarine on top of it all. Set your oven on high. I mean really high. High like, 500 degrees high. No joke. You’re going to put these in at 500 degrees for 10 minutes. When they come out, they will have a nice crispiness to it, without the dripping fat.

Plate them up more salsa verde, sour cream, taco sauce, or whatever Mexican topping floats your boat. They’re all good. These are even good to freeze for later. If you’re in the mood for a fiesta that doesn’t require a lot work, Baked Chicken Chimichangas should do the job.

BAKED CHICKEN CHIMICHANGAS

Difficulty: Easy-Peasy Prep Time: 10 minutes Cook Time: 8 hrs and 30 minutes Servings: 8

Mexican Meat Mixture

5 lbs of chicken 3 Tbs. vegetable oil

1 onion, chopped 1 (4 oz.) can chopped green chilies

2 (7 oz) cans salsa verde (green chili salsa) 1/4 Tbsp flour

2 1/2 tsp salt 1 tsp ground cumin

juices from cooked meat

Put your chicken, be it frozen or not in a crock pot and set on high for 8 hours. After 8 hours, shred chicken. Don’t forget to save your juices from the meat, just in case you need it later. Heat oil in a pot. Add onions and green chilies and saute for 1 minute. Next, throw in you salsa verde, flour, salt, and cumin. Cook for 1 minute over mediumlow heat. If the mixture seems on the dry side, pour in some of the reserved meat juices. Cook it down for about 5 minutes. The mixture should start to get a little thickened. Cool.

10 medium flour tortillas 3 cups of Mexican meat mix

Shredded lettuce and olives to garnish

Warm tortillas. Place about 1/3 cup of mexian meat inside the tortilla. Fold the sides in, then fold the bottom up, and roll into cylinder. Place rolled tortilla seam-side down in a 9×13 inch baking pan. Spread softened butter over the top. Place in the oven at 500 degrees for 10 mins. Usually I serve this on a bed of shredded lettuce and top with olives. Then I make sure I have sour cream on stand-by. That’s always a must when eating Mexican —- not to be confused with eating “a Mexican”. Don’t forget to freeze them rest for later.

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Baked Chicken Chimichangas – Not too much guilt with this one.

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