Oven Baked Chicken Chimichangas

Oven-Baked Chicken Chimichangas





This is a recipe that I originally tried from Tasty Kitchen (which is a great website, btw). But of course, like all recipes, I had to tweak it a little bit when I made it. These are very yummy, and they make a great freezer meal. I have used both store bought and homemade flour tortillas with great success. I have also used both white and wheat flour tortillas.

Ingredients:

1-2 cups cooked chicken, chopped
½ teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon cumin
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon kosher salt (less if using table salt)
¼ teaspoon black pepper (since I grind mine fresh, I really don't measure - just several good grinds)
4-5 green onions, finely chopped
15 oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed
15 oz. can corn, drained and rinsed
1 cup salsa
1 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

Shredded cheese (taco blend works well)
Four tortillas
Vegetable or olive oil
Extra salsa, sour cream, guacamole for serving


Instructions:
Use leftover cooked/grilled chicken, or you can bake some chicken in the oven and chop it. I will start with frozen chicken breast (you only need 1-2) and put it in a 9 x 13 glass dish and bake at 400 F for around 30 minutes. Once the chicken has cooled I will just chop it up and then just mix all the rest of the ingredients through the cilantro in the 9x 13 pan. This way I only dirty one dish for making the filling, and all the baked on chicken flavor gets incorporated into the filling. At this point you could just put a lid on the pan and store the filling for use later in the day.

When you are ready to assemble the Chimichangas, preheat the oven to 400 degrees if you are going to bake them right then. Don't worry about it if you are going to freeze them for later. (I'm pretty sure you could figure that out. I am sure that you would not follow the recipe so closely that you turn on the oven even though you don't actually need to bake them right then. Not that I have any experience with that…)

If your tortillas are fresh and room temperature they will probably be pliable enough; however if you are like me and store your tortillas in the fridge, or if you have already opened the package and they have gotten a little dry, you will want to soften them up. Dampen a paper towel and put it on a microwave safe plate. Now stack 2-4 tortillas on it. Top with another damp paper towel. Microwave the stack for about 20 seconds. You will want to fill these tortillas before you soften any more. Put about ½ cup of filling in a line down center of tortilla and add as much shredded cheese as you desire. Fold in the ends and roll up. Place seam-side down on an oiled baking sheet. Repeat with remaining tortillas and filling.

Freezer Prep: Wrap individual chimis in foil and place in a large ziplock freezer bag. Label and freeze. To use later you can either thaw the number you want prior to baking or bake from frozen. If baking from frozen you will need to add 15 minutes to the cooking time and cover with foil towards the end to prevent from over-browning.

Brush the tops and sides with oil. Bake for 25-30 minutes until golden and crispy. Serve with additional salsa, sour cream and guacamole. They are the best with Lily's avocado salsa!