Baked Chicken Chimichangas

Hello Friends!

This winter has been busy for me and my crew.  After packing up Christmas decorations, the house looks so empty and dark.  Everyone’s schedules are different and we all seem to be coming and going.  Amid all of the running around, I try to make sure that we can all still come together for dinner each night.  I will usually take time on Saturday of each week to make a dinner menu for the coming week and write out my grocery list.  Some nights may just be canned soup and grilled cheese sandwiches or breakfast for dinner that usually includes scrambled eggs, canned biscuits and bacon.

I have a few go-to meals that cycle through each week or at least every other week like spaghetti, baked chicken, etc.  My meal prep job has gotten more difficult because Mary stated a few months ago that she was not eating meat.  Trevor is already a picky eater and I sometimes have to cook a meal for the family and then something separate for him.  This baked chicken chimichanga recipe that I’m sharing with you today can easily be converted to a meatless meal.  For last week’s dinner, I simply made a few cheese chimichangas for Mary before adding the shredded chicken.  It is simply delicious and so easy to make.  They can be made ahead a day or two and stored in the fridge.  I made these during the day and left them for Mary to cook while I was at an appointment.  Dinner was waiting on me when I got home!  Maybe I’m biased, but these are soooo much better than fast food!

 

 

I began by cooking the chicken.  I usually use chicken breasts but thighs were on sale and I’m usually going to buy what’s on sale just because I’m frugal (cheap).  I boiled them about twenty minutes and then shredded them with two two forks.  While the chicken was cooking, I shredded the block of pepper jack cheese.  I love how the pepper flakes are speckled throughout the cheese–delicious!

I left the cream cheese out on the counter before I began cooking to allow it time to soften.  Cream cheese is so sticky that it doesn’t mix well when it’s fresh from the fridge.  I mixed the cream cheese, pepper jack and taco seasoning in a bowl.  For this, my hands did a much better job mixing than any other utensils in my drawer!

 

To assemble the chimichangas, I scooped about 2-2 1/2 tablespoons of the mixture into fajita-sized tortillas, rolled them up and folded the ends in.

Once all of the chimis were assembled, I sprayed a large cookie sheet with cooking spray and placed the chimis seam side down on the sheet.  I also sprayed the tops with cooking spray and baked them for 15 minutes in a pre-heated oven at 350 degrees.  After 15 minutes, I turned them over to cook another 15 minutes on the other side.

Was that not easy?  All that was left to do was garnish the chimis with salsa, sour cream, cilantro, pico de gallo and whatever else you like.  I found this great sauce…Taco Bell Bold & Creamy Sauce Spicy Ranchero…that is awesome.  I put some of that on top of mine.  Delish!!

I definitely recommend eating these with your hands.  The baked tortilla is hard to slice through with a fork and it can be picked up so easily and eaten.  Leftovers are just as good as the original-just warm them 15-20 minutes in the oven with foil loosely covering them.

 

 

Is your mouth watering yet?

Thank you for stopping by Mulch and Paint today!  I hope you have a wonderful day and visit me again soon!