Baked Chicken Chimichangas
My husband loves Mexican food. Like… maybe more than he loves me. Okay, not really, but if I happen to miss a “Taco Tuesday” in my weekly menu, it would be mutiny in my house.
Because I don’t always adhere to the “Taco” portion of our Tuesdays, at some point I had to figure out how to make chimichangas without deep frying them. I enjoy fried food with the best of them, but what I do not enjoy is the act of deep frying. It’s a mess I’m not willing to deal with either for my largely white kitchen, or on a weeknight.
Thus these are baked, but still crispy.
And they’re honestly just a template that can be adapted for whatever you may have on hand.
You can use chicken you poached that day. Or rotisserie chicken you bought at the store. Or in the case of my most recent creation of these, with leftover chicken I smoked on Sunday.
All reasons I love them. This is not a rigid recipe.
As shown below, I usually simmer the chicken in broth with chili powder, cumin, oregano, giving it some warmth and touch of spice. Then I sauté peppers and onions, mix everything together, and call it a day.
But honestly? If you have leftover taco meat in the fridge, ditch the chicken and swap that in. Throw in whatever vegetables need to be used up before they go bad. Frozen or canned options work well, too. Think diced tomatoes or frozen corn.
If you’re starting with a previously cooked protein, add about ½ cup of broth, beef or chicken depending on what you’re using. I also double the spices in the meat and veggie mixture so everything still feels warm and flavorful.
Mix in the herbs and seasonings you love. I sometimes swap epazote for the oregano, use chipotle chili powder instead of regular, or add a little smoked paprika.
The only thing that really matters is this:
Brush the tortillas with some good fat (think olive or avocado oil or some melted butter) before baking. That’s what makes them crisp.
Roll them up, seam side down, bake until golden, and then let everyone top their own. Guac, salsa, sour cream, hot sauce, rice. The works.
And if you’re in my house, someone will absolutely walk through the kitchen every five minutes asking how much longer. And then rate it like it’s TikTok.
Last time these landed somewhere around an 8.9. Which in teenage boy scoring is basically Michelin star.
Baked Chimichangas
Ingredients
Poached Chicken
- 3 chicken breasts
- 3 cups of chicken broth
- 1/2 Tbsp chili powder
- 1/2 Tbsp cumin
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- Salt and pepper to taste
Chimichanga filling
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 cup red bell pepper diced
- 1 cup yellow onion diced
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1 can diced green chiles or one small diced jalapeño
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- shredded poached chicken
- 1/2 cup reserved poaching liquid
- 1 cup shredded cheese
- 12 six inch flower tortillas
- 3 tablespoons oil or butter
Instructions
To poach the chicken
- Combine chicken broth, chili powder, cumin, oregano, salt and pepper in a saucepan
- Place chicken breasts in the seasoned liquid and bring to a simmer
- Poach chicken for 20 min, or until cooked through
- Allow to cool and shred chicken
- Reserve 1/2 cup poaching liquid
To build the chimichangas
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- Heat medium sized sauté pan and coat with the olive oil
- Toss in red bell pepper, onion, chiles/jalapeno and garlic and cook until softened
- While veggies are cooking, mix together remaining chili powder, cumin, oregano, salt and pepper
- Remove vegetables from heat and toss in seasonings and shredded chicken
- Slowly add reserved poaching liquid until the seasonings coat the other ingredients
- In a 9X13 casserole dish, brush 1 tbsp of melted butter to coat bottom
- One shell at a time, layer cheese on a tortilla shell and top with chicken mixture
- Wrap up each end and then roll sides over to form an envelope
- Place the filled shells seam side down in the casserole dish
- Line them up next to each other in two rows down the length of the dish
- When all the shells have been filled, use the remaining 2 tbsp of butter to brush over the tops
- Place chimichangas in the oven and bake for 45 minutes
- Serve with sour cream, salsa, gaucamole or other toppings you enjoy
