Enchiladas Suizas

Since first having them in Cuernavaca, Enchildas Suizas have been one of my favorite Mexican dishes, which is saying something. Beautifully cooked pulled chicken blends with spicy green salsa balanced with tangy sour cream to create delicious, creamy, and flavorful enchiladas.

I only recently attempted to make them myself and was surprised how easy it is to come up with some impressive — if not entirely authentic — results. The slow cooker makes easy work of the chicken and green salsa!

Slow Cook Ingredients

Gather the ingredients pictured above:

• Chicken thighs
• Apple cider vinegar (a tablespoon or two)
• Cumin (a tablespoon or two)
• A handful of garlic cloves
• Cerveza - Pacifico or Modelo are great choices.
• Canned jalapeños — the kind with carrots in escabeche sauce is the best. This one’s well worth getting the name brand at the whopping $0.80/can premium as it will contribute a ton of flavor.
• Guacamole or green salsa — I recommend the name brand here as well. The avocado variety is delicious and contributes some great cilantro flavor.

Enchilada Ingredients

These will come into play after the slow cooker’s finished:

• Corn tortillas
• “Mexican” cheese blend
• Sour cream
• Vegetable oil for cooking the tortillas

Time to slow cook!

Before we get started, keep in mind that the slow cook broth will become the enchilada sauce. Use that information as you see fit.

The most involved part of this recipe is slow cooking the chicken, and it’s really not that involved. First, I like to season and brown the chicken after trimming excess fat.

Transfer directly into the crockpot, including any healthy cooking oil if you like, and cover it with the rest of the slow cook ingredients, paying special attention to the beer.

Ideally, the meat should be mostly covered by liquid. Once you’ve got all that done, it’s time to seal it away and let the slow cooker do its thing.

Enchilada Time

After 6-8 hours in the slow cooker, that chicken is READY. The first thing to do is to shred the chicken, then put it back in the broth for a little extra flavor soak.

It only needs a few minutes, so feel free to crack a cookin’ beer, then get a colander and a bowl to strain the liquid back out of the chicken. As a reminder, this will become the enchilada sauce in which the tortillas and chicken shall swim, creating a flavorful masterpiece.

With the two separated, I like to prepare the final enchilada sauce. Simply add a few dollops of sour cream into the freshly strained liquid, incorporate with a whisk, and adjust to taste. You might also want to add a bit more green salsa if you don’t have enough liquid, or to tweak the ratio.

With the sauce done, ladle out a thin layer on the bottom of your enchilada dish so it’s ready to receive the rolled enchiladas.

And now is also a good time to preheat the oven to 350ºF!

Now, it’s tortilla time. In order to make them properly malleable, we’re going to briefly cook them in vegetable oil for only a few seconds per side.

It’s time to get our hands dirty. Take a healthy handful of your shredded chicken and roll it up in your warm, soft tortillas. Tuck them side-by-side in the pre-sauced enchilada dish.

Repeat the process until you’ve got a nice tight row of enchiladas. Cover them with the rest of the enchilada sauce, then generously sprinkle the shredded cheese.

All that’s left is to bake at 350ºF for 25-30 minutes. After that, it’s time to enjoy the fruits of your labor.