TheKitchn.com

Making enchiladas is my favorite way to transform leftovers into an easy, flavorful dinner. Tender roasted chicken gets dressed up with spicy, piquant enchilada sauce, covered in shredded cheese, then wrapped in tender tortillas and baked until warm. What's not to love?

On nights when you need the cozy comfort of enchiladas ASAP (and isn't that most nights?), this 30-minute version is here for you. While the recipe relies on shortcut ingredients, the resulting enchiladas certainly aren't short on flavor or satisfaction.

4 key steps for the best chicken enchiladas

1. Use rotisserie chicken. You can totally roast your own chicken for enchiladas, but grabbing a rotisserie chicken from the deli at the supermarket will save you a lot of time. Ultimately, you won't be able to tell the difference, thanks to the flavor and moisture you'll add when you toss together the filling.

2. Amp up the flavor with canned chiles. Speaking of the filling, we're adding a can of diced green chiles to the enchilada sauce to boost its flavor and increase its yield. No need to measure anything here -- just stir together an entire 15-ounce can of sauce and 4-ounce can of chiles.

3. Add sauce three ways. You'll add some of the sauce to the bottom of the casserole dish, stir some into the filling, and pour the rest all over the enchiladas in the pan. This will ensure that the enchiladas reach creamy, tender perfection.

4. Roll, scooch, repeat. To assemble the enchiladas, you'll fill each tortilla with about 1/2 cup of filling and roll to close. Place seam side down in the pan, scooch it over, and repeat. The tortillas will need to be nice and snug for all of them to fit.

Make-ahead and serving options

You can assemble this casserole a day in advance or freeze for future baking -- just be sure to bring it to room temperature before baking. You'll know it's done when the sauce is bubbling, the cheese is melted and browned, and the ends of the tortillas are nice and crisp.

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