You can call me a casserole queen – I’ll take the title. I love these meals because they are so easy to make and usually have very minimal clean up. Plus, my kids love casseroles! I can just pop it in the oven and let it cook from there.

This particular recipes is one of our favorites because we could live off Mexican food. Making regular enchiladas is a multi-hour affair with cooking the chicken, mixing the filling, and the most difficult part, rolling the enchiladas. This recipe eliminates that last step that’s so tedious, but you still get the delicious flavor of cheesy enchiladas!

 

Ingredients

1 large onion, chopped in pieces about 1/2 inch or slightly smaller
1 large Poblano (Pasilla) pepper, chopped in pieces about 1/2 inch or slightly smaller
2 tsp. + 2 tsp. olive oil
2 lbs. lean ground turkey
salt and fresh ground black pepper to season turkey
2 cans (15 oz.) red chile enchilada sauce
3/4 cup light sour cream (plus more for serving if desired, optional)
1 large can (27 oz.) whole green chiles
1 cup + 1 cup grated low-fat Mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup + 1/4 cup grated low-fat 4 Cheese Mexican Blend

Instructions

Chop onion and Poblano (Pasilla) pepper, then heat 2 teaspoons olive oil in a large heavy frying pan and saute the onions and peppers over medium-high heat until they’re starting to brown, about 5 minutes.  Remove onions and peppers to a bowl, heat the other 2 teaspoons olive oil and saute the ground turkey over medium-high heat until it’s nicely browned, breaking apart with the turner.   (Most ground turkey in the U.S. has added water, so you will need to evaporate all the water before the browning will start.)  Season the turkey with salt and fresh-ground black pepper to taste.

Once the turkey is well-browned, add the sauteed onions and peppers back into the pan with the meat, add the 2 cans red chile enchilada sauce, and simmer over low heat until the mixture is thickened and most all the liquid has evaporated, about 30 minutes.

When the meat/sauce mixture is thickened, turn off the heat and let cool for about 10 minutes.  Preheat oven to 400F/200C.

While the meat cools, drain the whole green chiles into a colander placed into the sink.  Use your fingers or a knife to split the chiles open and remove any seeds, stacking them in two piles so you can make two equal layers of chiles in the casserole.  (Pat each chile dry with a paper towel as you go if they seem wet.)

When the meat mixture is cool, stir in the sour cream. Spray a 9 inch x 13 inch glass or crockery casserole dish with non-stick spray.  (Any size similar will work.)  Lay half the whole chiles in the bottom of the casserole dish, making sure the entire bottom is covered.  Spread half the meat/sauce mixture over the chiles and top with half the Mozzarella and half the 4 Cheese Mexican Blend.

Make another layer each of whole green chiles, meat/sauce mixture, and cheese.  Bake uncovered for 35-40 minutes, or until the top is nicely browned and the casserole is bubbling.  Serve hot, topped with a dollop of low-fat sour cream if desired.

USE RED NEXT PAGE LINK BELOW

NEXT

Quick tip: You can switch out ground turkey for lean beef.

Recipe and image courtesy of Kalyn’s Kitchen.