Enchilada Skillet

When we were planning our camping trip menus earlier this year, Porter asked if enchiladas were a possibility.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m a big fan of cheesy chicken enchiladas myself... but I wasn’t looking forward to fussing with fussing with rolling chicken filling into tortillas on our tiny RV table - or outside, on the picnic table.

Now, also being a fan of deconstructed meals - like my Cabbage Roll in a Bowl and Egg Roll in a Bowl - I figured there had to be a way to make an enchilada version.

You know, skipping the rolled tortillas and baking dish, in favour of more or less dumping the ingredients in a pan.

Unfortunately, my bright idea wasn’t as unique as I’d hoped; there are plenty of deconstructed enchilada recipes out there, already.

Either way, we had fun designing, cooking, and eating this hearty meal. It absolutely scratched the itch, with far less effort!

We especially loved the texture of the corn tortillas, which took on an almost noodle-like quality in this format.

Anyway, not only is it a great meal for camping, it also works well at home. Because it’s such a quick and easy meal, it’s a great option for a busy weeknight.

Whether you’re cooking it on a campsite or in a kitchen, it’s a fantastic meal that the whole family will love.

So... let’s look at the ingredients you’ll need!

Ingredients

This skillet chicken enchilada recipe uses pretty basic ingredients - we designed it to be a good option when we’re on the road, and relying on smaller grocery stores.

As always, though, I have a few ingredient notes for you.

Shredded Chicken

You need 3 cups of some form of cooked chicken.

Usually I’ll just throw a quick batch of my Dutch Oven Pulled Chicken Breast on, over a campfire.

I usually use boneless skinless chicken breasts, but you can use boneless skinless chicken thighs if you prefer. 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts is usually plenty. Any leftover chicken, we’ll use for burritos or whatever.

If I’m really feeling lazy, I’ll just buy a rotisserie chicken and shred that up.

We’re big fans of the ready to eat, juicy chicken that we get from some of the grocery stores we frequent... and so are our cats!

Enchilada Sauce

For the sake of convenience, we tend to use store-bought enchilada sauce - a 296 ml can.

We’ve been using red enchilada sauce so far, as it seems to be more readily available.

That said, we’re looking forward to trying this with green enchilada sauce. The La Costena Green Mexican Sauce is a favourite of ours for other dishes, I bet it would be fabulous in this one!

All that said, if you have a homemade enchilada sauce, go ahead and use it. You’ll want 1 ¼ cups of it.

Salsa

You can use whatever salsa you like.

Personally, I tend to avoid the fruity ones - pineapple salsa or peach salsa, that kind of thing - because I’m not sure how they’d work with the other ingredients.

When we do get around to doing a green enchilada sauce version of this Chicken Enchilada Skillet, I’ll be using a salsa verde with it.

Corn Tortillas

While soft tortillas are usually wrapped around a tender chicken enchilada filling for traditional chicken enchiladas, in this case, they act more like a ... Noodle.

You can use yellow corn tortillas or white corn tortillas, we usually end up using yellow, as they’re easier to find in smaller grocery stores.

You can PROBABLY use flour tortillas, but we haven’t tried - the texture would definitely be different.

I don’t think it would be as good as with corn tortillas, but hey - I can’t have flour tortillas anyway!

Shredded Cheese

There’s a lot of room for customization with this recipe, when it comes to some of the ingredients used... and cheese is another one.

Really, use whatever cheese you like - or have access to.

Tex Mex shredded cheese, Nacho mix shredded cheese, shredded cheddar, Monterrey Jack cheese, Pepper Jack cheese, Colby cheese ... they’re all good options!

Garnishes

As with most Mexican or Tex Mex type recipes, half the fun is customizing your own plate with garnishes.

We generally use sliced avocado, fresh cilantro, green onions, sour cream, sliced jalapenos, etc.

Everything Else

Rounding out this recipe, you will need:

Canned Black Beans
Canned Corn
Chipotle Peppers in Adobo
Garlic Cloves
Ground Black Pepper
Olive Oil
Red Bell Pepper
Salt
Small Onion

... I just really don’t have anything to add, as far as these last few ingredients go. Pretty simple stuff!

How to Make Chicken Enchilada Skillet

The full recipe is in the printable recipe card at the end of this post, here is the visual walk through:

Chop the red bell pepper and onion.

If you’re doing some meal prep for a future meal, you can vacuum seal the veggies and freeze them until ready to cook your meal.

You can thaw them first, or cook from frozen - either way works!

Also: While it’s not how it’s pictured here, you can also freeze the chopped chipotles in adobo, with the peppers.

We’ve taken to doing it that way (since photographing this batch), so we don’t have to fuss with the canned chipotle peppers on the road!

Cut up your corn tortillas. We usually do this in 1.5" squares - bites sized pieces - but sometimes we do them in long strips, as pictured.

This way, they act almost like noodles - it’s a fun texture!

This is also the point when you’re going to want to chop up your chipotle peppers in adobo sauce.

If you want your skillet chicken enchiladas spicier, use another chipotle or two - and more of the adobo sauce!

Get a medium campfire going, or get your charcoal on the go. (If you’re making this on a stove, use medium high heat and a nonstick pan.)

Add the chopped peppers, onion and olive oil to a large skillet - or a dutch oven, and set over the fire or hot coals.

Cook until the veggies start to become tender, another 2-3 minutes.

Note: If using frozen vegetables, you can thaw them first, or just add them in frozen. They’ll take a bit longer to cook if frozen, but it works just fine!

Add the garlic and chipotle peppers, stir and cook for another minute, or until fragrant.

Add the chicken, enchilada sauce, and salsa to the pan, stir well to combine.

Finally, add the black beans and corn. Stir well.

Bring mixture to a simmer, cook for a few minutes to heat everything through.

Season with salt and pepper, to taste, then stir in the corn tortilla strips.

Scatter the shredded cheese over the mixture, cover, and remove from heat. Allow to sit for a few minutes, to melt the cheese.

Serve hot, garnished with your choice of toppings.

Leftovers

Leftover skillet enchiladas can be cooled to room temperature, then stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days. Reheat before serving.

More One-Pot Camping Recipes

Looking for more easy - but satisfying! - one pot meals to cook over your campfire? Here are some of my favourites!

Bacon Cheeseburger Soup
Beef & Root Vegetable Stew
Cabbage Roll in a Bowl
Cajun Chicken Sloppy Joes
Campfire Chicken Curry
Campfire Chili
Chicken Marbella
Dutch Oven Jambalaya
Easy Chicken Curry
Egg Roll in a Bowl
Hearty Campfire Beef Stew
Indian Sloppy Joes
Mexican Sloppy Joes
Puttanesca Sloppy Joes
Sloppy Giuseppes
Southwest Chicken Chili
Thankgiving Sloppy Joes
Traditional Sloppy Joes
Venison Chili
Venison Stew

Be sure to check out our other Camping Recipes, including Camping Desserts, Camping Snacks, Make-Ahead Camping Mix Recipes, and a ton of delicious Camping Main Dish Recipes.

Also, we had SO much fun designing gourmet jerky recipes for our camping trips, we started a whole new blog for them! Check out Dried & Tasty for all kinds of fun recipes to make in your food dehydrator!