Fall Pumpkin & Chicken Enchiladas

Chicken pumpkin enchiladas are the perfect October weeknight meal idea to celebrate this season’s best ingredients:  Pumpkin!

Chicken enchiladas made with pumpkin sauce is a Mexican classic with an October hearty twist to it.  If you have been here long enough you will notice that I am a big fan of Mexican food.

If you are a big Mexican food lover also you might want to try some of my other recipes.

Like my addictive easy creamy shrimp enchiladas, my perfect for meal prep homemade beef burritos or enjoy my signature guacamole recipe on the side or as a dip on your boards.

And today I bring one of my latest Mexican creations that is honestly my favorite one!  

It is warm, comfy, hearty, and full of flavors just like this season.

While everyone is sharing sweets and beverages done with pumpkin, I am more on the savory side kind of girl. I like to prepare a healthy meal for my family to enjoy pumpkin in a healthy nutritious way.

And when I say my whole family it means not only my husband but also my little baby Jeanna. So, this recipe is toddler-friendly and kids can enjoy it for lunch or dinner. Because of that, you won’t find any spicy seasonings in this recipe. But if you are not cooking it for kids you can totally add some chili powder in the pumpkin sauce. Or sauté some extra jalapeno with the onions.

Real homemade pumpkin puree

I used a real homemade pumpkin puree in this recipe. It is richer and much deep in flavor than any canned version. The homemade pumpkin puree made a big difference in taste for me in this chicken enchiladas and it is very easy to prepare with a smart pot, you can check out the method here!

I love this chicken pumpkin recipe enchiladas recipe for so many reasons. First, it is so versatile you can mix and match instead of putting black beans you can add corn. And you can play also with the cheese combination. And try different kinds of tortilla wraps.

Freezer freindly and perfect for meal-prep!

It is also a great meal to freeze and enjoy later. I usually always have some shredded cooked chicken and cooked black beans in the freezer. So, whenever I want to prepare this dish, I remove those ingredients from the freezer and prepare my meal in no time!

I even sometimes when I use freshly cooked and shredded chicken, I prepare the enchiladas filling with the pumpkin sauce and everything and store it in the freezer to use later on in this recipe and even I use it in a soup! More about that soup later, for now, let’s start cooking these delicious chicken pumpkin enchiladas.

My other pumpkin recipes

if you love pumpkin you can check my other pumpkin recipes using this delicious fall ingredient. so you get the must of it while it is in season!

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Fall Pumpkin Chicken Enchiladas

Chicken pumpkin enchiladas are the perfect October weeknight meal idea to celebrate this season best ingredients: Pumpkin! Chicken enchiladas made with pumpkin sauce is a Mexican classic with an October hearty twist to it that is so good and delicious.

Servings 12 wraps

Prep Time 25 minutes mins

Cook Time 20 minutes mins

Ingredients

For the red pumpkin sauce:

• 400 g homemade pumpkin puree see notes Recipe here
• 400 g tomato sauce
• ½ cup low fat labne Greek yogurt. see notes
• 1/3 cup chicken broth or water
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• 1 tbsp dry oregano
• 2 tsp cumin powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp sweet paprika. see notes
• ½ tsp smoked paprika
• 1 tsp coriander powder
• ½ tsp white pepper
• ¼ tsp black pepper

For the chicken filling:

• 1 tsp neutral vegetable oil I used avocado oil
• 1 big red onion diced
• 2 garlic cloves minced
• 120 g fresh mushrooms sliced see notes
• 3 cups shredded chicken see notes
• 250 g cooked black beans see notes
• Salt and pepper to taste

For the assembly:

• 2 cups shredded Mexican cheese mix of Monterey jack cheese with queso quesadilla and asadero cheese
• 12 soft 20 cm tortilla wraps
• Sour cream and avocado to serve

Instructions

For the red pumpkin sauce:

• Add all the ingredients to a food processor or blender and blend until smooth. Taste and season with salt and pepper as you wish. (see notes for spicy version)

For the chicken filling:

• Add the shredded chicken to a bowl with the black beans and set aside. On medium high heat sauté the mushrooms first without oil. when the mushrooms start browning and release their water. Sprinkle some oil and add the onion and sauté till transparent. Add your garlic and sauté till you can smell the garlic. Turn off the heat and the onion mixture to the chicken and black beans in the bowl.
• Add 2 cups of the red pumpkin sauce to the chicken mixture and mix with a spatula until everything is well cooperated.
• Set the filling aside and let’s start the assembly.

For the assembly:

• Preheat your oven on 180 C°. And prepare your baking dish.
• Spread ¼ cup of the red pumpkin sauce in the bottom of your baking dish and spread it evenly.
• Start rolling your tortillas. If they are to cold to wrap just microwave for 10 seconds so you can roll easier without cracking.
• On each tortilla spread ¼ cup of the chicken filling. Sprinkle on top 1 tbsp of the cheese and roll the tortilla and arrange in the baking dish seam side down. Repeat until you finish the 12 tortillas.
• Pour the remaining red pumpkin sauce on top of the tortillas and the remaining cheese on top also.

Bake and enjoy:

• Bake your enchiladas for 20 minutes maybe it will take to 30 minutes depending on your oven. When you see the edges getting golden and crispy it means it is ready.
• Remove from oven, let it rest for 5 minutes. Serve and enjoy with some avocado slices, sour cream and some chili sauce on the side!

Notes

1- Pumpkin puree: you can use canned puree but no canned brand has a close deep flavored taste like the homemade. You can easily prepare it at home check out my recipe here.

2- Laban: the traditional recipe asks for sour cream; you can totally go with that but I tried it with low fat labneh and it tasted so delicious. The labneh is basically same as Greek yoghurt but have less liquid in it and it is spreadable but you can also use Greek yoghurt.

3- Sweet paprika: this recipe is kids friendly for that reason I didn’t put any spicy seasonings like any traditional Mexican recipe. But if you are not cooking this for kids you can add also with the sweet paprika 3 tbsp of chili powder or any spicy seasoning you like.

4- Fresh mushrooms: I used mushrooms in this recipe but you can use any kind of veggies you have. Capsicum goes great and if you want to make it spicier you can also use jalapeno.

5- Shredded chicken: I always have some cooked and shredded chicken in the freezer to use in my recipes. But you can prepare on the spot by grilling or boiling some chicken. Or you can always buy a roasteries chicken and shredded to use quickly in the recipe.

6- Black beans: you can use a can of black beans well drained in the recipe if you don’t want to cook your own at home. But the homecooked ones are much tastier and better in texture. And much cheaper! in the price of one can you can prepare 5 cans at home! if not more!

7- Red pumpkin sauce: after you finish the sauce taste and make it as spicy as you want by adding chili powder or cayenne powder or tabasco sauce.

8- To freeze this meal before baking: simply finish your assembly as mentioned above, wrap it tightly in plastic wraps and freeze for up to 3 months. When ready to bake as instructed but add 10 more minutes because it was in freezer.

9- To freeze after baking: if you want to freeze in portions, cut your portions and arrange in freezer safe container, let sit in room temperature until completely cool down before covering and freezing. You can thaw and preheat in microwave whenever you want to eat. If you want to freeze the whole casserole, let it cool completely before wrapping tightly with plastic wraps and freeze. When you want to enjoy just bake as instructed but 10 minutes more. And enjoy!

Author: annacookingconcept

Course: dinner, lunch, Main Course

Cuisine: American, Mexican

Keyword: american, black beans, chicken, easy meal, enchiladas, freezer, meal preparation, mexican, pumpkin