Enchiladas Suizas with Chicken and Roasted Poblanos

These enchiladas suizas made with a creamy-cheesy salsa verde and filled with chicken and roasted poblanos are número 1 on our list of must-make dinners right now. Gracias to Vivi Abeja, one of our favorite Mexican cooks, for another simple and addictively delicioso traditional Mexican dish we can’t stop craving.

Unlike her other family-famous recipes, this is one that she created from scratch. “I taught myself how to make this recipe after I first had it at a restaurant I used to work at in Navy Pier in Chicago. I worked the summer as a hostess at a Mexican restaurant and loved their enchiladas suizas.”

After one shift, Vivi went home to her apartment in Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood and experimented with making the filling and creamy green sauce. Vivi learned to cook most of her favorite Mexican dishes from her Abuelita and from her family, and suizas is not a dish she grew up eating. “My family usually makes red enchiladas at home, while ordering green chicken enchiladas at restaurants. I love the variety that our culture has in all its foods. There are red and green enchiladas, chilaquiles, pozole, tamales, and so on.”

Of course, Vivi had to make a few tweaks to the traditional recipe. “Enchilada suizas are usually made with just a chicken filling, and I love poblano, so I wanted to not only add it not only to the salsa, but to the filling as well.”

Are you wondering about the name of this dish: Swiss enchiladas? According to lore, they are so called because of the use of cream in their sauce, and dairy is an ingredient the Swiss were famous for in their cuisine. The story goes that in the 1950s, a chef at a Mexico City centro location of Sanborns, the popular Mexican department store, invented the creamy dish and gave it a European name to add a touch of international flair. This creation tale is of course debated, with several restaurants stepping in to take the claim, but in any case, the naming flourish worked. This dairy-centric approach to chicken enchiladas has since become part of Mexico’s culinary essentials, offering a cheesy counterpoint to the more earthy traditional red versions of this comfort food.

Enchiladas suizas have similarly taken hold in Vivi’s kitchen and she reports she makes suizas often. Especially when feeding a big crowd. “This is a meal to share with others, so I only make this when I know I’m going to have company over because it’s best eaten fresh.”

To try more of Vivi’s family-famous Mexican recipes, check out her frijoles guisados or stewed pinto beans, red chilaquiles, uchepos or corn tamales, champurrado, flautas de papa , plus many more here.

Ready to Make Vivi’s Deliciosas Enchiladas Suizas?

Enchiladas Suizas with Chicken & Roasted Poblanos

Recipe by Vivi Abeja

5.0 from 1 vote

Cuisine: Mexican

Servings

4 to 6

servings

Prep time

15

minutes

Cooking time

45

minutes

Ingredients

• 8 chicken cutlets (4 boneless breast sliced in half)

• 1 poblano chile, stemmed

• 1 onion

• 1 Tbsp chicken bouillion powder

• 1 tsp salt

• 1/2 tsp black pepper

• 12 corn tortillas

• 2 tsp vegetable oil

• 1 cup Chihuahua or Mexican melting cheese

• For the Enchilada Sauce

• 28 oz tomatillos (1 can)

• 8 oz cream cheese (1 block)

• 1 poblano chile

• 1/4 large onion or 1/2 small onion

• 3 cloves garlic

• 1 jalapeño

• 1 serrano

• 1 bunch cilantro

• 1 cup water

• 2 Tbsp chicken boullion powder

• Pinch salt, or to taste

Directions

• Preheat oven to 400°.
• Thinly slice 1 poblano and onion, season with salt and pepper, and place in a bowl. Set aside.
• Season chicken breast cutlets with salt, pepper and chicken bouillon seasoning and place in a baking dish. Bake chicken, poblano and onion for 15 to 20 minutes or until chicken is fully cooked and not pink.
• Once chicken is cool enough to handle, shred with your fingers or two forks. Mix the chicken with the sliced poblano and onion and set aside.
• Make the Poblano and Cream Cheese Sauce
• Roast the second poblano pepper on the stove until it’s completely charred all around and steam in a plastic or zip bag for 10 minutes.
• After 10 minutes, peel outer skin and remove stem and seeds.
• Stem the jalapeño and serrano chiles and remove the seeds (or not! It all depends on your heat tolerance).
• In a blender, add tomatillos, cream cheese, roasted poblano, onion, garlic, jalapeño, serrano, cilantro, water, chicken boullion, and salt. Blend until smooth.
• Putting It All Together
• Pour a thin layer of the sauce in a baking pan or sheet tray (about 1/3 to 1/2 cup).
• Add a little oil to a comal or cast-iron pan over medium heat. Warm tortillas one by one for easy rolling.
• After warming, place the tortilla in the pan, covering it with the sauce. Fill its center with 2 to 3 Tbsp of the chicken and veggie filling and roll it up. Nestle the closed tortilla against a corner of the baking pan.
• Repeat, adding sauce to the pan as needed, until you completely fill up the baking pan with sauce-drenched, chicken mixture-filled, rolled-up tortillas.
• Sprinkle the top with any remaining chicken, poblano and onion filling mixture. Top the pan with rolled-up tortillas with a generous amount of the creamy green sauce. Sprinkle with shredded Mexican cheese and bake in a 400° oven until the cheese is melted, about 20 minutes. Serve immediately and enjoy while hot.

Notes

• Canned tomatillos are sometimes labeled Mexican green tomatoes. If you want to make your own, buy, husk and dry-roast about 20 tomatillos at 400° for about 20 minutes.