Y’all know I love to cook and entertain so I’m always on the hunt for recipes that are great for a crowd and relatively easy to make. These Baked Chicken Chimichangas fill the bill beautifully and when I made them for a crowd last weekend, they were a huge hit! The best thing about Baked Chicken Chimichangas is they are baked not fried, saving you tons of calories!!

Using a rotisserie chicken definitely saves you time when making Baked Chicken Chimichangas, although you are welcome to roast your own chicken. It’s what I like to do if I can’t get an organic rotisserie chicken. Or, bake up some chicken breasts and thighs and when the meat cools, shred it and make your chimichangas!

You’ll chop up some onion, garlic, and jalapeño, add yummy spices like cumin and cinnamon, chopped tomato and cilantro and cook a bit on the stove with the shredded chicken and sour cream. Then, spread some refried beans on a tortilla, spoon in the chicken mixture, dollop with a spoonful of salsa and bake till crisp and golden. Then top with shredded monterey jack cheese and serve! Easy!

You might have noticed I haven’t blogged much in the last year and there’s a reason for that. For the majority of 2016 and the first few months of 2017 I struggled with pretty serious anxiety that smacked me right in the face. I’m calling 2016 my lost year because the anxiety basically crippled me from doing anything meaningful. Also, we moved from Georgia to Nashville which may have contributed some, but for the most part, I struggled daily just to cope with normal things.

Thank the Lord I am much better now and I promise, I will share all about my journey and how I’ve found healing in a blog post soon. In fact, I’m hoping to blog at least a couple of times a month for the rest of this year. Some posts, like today’s, will be a recipe. But I have lots to say about faith and hope and God and being a grandmother and other subjects I hope you’ll enjoy.

One thing I promise: I will never crowd your inbox!

Baked Chicken Chimichangas

Kate Battistelli

Adapted from Food Network's Almost Famous Chimichanga recipe, these Baked Chicken Chimichangas are simple to make ahead and sure to wow your guests!

5 from 1 vote

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Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 20 minutes mins

Total Time 40 minutes mins

Course Main dish, Quick and Easy

Cuisine Mexican

Servings 4 –6 servings

Ingredients

  

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 onion chopped
• 3 cloves garlic chopped
• 1 jalapeno pepper diced (remove seeds and ribs for less heat)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• Kosher salt
• 1 small tomato chopped, plus more for topping
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 1/2 cups shredded rotisserie chicken
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1 15- ounce can refried beans
• 4 10- inch flour tortillas
• 1 cup shredded monterey jack cheese plus more for topping

Instructions

 

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons oil in the skillet. Add the chopped onion, garlic and jalapeno and cook until soft, about 3 minutes. Add the chili powder, cumin, cinnamon and 1 teaspoon salt and cook 30 seconds. Add the tomato and cilantro and cook until slightly dry, about 2 minutes. Stir in the chicken and sour cream and warm through. Remove from the heat.
• Grease a rimmed baking sheet with oil or butter. Spread 2 tablespoons refried beans down the center of each tortilla, leaving a 2-inch border on both ends. Top with 1 cup chicken mixture and 1/4 cup cheese. Fold in the ends and roll up.
• Place the chimichangas seam-side down on the baking sheet; brush with melted butter or olive oil. Bake about 20 minutes or until beginning to turn golden. Top with monterey jack cheese and let melt. Serve with sliced avocados or guacamole, salsa, sour cream and shredded lettuce.

Kate’s Tips

• These can definitely be made ahead. Get them all assembled the day before and bake the next day. Or assemble, freeze, and bake when you’re ready!
• Use a rotisserie chicken or bake breasts and thighs and when cool, shred the meat.
• To make these moister, I add about a tablespoon of salsa to each chimichanga before I fold it up. Here’s the order I do it: refried beans, chicken mixture, cheese then salsa. Fold up and put in baking dish.
• When you cut the ribs and seeds out of a jalapeño, it loses the majority of it’s heat. If you like it hot, leave them in!
• Serve with sour cream, salsa, avocado, shredded lettuce and more Monterey Jack cheese!
• I just serve these with a green salad with an avocado Caesar dressing but you could add Mexican rice and beans on the side.
• When I make this, I usually get 6 rather than 4 chimichangas.
• This recipe easily doubles or triples for a crowd.
• I use organic flour tortillas (see below) but feel free to use gluten free or sprouted or multigrain.

Products I used in this recipe:

• Kassandrinos Organic Extra Virgin Greek Olive Oil This is the ONLY olive oil I use. Seriously the absolute best I’ve found. It’s from Greece, very pure and I buy it by the half gallon!!
• Refried Beans I like Amy’s but any refried beans will do.
• Organic Flour Tortillas When it comes to anything made with flour, I only buy organic to avoid the glyphosate and pesticides sprayed on conventional wheat. Also, Organic tortillas are non-GMO.
• Organic spices – I usually use the Simply Organic brand
• Salsa – I like Amy’s or Newman’s Own.

Make a big pan of these Baked Chicken Chimichangas, invite the neighbors and have a party! Feel free to leave me a comment, especially if you try these!

xoxo

Kate