COOK: Baked Chimichangas

I'm not going to lie and say these chimichangas are as good as a real fried chimi from a Mexican restaurant, but they are delicious, simple, and easy to freeze!

You can change up the fillings, I've always used chicken, because that's what I prefer, but you could use ground beef, steak, shredded pork, or grilled veggies.  Just be sure that you drain your filling, if there is any extra grease, water, juice it makes the tortillas soggy, and no one likes soggy tortillas!

Baked Chimichangas 

Ingredients:

1 Pound Chicken Breast (cooked, I prefer shredded over chopped, see below for my shredded chicken recipe.)  

10-14 Ounce Can Chopped Green Chile Peppers (diced)

3 Cloves Minced Garlic

1/2 Cup Monterey Jack Cheese

1/2 Cup Cheddar Cheese (I use extra sharp)

1 teaspoon Cumin

1 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper (omit if you don't want it to be too spicy)

1/2 teaspoon Onion Powder

Pinch Salt

6-8 Burrito Sized Tortillas
2-4 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter (melted) 

Preparation:

If you are going to use shredded chicken, (or any other shredded meat) you need to cook it first.  

[When I'm use shredded chicken I usually put one chicken breast (the breasts I usually find at my local market are about 1 pound each) into a 2.5-3 quart pot and cover with liquid (you can use water or broth, if using water I add a bit of salt.) Let the water come to a boil and then cover the pot and turn down to Simmer or Low, let cook about 10-15 minutes (until chicken reaches 165 degrees)  Then remove the chicken to a bowl and let cool.  Using two forks separate the meat until it's in small pieces.

Let the meat cool a bit, mix in chopped green chile peppers, minced garlic, both cheeses, cumin, cayenne, onion, and salt (as needed).  

(Put a small amount of filling aside for your kitty, she will gobble it, green chiles and all!)

Heat oven to 375 degrees and spray cookie sheet with cooking spray.

Put a tortilla on the counter and put a scoop of filling in the middle.

Then fold it like an envelope

Put your chimis on a prepared cookie sheet, then brush them with melted butter.  (Lightly, if your douse them they'll be soggy!)

Pop them in the oven for about 15-20 minutes, until brown on the edges and light golden on top.

Eat and enjoy, or you can refrigerate or freeze after they have cooled.  (If freezing wrap individually in foil.)  I prefer to reheat these in the microwave, in the oven they tend to dry out.  I wrap one in a wet paper towel for one minute, then flip and microwave one more minute, until warm in the middle. 

A HUGE thank you to my good friend Jeff Cordsen for his help with this post!

Let me know if you have questions!

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