share

Ground Chicken Enchilada Cups

by
On Annie’s Menu, onanniesmenu, On Annies Menu, Healthy dinner recipes, healthy snacks, healthy recipes, healthy breakfast, healthy eating, healthy meal prep, meal prep, healthy lunch ideas, healthy meals, realistic healthy recipes, easy vegetarian recipes, easy healthy family recipes, easy food blog, asian healthy family recipes, quick and healthy meals for families, healthy dinner party recipes, dinner party menu ideas, Ground Chicken Enchilada Cups, Ground Chicken taco Cups, ground chicken stuffed taco bowls, Chicken Enchilada Cups, Chicken Enchilada Baked Tortilla Cups, baked tortilla bowls, Ground Chicken Enchilada Bowls, crispy baked tortilla bowls, crispy baked tortilla cups, chicken bean and corn enchilada cups, chicken bean and corn enchilada cups, Ground turkey Enchilada cups, Ground turkey Enchilada bowls, easy healthy Mexican dinner, easy healthy Mexican party food, easy healthy game day Mexican food, Mexican enchilada tortilla bowls, Mexican crispy tortilla bowls,

Crispy baked tortilla ramekins stuffed with the juiciest, seasoned chicken and veggies and layered with all the melty cheese: these Ground Chicken Enchilada Cups are loved by everyone!

Jump to Recipe

Enchiladas are one of my favorite Mexican dishes. At Mexican restaurants, however, I usually go for a taco or a bowl. The enchiladas are just always so heavy! That being said, those flavors can be easily lightened up and eaten at home, in my opinion. Hence my Chicken Birria Enchiladas are one of my favorite Mexican recipes on my blog! If you haven’t tried them, you should. But, let’s just say you’re craving them (like I am), yet are short on time. That’s when I recommend you try this Ground Chicken Enchilada Cups recipe. With tons of veggies, that enchilada sauce flavor, and no need to deal with rolling up tortillas forever, these enchilada cups are truly a weeknight dinner life saver!

On Annie’s Menu, onanniesmenu, On Annies Menu, Healthy dinner recipes, healthy snacks, healthy recipes, healthy breakfast, healthy eating, healthy meal prep, meal prep, healthy lunch ideas, healthy meals, realistic healthy recipes, easy vegetarian recipes, easy healthy family recipes, easy food blog, asian healthy family recipes, quick and healthy meals for families, healthy dinner party recipes, dinner party menu ideas, Ground Chicken Enchilada Cups, Ground Chicken taco Cups, ground chicken stuffed taco bowls,  Chicken Enchilada Cups, Chicken Enchilada Baked Tortilla Cups, baked tortilla bowls, Ground Chicken Enchilada Bowls, crispy baked tortilla bowls, crispy baked tortilla cups, chicken bean and corn enchilada cups, chicken bean and corn enchilada cups, Ground turkey Enchilada cups, Ground turkey Enchilada bowls, easy healthy Mexican dinner, easy healthy Mexican party food, easy healthy game day Mexican food, Mexican enchilada tortilla bowls, Mexican crispy tortilla bowls,

The breakdown…

These Ground Chicken Enchilada Cups truly come together in just a matter of minutes. Start off by preparing your tortilla “cups,” aka baked tortilla shells that kind of look like giant Tostidos scoops. You want to get these shells nice and crispy so that you can use that as 1) a bowl/vessel for the rest of the filling but also 2) as a crunchy addition to the overall bite. Think what a bread bowl is to soup, or even what a taco salad in one of those large, store-bought tortilla dishes is like. And, yes, if you are skeptical, you can totally achieve this without a deep fryer. With just a bit of oil, shove your tortillas into oven-safe ramekins. The size of the ramekins is not all too important as long as your tortillas are large enough to fill up the sizes. You could use a large burrito sized tortilla, a normal flour tortilla, a whole wheat tortilla, or even a large gluten free option. Go with what you love!

On Annie’s Menu, onanniesmenu, On Annies Menu, Healthy dinner recipes, healthy snacks, healthy recipes, healthy breakfast, healthy eating, healthy meal prep, meal prep, healthy lunch ideas, healthy meals, realistic healthy recipes, easy vegetarian recipes, easy healthy family recipes, easy food blog, asian healthy family recipes, quick and healthy meals for families, healthy dinner party recipes, dinner party menu ideas, Ground Chicken Enchilada Cups, Ground Chicken taco Cups, ground chicken stuffed taco bowls,  Chicken Enchilada Cups, Chicken Enchilada Baked Tortilla Cups, baked tortilla bowls, Ground Chicken Enchilada Bowls, crispy baked tortilla bowls, crispy baked tortilla cups, chicken bean and corn enchilada cups, chicken bean and corn enchilada cups, Ground turkey Enchilada cups, Ground turkey Enchilada bowls, easy healthy Mexican dinner, easy healthy Mexican party food, easy healthy game day Mexican food, Mexican enchilada tortilla bowls, Mexican crispy tortilla bowls,

the method…

Now, you may be a bit perplexed by the microwave step. Like, why do you need to microwave your tortillas before baking them? And why in a damp paper towel? Well, if you’ve never tried to press tortillas into a ramekin before, you should know that tortillas looooove to tear all over the place. They simply are not very pliable. But, with just a quick microwave in a damp paper towel (I just likely wet a few pieces and ring them out), it will be much easier to fold your tortilla into that shape. Plus, with this method, you likely won’t need to add any baking weights to the mix — aka there’s no need to fill your tortillas with something that will help them keep their shape in the oven. But, what you definitely don’t want to skip is the oil! Going back to the “no need for a deep-fryer” thing, the way you achieve a nice crisp in the oven is by layering up those tortillas with some oil. I love oil spray to get into all the crevices, but go with what you have!

the filling…

The filling for these Ground Chicken Enchilada Cups is as easy as can be. With some yellow onion and chicken sautéed up with a homemade taco seasoning of sorts (or store bought, if you have some), is truly so delicious. Then, when you bulk it up with some sweet corn, salty beans, and acid tomatoes? It’s just the best. Mix up all those veggies and the chicken with the seasonings and it’s delicious as is. But, when you pour in some of your favorite enchilada sauce, the flavors are truly taken out of this world. The mixture is super saucy, so flavorful, and packed with just about every healthy ingredient you could ask for. Basically, there’s no better way to stuff a tortilla.

On Annie’s Menu, onanniesmenu, On Annies Menu, Healthy dinner recipes, healthy snacks, healthy recipes, healthy breakfast, healthy eating, healthy meal prep, meal prep, healthy lunch ideas, healthy meals, realistic healthy recipes, easy vegetarian recipes, easy healthy family recipes, easy food blog, asian healthy family recipes, quick and healthy meals for families, healthy dinner party recipes, dinner party menu ideas, Ground Chicken Enchilada Cups, Ground Chicken taco Cups, ground chicken stuffed taco bowls,  Chicken Enchilada Cups, Chicken Enchilada Baked Tortilla Cups, baked tortilla bowls, Ground Chicken Enchilada Bowls, crispy baked tortilla bowls, crispy baked tortilla cups, chicken bean and corn enchilada cups, chicken bean and corn enchilada cups, Ground turkey Enchilada cups, Ground turkey Enchilada bowls, easy healthy Mexican dinner, easy healthy Mexican party food, easy healthy game day Mexican food, Mexican enchilada tortilla bowls, Mexican crispy tortilla bowls,

Once your tortilla shells are nice and crispy, make sure you remove them from their containers before filling them with that mixture. While this may seem counterintuitive, just trust me on this one… I originally tried to remove my Ground Chicken Enchilada Cups from their ramekins post bake, and it was a big mess. The tortilla just doesn’t get crisped enough, and the filling just flies everywhere. Plus, if you can remove your tortilla from the ramekin and allow it to stand by itself, you’ll know that your tortillas are crisp enough to be filled — a super easy, yet extremely important step.

On Annie’s Menu, onanniesmenu, On Annies Menu, Healthy dinner recipes, healthy snacks, healthy recipes, healthy breakfast, healthy eating, healthy meal prep, meal prep, healthy lunch ideas, healthy meals, realistic healthy recipes, easy vegetarian recipes, easy healthy family recipes, easy food blog, asian healthy family recipes, quick and healthy meals for families, healthy dinner party recipes, dinner party menu ideas, Ground Chicken Enchilada Cups, Ground Chicken taco Cups, ground chicken stuffed taco bowls,  Chicken Enchilada Cups, Chicken Enchilada Baked Tortilla Cups, baked tortilla bowls, Ground Chicken Enchilada Bowls, crispy baked tortilla bowls, crispy baked tortilla cups, chicken bean and corn enchilada cups, chicken bean and corn enchilada cups, Ground turkey Enchilada cups, Ground turkey Enchilada bowls, easy healthy Mexican dinner, easy healthy Mexican party food, easy healthy game day Mexican food, Mexican enchilada tortilla bowls, Mexican crispy tortilla bowls,

how to serve them up…

Then, go ahead and stuff them to the brim with all that good filling. Then, go in with the cheese. Cheese is vital to a good enchilada, therefore it is also vital to this Ground Chicken Enchilada Cups recipe. You could use a dairy-free alternative, but definitely don’t skimp on it. When you send everything back to the oven to get all gooey and crisp, the cheesy really locks all of those flavors into the cups and pulls everything together. Serve them up with some fresh avocado or guacamole, some sour cream or greek yogurt, and a bit of cilantro…and voila! Dinner is served. Whether you eat these as they are, prepare a simple side salad to go with everything, or even whip up some Spanish rice, you can’t go wrong with this one.

I hope you love these Ground Chicken Enchilada Cups as much as I do! Let me know what you think in the comments below:))

Ground Chicken Enchilada Cups

Recipe by Annie PatrickCourse: Main Course, AppetizerCuisine: Mexican, Tex Mex, FusionDifficulty: Easy
Servings

6

servings
Prep time

10

minutes
Cooking time

20

minutes
Total time

30

minutes

Crispy baked tortilla ramekins stuffed with the juiciest, seasoned chicken and veggies and layered with all the melty cheese: these Ground Chicken Enchilada Cups are loved by everyone!

Ingredients

  • tortillas:
  • 6 large flour tortillas

  • Olive oil or olive oil spray, to coat

  • A pinch of salt, to taste

  • filling:
  • 2 tbsp olive oil

  • 1 yellow onion, finely diced

  • 1 lb ground chicken*

  • ½ tsp cumin

  • 1 tsp dried oregano

  • 1 tsp salt

  • 1 tsp paprika

  • 1 tbsp chili powder*

  • 1 ½ cup corn, fresh or frozen

  • 1 15 oz can beans, rinsed and drained

  • 3 roma tomatoes, finely diced

  • 1 15 oz can red enchilada sauce

  • ¼ cup fresh cilantro, finely diced (plus more to serve)

  • 1-2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded

  • Sour cream or greek yogurt, to serve

  • Avocados or guacamole, to serve

Instructions

  • Preheat the broiler to high (or the oven to 425 degrees). Place six ovenproof ramekins (3×4 to 4×6 inches will work) onto a large baking sheet.
  • In a damp paper towel, microwave your tortillas for about 30 seconds to make them pliable. Tuck the tortillas into the ramekins in a cup/bowl shape, and brush or spray with olive oil. Transfer the baking sheet to the oven and bake for 8 minutes, or until the tortillas start to crisp up.
  • Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Once hot, toss in the onions. Sauté for 2-3 minutes, then mix in the ground chicken. Cook for an additional 4-5 minutes, breaking the chicken up with a spoon as you go. Stir in the cumin, oregano, salt, paprika, and chili powder (or 2 tbsp taco seasoning). Then, mix in the corn, beans, tomatoes, enchilada sauce, and cilantro. Bring the liquids to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium low. Cook for 5-6 minutes, or until the sauce has slightly reduced.
  • Once your tortillas are crisp, fill each shell with some of the chicken mixture. Cover each cup with a good amount of cheddar cheese, then return the ramekins to the oven. Bake for an additional 3-4 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and crisp.
  • Serve with avocado or guacamole and fresh cilantro. Enjoy!

Notes

  • Ground turkey or ground beef also work well for this recipe. If using ground beef, however, I would reduce the olive oil to 1 tbsp, then drain out the fat before adding in the seasonings, as needed. 
  • Instead of the cumin, oregano, salt, paprika, and chili powder, you could also use pre-mixed taco seasoning.
Tags:
    • Elly
    • March 22, 2022

    These were so easy and so delicious! I mixed in some brown rice before I baked everything in the tortilla cups and it turned out great. Thanks for the recipe!

Comments are closed.
On Annie's Menu
Close Cookmode