Prepped Freezer Meals: Chipotle Chicken Enchilada Stew
This Chipotle Chicken Enchilada Stew is a Prepped Freezer Meal recipe and it's creamy, cozy, hearty, cheesy, and slightly spicy. All ingredients freeze raw, thaw, then cook in the slow cooker or in the oven. It's a stew because it's thick and hearty with bites of chicken, carrots, onion, chipotle peppers in adobo sauce for spice, cumin, garlic and lots of tortilla chips that melt down and thicken this delicious stew.
Servings 4 servings
Ingredients
For Freezer Bag
- 1 lb Chicken Breasts
- 1 cup Onion, diced You can use shallots as well
- 1 cup Carrots, dices
- 2 Chipotle Peppers in Adobo, Whole
- 1 tbls Adobo Sauce from the Chipotle Peppers
- 1 clove Garlic, minced
- 1 tbls Ground Cumin
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 2 cups Corn Tortilla Chips, crushed Save some in the pantry for garnish
- 4 cups Chicken Broth
Add to Slow Cooker while cooking
- 2 cups Shredded Cheddar Cheese for slow cooker + garnish
- ¼ cup Scallions, sliced for slow cooker + garnish
- ¼ cup Fresh Cilantro, chopped for slow cooker
- ¼ cup Corn Tortilla Chips, crushed for garnish
- ½ cup Sour Cream for garnish
Instructions
Prepped Freezer Meal Bag or Glass Container
- Cut your chicken breasts into small bite-size pieces and add to the freezer bag.
- Peel and dice the onions or shallots and add to the bag.
- Peel and dice the carrots and add to the bag.
- Remove 2 Chipotle Peppers from the Adobo sauce and dice into small pieces on cutting board. Add to the freezer bag with the chicken. Measure out a tablespoon of the Adobo Sauce from the can and add that to the freezer bag too.
- Next add the cumin, salt, and minced garlic to the bag. Then add the crushed tortilla chips.
- Add broth to the freezer bag right over the chips.
- Seal the bag tight and then lightly press flat and store in freezer. You can freeze on a sheet pan and then once frozen store standing up vertically or horizontally. You can store it for up to 3 months in the freezer.
Thaw & Cook Your Freezer Meal
- The morning of the day before you are cooking your freezer meal, transfer the freezer bag from the freezer to the fridge. That way, you have all day and night to thaw the ingredients safely. I like to put the frozen bag on a towel on a sheet pan in the fridge for the thawing process to prevent any ice melting on shelves.
- The morning before you will eat this for dinner, pour the ingredients from the bag to the slow cooker. Mix and then cover and set timer for 4 hours high up to 8 hours low depending on your schedule.
- Once the slow cooker moves to the KEEP WARM setting, you can add in the scallions and cheese and mix in.
- NOTE: If your stew has become too thick and you want to loosen it, just add a little bit of chicken broth and stir until you get your desired thickness. If you don't have extra broth, you can add a little water with a pinch of salt to taste.
- Add the fresh cilantro to the slow cooker and stir in.
- Serve in bowls and garnish with crushed tortilla chips, sour cream, scallions, and more shredded cheese. Enjoy!
Notes
NOTE: If you would rather cook this on the stove, I would bring it to a boil and then bring down to a simmer for an hour in a soup pot. You could also cook this in the oven 375 F in a casserole dish for 1 hour or until the chicken is fully cooked through and the sauce is thickened.
