Here is a great use of chicken leftovers: savory Chicken Chimichangas! Instead of throwing leftover chicken out, revamp and reuse with this super delicious and easy to make Chicken Chimichangas recipe! If you don’t have leftover chicken, just cook up some chicken breasts using the spice blend in this recipe and you’ll be good to go!
Who doesn’t love Mexican food? And all you have to do is use the right spices and you’ll have a savory Mexican dish you that the whole family will love! This can make a ton of chimichangas as well. I usually make a bunch of these, saran wrap the extras, and store them in a gallon size freezer bag for a quick future meal. You’ll quickly love (and devour) these Chicken Chimichangas!
How its done
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
First, shred some chicken and place into a medium sized bowl. I use leftover chicken for this Chicken Chimichangas recipe because, well, I almost always have leftover chicken. As long as the chicken isn’t flavored with something intense, like barbecue, then it will taste great in this recipe. Most importantly, chicken should be flavored with something.. nothing is worse than bland chicken! A go to for seasoning our chicken is what we like to call our Anderson All Purpose Seasoning Blend, which is 1 part salt, 1 part garlic powder, and 1/2 part pepper. Check out this link for the recipe for you to have at home.
Next, heat the 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a small pan over medium-high heat. While this is heating up, in a small bowl or container, mix the spices together.. Add the spice mixture to the pan when the olive oil is hot. When the olive oil is hot, toast the spices for about 1-2 minutes until they are super fragrant. Be sure to stir constantly.
Remove the spices from the pan and mix into the bowl of shredded chicken. After adding the spices, mix WELL to coat all of the chicken.
In separate bowl, mix the sour cream and salsa until combined. Add this sour cream and salsa mixture to the chicken. Grab the shredded sharp cheddar cheese and throw that in too. Mix well to coat all of the chicken. These Chicken Chimichangas are almost ready!
Time for assembly!
Finally, time to assemble these beauties. Scoop a 1/3 cup of chicken mixture into a tortilla. Roll into a burrito shape and place onto a baking sheet. I put parchment paper on my baking sheets to avoid a messy cleanup afterwards. Drizzle a little bit of olive oil onto each chimichanga and brush all over.
Cook in the oven for 25 minutes. On the other hand, if you have a convection oven, 20 minutes will be enough. The chicken is already cooked, we just want it to get all nice, warm and crispy. Take the Chicken Chimichangas out of the oven and serve with your favorite sides. Try out our Mexican Rice Recipe as a perfect pairing to this super savory meal.
Chicken Chimichangas
Ingredients
- 3 cups shredded chicken
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1/4 cup salsa
- 1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 teaspoons paprika
- 3 teaspoons chili powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon pepper
- small tortillas
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Place shredded chicken in bowl. I used leftover chicken, but you can cook chicken breasts on the skillet with salt and pepper to use as well.
- Heat olive oil in small pan on medium-high heat.
- Add spice mixture. Toast for about 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly. When fragrant, remove from heat.
- Add spice mixture to bowl of shredded chicken and mix well until coated.
- In separate bowl, mix sour cream and salsa until combined.
- Add sour cream and salsa mixture to shredded chicken.
- Add shredded cheddar cheese to chicken bowl and stir to combine.
- Scoop 1/3 cup of chicken mixture onto tortilla.
- Roll into burrito shape. Brush with olive oil.
- Put on baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Cook for 25 minutes.
- Serve.
