I decided to try smoking a chicken in the smoker this time since I am out of propane AND charcoal to grill, and these Smoked Pulled Chicken Enchiladas Suizas turned out absolutely fabulous! Spicy, smokey, tender chunks of juicy chicken melted with sour cream and swiss cheese, stuffed into flour tortillas, smothered with red enchilada sauce and more swiss cheese! What more could a Mexican food lover want? Right?
Though I still do love a great roasted or grilled chicken, this smoked chicken was above and beyond! I did a sweet and spicy rub with just enough dark brown sugar and spices to bring a little heat!
It was then smoked until 162-163º which took about 2 hours, and the result was one gorgeous looking chicken! Lightly crispy on the outside, and tender and juicy on the inside!
I’m not even going to admit how many pieces I nibbled on! Who could resist??
Then just stir in some sour cream and shredded swiss, and you’re almost done! These do take some time to make, but you can easily breeze right through if you smoke, pull, and coat the chicken the day before!
Then just soft-fry the tortillas, fill, roll, and smother with red enchilada sauce and top with more cheese! Pop them into the oven and bake until a creamy melty cheesy mess on the inside. and the sauce is cooked and the cheese has melted on top! Garnish with a little snipped green onion, serve with a little sour cream and guacamole, and get ready for curtain calls!
We enjoyed these over-the-top chicken enchiladas with some simple homemade Pan-Fried Mexi-Corn and what a delicious summertime meal!
These were so good, and so pretty, that they would be fantastic to impress company, too!
I mean, seriously! Just look at how pretty they are!
And that touch of smokiness? Such a wonderful change from just plain ol’ chicken enchiladas!
I’m not quite sure if I ever want to make them the old way ever again! So if you’re having a blast with your smoker this summer, or even want to add little smokey flavor while grilling, you’ll definitely want to give these Smoked Pulled Chicken Enchiladas Suizas a try SOON. They’re easy, fun, mild, and sure to please everyone!
16 (small fajita-sized) soft four tortillas, I used Super Soft Mission brand that worked really well
1/4 cup oil
3 sheets paper towel, or lint-free towel
guacamole, optional
apple wood chips, soaked overnight in water, beer, or apple juice
Rub:
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1 Tbl. garlic salt
1 Tbl. chili powder
1 Tbl. cumin
2 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. coarse ground black pepper
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp. onion powder
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
Instructions
To Start: Add all Rub ingredients into a small bowl and mix extremely well. Set aside.
Prep chicken by removing bag of "innards" inside, and rinsing cavity with cold water. Lay whole chicken, breast side down, onto a cutting board and remove backbone with scissors. Turn over, and press down in center to crack so that spatchcocked chicken lays flat. Trim any excess skin. Flip back over. Sprinkle with almost half of the Rub mixture, patting on. Spray rack to smoker and place onto a baking sheet. Flip chicken over onto rack, laying out flat, skin side up now. Coat top (skin side) with rest of Rub. Tuck wing tips under legs. Place into fridge, uncovered, to marinate overnight, (or at least a few hours).
To Smoke Chicken: Take chicken out of fridge and set on counter to come to room temp while you heat the cooker to 275º with wood chips box already inside and filled a third to halfway full. Insert temp probe into thickest part of breast meat. When smoker reaches proper temp, place chicken into cooker using just the rack it's on that goes to the cooker, plug in the temp probe, close door and smoke chicken until breast meat reaches 162º F. (Approx. 2 hours). Remove, cover, and let rest for 15 minutes covered with foil. (Temp will reach 165º after resting. If not, no worries. It will after it bakes in the enchiladas, and we sure don't want the chicken to be dry.) When cooled enough that it won't burn your fingers, pull the meat from the carcass using forks and your hands. Tear into small chunks placing into a large mixing bowl. Fold in half (2 cups) of the shredded swiss cheese. *Reserve 1/2 cup sour cream, and add rest into chicken. Fold until all of chicken is coated and mixture is well and evenly combined. Cover and set aside.
To Make Enchiladas: Next is to soft-fry the tortillas. Do not skip this step. It’s easy and really doesn’t take that long. Simply heat a flat non-stick griddle over medium heat, brush with a little oil and place 2-3 tortillas (depending on size of pan) onto hot pan and gently “fry” until just lightly browned on one side. Brush tops with oil and turn with tongs, lightly browning second side. Place onto 2 paper towels and cover with another while frying the next batch until all are done. (A paper towel on top keeps them warm and soft.)
Preheat oven to 350º F.
In medium bowl, add enchilada sauce. Set up station with tortillas first, then sauce, then chicken filling, then a 13×9 pan sprayed with butter-flavored cooking spray and spread with 2 Tbl. of the sauce. *You can use 2 pans if you don’t want to over-crowd them. Or use a roaster that will hold them all comfortably.
Place tortillas, one at a time, down onto sauce pressing into sauce lightly to coat, turn over and coat other side. Hold tortilla in left hand, fill with filling using right hand. Use enough filling to stuff full but not falling out ends and barely overlapping to close. Place seam-side down into sprayed and prepared pan(s). Finish filling and rolling them all. Pour rest of sauce over enchiladas evenly and top with rest of shredded swiss cheese. Pop into 350 degree preheated oven and bake for 25 minutes. Remove from oven, top each with a small dollop of sour cream and pop back into the oven for 5 more minutes.
Serve hot topped with guacamole, and any type of side dish such as my Mexi-Corn or Mexican-Style Rice dishes, refried beans and chips, or even just a nice garden salad. Enjoy!
Notes
*To make this easy, I marinate the chicken overnight coated with the rub. The next day I smoke the chicken, pull the meat, and mix it with the cheese and sour cream. Then the enchiladas can be made that day, or held over until the next day to have it ready to go, assemble, and bake!
