Easy Meal Prep Chicken Enchiladas (budget friendly)

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For some reason enchiladas is a recipe that I avoided making because in my mind they seemed really complicated. I know that sounds stupid, but I have honestly never made them before until this recipe. I was looking for an inexpensive way to meal prep. I knew that I would already be making shredded chicken for dinner on Monday, so I figured I could easily make extra chicken for my meal prep. Then after some thought, I decided to give enchiladas a try! So here is my easy meal prep chicken enchiladas recipe! This is a wonderful budget friendly meal that is easy to make in bulk, or even freeze and bake later!

Start out my cooking up some shredded chicken. There are many different ways to do this. Here are my 3 favorites:

• Crockpot – place chicken breasts in the bottom of a Crockpot with either some chicken broth or water. Let it cook on high for 3-4 hours (or low for 6-7 hours) and then shred
• Instant Pot – place chicken breasts in the bottom of an Instant Pot with 1 cup of chicken broth or water. Set it for 10 minutes on high pressure and turn the valve to seal in the steam. Once it’s done cooking, let the pressure release naturally for 5 minutes, and then do a quick release. Once it’s cool enough to get your hands in the pot, shred the chicken with two forks.
• Oven – place chicken breasts in a small baking dish with 1/4 cup of water or chicken broth. Cover the dish with either foil or an oven safe lid. Bake at 375 degrees for 25 -35 minutes or until cooked through. Then shred with two forks

Now that you have shredded chicken, set it aside. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees if you will be cooking the enchiladas today. Grab your onion and dice it up into small pieces. Heat your oil in a small pan and add the diced onion and saute for about 10 minutes. Then set it aside.

Now it’s time to assemble the enchiladas! I recommend setting out all of your ingredients within easy reach, with your baking dish nearby. Start out by laying out a tortilla and pouring a line of enchilada sauce down the middle (about 1-2 tbsp). Then add in the shredded chicken, cooked onion, black beans, some cheese. Roll it up and place it in your baking dish. Repeat this process until all of your enchiladas are assembled. Then take whatever enchilada sauce that is remaining and pour it on top. Sprinkle it with whatever cheese remains.

At this point you can either freeze the entire baking dish or cook them. If you’re going to cook them then bake them uncovered for 20 minutes and then either serve immediately or separate into tupperware.

Budget Breakdown

• 8oz chicken breast – $0.99
• small tortillas – $1.29 for 16 small tortillas
• low fat mexican cheese – $2.19 for 2 cups
• olive oil – $0.05 ($4.79 for a 16.9oz bottle)
• small white onion – $0.43
• enchilada sauce – $1.19
• black beans – $0.49

Total Price – $6.63 or $2.21 per meal

Budget Friendly Tips:

• Buy chicken breasts whenever they are on sale and freeze them individually. This way you can pull out a few breasts at a time to thaw and use. I only  buy them when they are less than $1.99 per pound
• Buy store brand black beans and cheese to save money. Most brands taste the same anyway
• My store only sold packs of 16 small tortillas. Since I only used 6 for this meal prep, I saved the other 10 for next week’s meal prep. I’ll be making chicken tacos using my salsa chicken recipe!

Yield: 3 servings

Easy Meal Prep Chicken Enchiladas (budget friendly)

Print

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 35 minutes

Ingredients

• 8oz of cooked and shredded chicken breasts
• 6 small tortillas
• 3/4 cup low fat mexican cheese
• 1/2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 small white onion
• 1 cup red enchilada sauce
• 8oz low sodium black beans

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and spray a glass baking dish with cooking spray
2. If you're chicken is not already cooked and shredded, make sure to do this first. See recipe notes for 3 different ways to make shredded chicken
3. Grab your onion and dice it up into small pieces. Heat your oil in a small pan and add the diced onion and saute for about 10 minutes. Then set it aside.
4. Now it's time to assemble the enchiladas! I recommend setting out all of your ingredients within easy reach, with your baking dish nearby. Start out by laying out a tortilla and pouring a line of enchilada sauce down the middle (about 1-2 tbsp). Then add in the shredded chicken, cooked onion, black beans, some cheese. Roll it up and black it in your baking dish. Repeat this process until all of your enchiladas are assembled. Then take whatever enchilada sauce that is remaining and pour it on top. Sprinkle it with whatever cheese remains.
5. Bake them uncovered for 20 minutes and either serve immediately or store in tupperware for up to 5 days. You can also freeze the baking dish before baking to cook at a later time.

Notes

3 ways to make shredded chicken:

Crockpot - place chicken breasts in the bottom of a Crockpot with either some chicken broth or water. Let it cook on high for 3-4 hours (or low for 6-7 hours) and then shred

Instant Pot - place chicken breasts in the bottom of an Instant Pot with 1 cup of chicken broth or water. Set it for 10 minutes on high pressure and turn the valve to seal in the steam. Once it's done cooking, let the pressure release naturally for 5 minutes, and then do a quick release. Once it's cool enough to get your hands in the pot, shred the chicken with two forks.

Oven - place chicken breasts in a small baking dish with 1/4 cup of water or chicken broth. Cover the dish with either foil or an oven safe lid. Bake at 375 degrees for 25 -35 minutes or until cooked through. Then shred with two forks

Nutrition Information

Yield

3

Serving Size

2 enchiladas
Amount Per Serving Calories 415Total Fat 11.8gSaturated Fat 4.1gCholesterol 52mgSodium 876mgCarbohydrates 49.5gFiber 7gSugar 4gProtein 31.4g