Baked Chicken Chimichangas
Double Baked Chicken Chimichangas are a healthy change!
This is what I was talking about when I suggested positive changes in my New Years post: Evolve not Resolve this New Year.
We’re taking a perennial favorite – who doesn’t like Chimichangas? and mixing it up using baked chicken, white beans and whole wheat tortillas (if you can find them). Oh, and by the little switcheroo of baking them instead of frying.
And they are fab-u-lous.
The chimichanga is “Tex-Mex” cuisine. There is some debate about it’s origin, but “according to one source,[8] Monica Flin, the founder of the Tucson, Arizona, restaurant El Charro, accidentally dropped a burrito into the deep-fat fryer in 1922. She immediately began to utter a Spanish profanity beginning “chi…” (chingada), but quickly stopped herself and instead exclaimed chimichanga, a Spanish equivalent of “thingamajig“.[9] ” (Wikipedia)
That’s my kind of woman.
It’s double baked because I’m using chicken breasts that are cooked in the oven prior to being cut up and tossed with the other ingredients. Rotisserie chicken would be an excellent substitution, as would canned chicken breast. Swap out the chicken with any type of coarsely chopped mushrooms and some peppers to make it vegetarian. The chicken doesn’t take long to cook though, and the oven has to be on for the final bake anyway, so…
Spray your baking sheet well before placing the chicken on it to cook – we are going to use it again for the completed chimichangas. Sprinkle the chicken with kosher salt and some red pepper before cooking.
When the chicken is cooked through, showing 160 degrees on your instant read thermometer (affiliate link), move it to a chopping block (affiliate link) and cut it into 3/4″ to 1″ chunks.
Meanwhile, combine the other ingredients in your big bowl (affiliate link). You can use low fat cheese here to trim it up a little more.
Toss in the chicken and combine well.
I’d eat this right now. (I had to taste it!)
Time to roll! Put a tortilla on the block, and add a heaping 1/2 cup of the chicken mixture to the bottom third of the tortilla.
Fold up the bottom, over the chicken mixture.
Then fold in each side, so they just kiss in the middle. (How snazzy is my nail polish?)
Then roll up from the bottom. Some are neater than others. Ahem.
Put the chicken chimichangas on the baking sheet, seam side down. And continue until all the chicken chimichangas are ready to go. (I’m totally saying chicken chimichangas, fast, in my head.) Brush the top of each with a little canola oil, and sprinkle with paprika or cayenne pepper.
Bake in a 425 degree oven for about 25 minutes, then turn them over and continue cooking for another 5 minutes or so, until they are brown and crispy. The total time is about 20 minutes if you are using a convection oven.
Serve these with low fat sour cream, pickled jalapenos and salsa.
Baked Chicken Chimichangas
Ingredients
- 2 large Chicken Breasts, skinless & boneless
- 1 15.5 ounce can White Beans, drained
- 4 ounces Cheddar Cheese, shredded
- 1 4.5 ounce can Chopped Green Chiles
- 3 Green Onions, chopped
- 1 tbsp Dry Cumin
- 8 10" Flour Tortillas
- Canola oil, for brushing
- Salt & Pepper (black or red) to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
- Coat baking sheet well with cooking spray, and place chicken on it. Sprinkle lightly with kosher salt and cayenne or black pepper.
- Bake chicken for 20 minutes or so, until instant thermometer reads 160 degrees. Remove chicken and cut into 1" pieces.
- Meanwhile. combine beans, cheese, chiles, green onions and cumin in large bowl.
- Add chicken to other ingredients, and toss well.
- Roll up chicken mixture in tortillas. Brush chimichangas lightly with oil.
- Bake chimichangas for about 20 minutes, until they are crisp and beginning to brown. Turn over and allow to cook for 5 more minutes.
- Remove from oven and serve with sour cream, pickled jalapenos and salsa.
Healthy and delicious! ♥
These were delicious! Substituted pepper jack cheese and black beans because I didn’t have the other ingredients in the house. Also didn’t have the green chiles…. but they were sooo good anyway! And I made enough for leftovers for lunch the next day. Yum!
Pepper jack would be awesome – and you can never go wrong with black beans~ So glad you liked it!