Pampered Chef Mexican Chicken Lasagna

Here are all the ingredients you will need for this lovely, delicious dish.

 

1 pkg (8 oz) cream cheese
¼ cup lightly packed fresh cilantro leaves, chopped
2 cups (8 oz) shredded Monterey jack cheese, divided
1 can (28 oz) enchilada sauce
12 (6”) corn tortillas
3 cups diced or shredded cooked chicken (I have also used canned chicken, about 3 large cans)
2/3 cup chopped onion
Additional chopped fresh cilantro leaves (optional)

But the one thing you MUST have is this little beauty: The Pampered Chef's Deep Covered Baker (well, not really. See the update at the end for the regular oven version) 

 

 

Into the baker you will place *frozen* boneless skinless chicken breasts (I use about 4 depending on their size) and the diced onion. The actual recipe does not call for the onions to be cooked with the chicken (but then again the actual recipe just says cooked chicken and doesn't say anything about how to cook it. I guess you could even use a rotisserie chicken if you wanted to) but I prefer it this way. Otherwise the onions are still crunchy and my kids pick them out which infuriates me. I also think they taste better cooked. Then you sprinkle some taco seasoning/chili seasoning/chili powder/whatevs to spice it Mexican style. I use the Pampered Chef Chipotle Rub. It will look like this next: 

Put the lid on the baker and stick the whole thing in your microwave (you heard me!!) for 15 minutes. While that is working it's magic, shred yourself a whole mess of monterey jack cheese and chop up your fresh cilantro like so:

Mix 1 1/2 cups of the shredded cheese with the cilantro and softened cream cheese.

When the microwave is done, the chicken and onions will be swimming in juices, so moist it will make you want to cry and it will smell so good you may want to stop there and just eat the chicken and onions by themselves. RESTRAIN YOURSELF!! It will all be worth it in the end, I promise! Pour all the juicy chicken and onions into a bowl (actually, though it pains me to do it, you really don't need the juices so you can drain them in a colander. All you need are the chicken and onions.)

You don't need to clean the baker for the next part. Pour some enchilada sauce in the bottom of the baker and the rest of it in a shallow bowl. Dip four tortillas into the enchilada sauce

and layer them in the baker. On top of this, spread (it's really hard to do but it doesn't have to be perfect either) half the cheese mixture and put about a cup's worth of the chicken and onions on top of that.

Repeat the layers two more times. Your top layer won't have the cheese blend, only monterey jack (I use a lot more than the recipe calls for because I love cheese.)

Lid back on and back into the microwave she goes for another 15 minutes. I have no picture of the finished product because the frenzied clamoring to eat it overwhelmed me. If you are a stickler for the "real" recipe, here it is:

Mexican Chicken Lasagna

1 pkg (8 oz) cream cheese
¼ cup lightly packed fresh cilantro leaves, chopped
2 cups (8 oz) shredded Monterey jack cheese, divided
1 can (28 oz) enchilada sauce
12 (6”) corn tortillas
3 cups diced or shredded cooked chicken
2/3 cup chopped onion
Additional chopped fresh cilantro leaves (optional)

1 - Place cream cheese in Classic Batter Bowl. Microwave on HIGH 30-45 seconds or until very soft. Add cilantro and 1 ½ cups of the Monterey jack cheese; mix well. Spread 2/3 cup of the enchilada sauce over bottom of Deep Covered Baker. Pour remaining enchilada sauce into large bowl; set aside.
2 - To assemble lasagna, dip four tortillas into enchilada sauce in large bowl and arrange over sauce in baker using Sauté Tongs, overlapping as necessary. Scoop half of the cream cheese mixture over tortillas using Small Scoop; spread evenly. Top with 1 cup of the chicken and one-third of the onion. Repeat layers one time. Dip remaining four tortillas into sauce and arrange over second layer. Top with remaining chicken and onion. Pour remaining enchilada sauce over lasagna and sprinkle with remaining ½ cup Monterey jack cheese.
3 - Microwave, covered on HIGH 12-15 minutes or until center is hot. Let stand 10 minutes. Sprinkle with additional chopped cilantro.

****UPDATE****
Last night we had company over and I needed to make a little more than the usual recipe amount. I used a 9 x 13 dish and incresed all the ingredients by half and used a rotisserie chicken which I shredded. Each tortilla layer had 6 overlapping tortillas instead of 4. I baked it in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes until the sauce was bubbly and the cheese was melted. Perfect!