Make-Ahead Meals for Busy Moms - Baked Chimichangas

Earlier this week, I told you that I made a few dishes from Jane Doiron's new cookbook, Make-Ahead Meals for Busy Moms. The first one I shared with you was the Mini Bacon Quiches. Yummy! Today, I'll show you her Baked Chicken Chimichangas. SUPER yummy!


Here's what you'll need:
3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 1/2 lbs. chicken breast, cut into bite-sized pieces
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 cup onions, diced
1/2 cup green bell pepper, diced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon cayenne red pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 cup thick and chunky salsa (mild or medium)
8 (8-inch) flour tortillas
2 cups four cheese Mexican shredded cheese

In a large skillet with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, brown the chicken on medium-high heat until no longer pink.

Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Place the cooked chicken in a bowl. Reduce the heat to medium and add 1 tablespoon of olive oil to the skillet. Saute the onion, gren pepper, cumin, cayenne pepper, and oregano until tender.


Add the chicken back to the pan and cook until heated through, stirring often. Stir in the salsa and heat for one minute. Set the pan aside.


Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Spray a large sheet pan with nonstick spray; set aside. Heat the stack of tortillas between 2 damp paper towels in the microwave for 20-40 seconds on high to make them easier to bend. For each chimichanga, place 1/2 cup of the chicken mixture in the center of the tortilla. Sprinkle 1/4 cup of the cheese on top. Fold in the opposite sides of the tortilla over the chicken mixture. Roll up the tortilla, enclosing the mixture, and place it seam-side down on the sheet pan. Make the rest of the chimichangas and place them on the sheet pan. Spray the tops of the chimichangas with nonstick spray. Bake 10 minutes. Serve with sour cream.


To freeze: Cover and refrigerate the chicken mixture. When completely cooled, place mixture in a labeled freezer bag. The flour tortillas can be frozen separately. Keep frozen up to 3 months.

To make things even easier, I froze the chicken mixture in little foil-wrapped packets where each packet had enough chicken mixture for one chimichanga. And, as you can see from the photos above, we added a little more melted cheese and salsa to the tops of ours. Delicious!

Enter for a chance to win a copy of Jane's awesome cookbook by clicking here. Giveaway ends Saturday, January 23rd!