Creamy Chipotle Chicken

chipotleMexican cremachicken

Creamy Chipotle Chicken

Creamy Chipotle Chicken

Pollo Enchipotlado

Recipe Yield

5 to 6 cups

Cooking time

45 minutes

Rate this recipe

5 from 6 votes

Ingredients

  • pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts
  • 1 white onion halved, half left whole, half thinly sliced
  • 2 garlic cloves peeled
  • 2 bay leaves
  • teaspoons kosher or coarse sea salt divided
  • 3 cups water
  • 1 pound ripe plum tomatoes
  • 3 to 4 chipotle chiles in adobo sauce seeded, plus 3 to 4 tablespoons of the adobo sauce
  • ½ teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
  • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
  • 1 cup Mexican crema crème fraîche, or heavy cream
  • 1 batch Red Gorditas if serving in gorditas

To Prepare

  • Put the chicken breasts, whole onion half, garlic cloves, bay leaves, 1 teaspoon of the salt, and 3 cups water in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and cook for 10 minutes.
  • Add the tomatoes, cover again, and cook for 10 minutes more, until the tomatoes are completely cooked, mushy and the skins start to break apart. Remove the chicken breasts and transfer to a bowl.
  • With a slotted spoon, transfer the tomatoes, garlic, onion, bay leaves and ½ cup of the cooking liquid (that the chicken cooked in) to a blender. Add the chipotle chiles and the adobo sauce, the remaining ¼ teaspoon salt, and the pepper, and puree until smooth. Set aside.
  • Once the chicken has cooled enough to handle, finely shred with your hands or two forks. You should have about 5-6 cups.
  • Heat the oil and butter in a large skillet or casserole over medium-high heat. Once the butter has melted, add the sliced onion and cook for 3 to 4 minutes, until softened. Stir in the chicken and pureed tomato mixture, mix well, reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 10 minutes, until it darkens and thickens. Reduce the heat to low and slowly stir in the cream. Once incorporated, increase heat to medium-low and continue cooking for another 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. The sauce will have thickened further.
  • Remove from heat and serve as a filling for Red Gorditas, tacos, tortas, or eat as is with a side of rice, or beans, or both.

Comments

14comments inCreamy Chipotle Chicken

  1. Jay

    Jan 04

    Double wow, not only was the recipe great, that is the best formatted printout of any recipe I’ve ever printed from the internet. Kudos to your web designer.

    1. Pati Jinich

      Jan 07

      Yau, super yay! So happy to hear, gracias Jay!

  2. Jay

    Jan 04

    Wow, that was a really great meal. We’ll definitely be making it again and again. We used it in chimi’s with queso tonight and plan to use the leftovers in taquitos tomorrow, can’t wait.

    1. Pati Jinich

      Jan 07

      Sounds like a yummy plan to me!

  3. Heather

    Nov 24

    I happened to watch this yesterday on my PBS station, and my husband and I wanted to make it. I followed the recipe, only adding three chipotle peppers since they often pack a punch, and used half sour cream and half heavy cream since I had no crema Mexicana. I think the only thing I would do differently is to let the sauce reduce a bit more. I served with corn tortillas, esquites and my own version of “red rice,” that my friend who hails from Zacatecas taught me. My whole family loved the chicken! Muchas gracias, Pati!

    1. Pati Jinich

      Dec 25

      Great subs, thanks for sharing Heather. So happy to hear the whole family liked this recipe!

  4. Caroline Keusch

    Nov 09

    Yum! Made this last night for taco night. Having it again tonight with rice and beans. Would be great as a nacho topper too. I will be keeping this recipe in my back pocket for years to come! Thank you!

    1. Pati Jinich

      Dec 24

      So happy to hear you liked it so much Caroline, yay!

  5. Lori

    Oct 26

    This is simply amazing. I have trouble affording some of the ingredients but love ,love ,love the recipes! Thank you

    1. Pati Jinich

      Nov 12

      So happy to hear Lori 🙂

  6. Rena

    Oct 16

    Can this be made and then freeze for another day?

    1. Pati Jinich

      Oct 23

      I think so Rena, sometimes the texture and consistency of the cream may change when you thawed it, so make sure to mix well while re heating 🙂

  7. Kevin

    Oct 05

    Spicy chicken! Served with rice and beans. Will certainly make again and again. Thank you for another exceptional recipe!

    1. Pati Jinich

      Oct 12

      Yay, so happy to hear you liked it Kevin!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.