Mexican Lasagna

I have to be honest.  I took photos of dinner tonight and thought to myself, "I'd never make that looking at the picture."  I promise, however, it is REALLY good.  It's a really easy meal, it's just not a photogenic meal. Also, I know there are some who refuse to cook with freezer meals because "they don't do casseroles."  Well, this is a casserole and it is easy, tasty, and even though the photos don't show it, it does look nice when served...


With that said, this is one that can also be a freezer meal.  You can actually prepare the whole meal in a disposable 9x13, cover and freeze.  To freeze the casserole, I recommend covering once with saran wrap and then again with aluminum foil.  Keep in mind there is no way to keep the air out of a frozen casserole, so you absolutely need to eat it with at least a month or month and a half.

We use the hybrid version of the freezer meal for this one.  We cook the chicken, freeze it, separate the cheese for the recipe, freeze it, and separate the tortillas, freeze them.  At that point, the only items that are not frozen are a can of green chiles and the enchilada sauce.  However, it means I only needed about 1/3 of the space also.

Mexican Lasagna

4-5 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 Tbs cumin
1 tsp chili powder
2 cans green chiles
2 cups shredded cheese (jack, cheddar, or a colby jack mix)
1 can green enchilada sauce
12 corn tortillas whole
6 corn tortillas halved

To prepare the chicken, we cook it in the crockpot with 1 can of green chiles, the cumin and chili powder.  Cook on low 4 - 5 hours and shred.  (If I am cooking this for multiple meals I will cook up to 16 chicken breasts and add 1 cup of water and 1 bouillon cube)  If you are freezing the chicken, you want to separate into labeled quart size ziploc bags.  Make sure there is at least 3 cups of shredded chicken in each bag.

When I prepare the rest of the meal for the freezer, I make sure I have on had the can of green chiles and the can of enchilada sauce.  Then place the cheese in a labeled quart size freezer bag, and the tortillas in a separate labeled quart size freezer bag.  This will ensure you have all the pieces of the meal on hand when you are planning to prepare it.  (Especially with the cheese if you have a family who likes to add cheese to their snacks or meals.)

To prepare the meal:
Remove 1/4 cup of the shredded cheese and set aside.
If you are using the hybrid frozen chicken, you will need to add the second can of green chiles to the chicken as we only used one in the crockpot.
Preheat oven to 375
Spray a 9x13 pan with nonstick cooking spray.  Pour 3/4 cup of the enchilada sauce in the bottom of the pan, and spread by tilting the pan.  Arrange four of the whole tortillas, and four of the half tortillas to cover the enchilada sauce.  Pour 3/4 cup of the enchilada sauce on top of the layer of tortillas and spread evenly.  Spread evenly 1/2 of the chicken over the tortillas, and then half of the remaining shredded cheese.
Repeat again starting with the corn tortillas, enchilada sauce, chicken and cheese.
To complete the casserole, layer the remainder of the corn tortillas, pour and spread the remainder of the enchilada sauce, and top with the 1/4 cup of cheese that was separated at the beginning.
Bake in preheated oven 35 - 45 minutes, until cheese is melted and it is heated through.
Allow the casserole to set for about ten minutes before serving.

If you choose to prepare the whole casserole before freezing, on serving day you can cook the casserole at 350 for 2 hours from frozen, or thaw ahead of time and cook at 350 for 45 minutes - 1 hour.