Turkey and Roasted Potato Enchiladas smothered in a Smoky Red Chili Sauce
This tasty recipe has several steps, all are easy but the art of multi-tasking is put to good use, for sure! I have 3 tips that will help you make this recipe seamlessly & without breaking a sweat:
1 – Don’t make this recipe when the kids are yelling “I am starving!!” or “When is dinner going to be ready!!”. It takes more than 10 minutes to get this one on the table – no need stressing yourself out, just save it for another day.
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2 – This is a great time to practice teamwork! Do you have a child prodigy in the kitchen? How about a ‘helpful hubby’? My hubby, David, diced my onion and potatoes perfectly, helped brown the meat into small crumbles and made sure the enchiladas didn’t burn while broiling. His help easily saved me 15 minutes of work!
3 – Set up an assembly line when it’s time to roll the enchiladas. By doing this, you eliminate wasted movements, only mess up one section of your kitchen & save some precious time. Here is the assembly line I set up:
Meat & potatoes pan (on the stove)⇒tortilla warming pan (on the stove)⇒bowl of grated cheese to the side (on the counter next yo the stove)⇒pot of smoky chili sauce (on the stove next to the tortillas) ⇒prepped baking dish (next to the stove)
Smoky Red Chili Sauce!! It’s simple but so full of flavor. It’s as if it’s bubbled away all day on the stove — but it didn’t. I have a few important tips to achieve ” cooking all-day” flavors in under 30 minutes. I need to devote an entire post to this, but I will say, don’t skip roasting the spices. The “smoky’ flavor comes from this step.
The secret to making the addition of potatoes work so well in this enchilada, is to oven roast them BEFORE adding them to the browned meat. This is the only way to achieve the delicious crispy potato bits we all love.
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The ground turkey is a great way to lighten up a typical enchilada – and truly, this substitution goes unnoticed. I added 1 cup of crushed tomatoes and 4 oz of light cream cheese to bind the meat together – that transformed the filling and I am dreaming of what other recipes I can create with this turkey/potato/cream cheese filling…maybe stuffing it into a croissant??
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I served these enchiladas with a side of pickled bell pepper cilantro slaw. It was the perfect balance to the rich and smoky flavors of this dish, and added a beautiful pop of color to the plate. (I will share the recipe soon!)
Want more enchilada ideas? Try my Cream Cheese Verde Chicken Enchiladas.
- 1 1/2 T red chili powder (I used mild)
- 1 T cumin powder
- 1/2 t smoked ancho chili powder
- 2 cloves of garlic, finely diced
- 1 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes
- 2 t dried oregano
- 1 t applewood smoked sea salt
- 1/2 t celery salt
- 2 bay leaves
- 1/2 black pepper blend
- 1 t sea salt
- 5 medium red potatoes, diced (small: blueberry sized)
- 1 lb ground turkey thigh, browned (small crumble size)
- 1 T olive oil
- 1/2 t red chili powder, (mild)
- 1/2 t celery salt
- dash of sea salt
- 1 lb ground turkey thigh, browned (small crumble size)
- 1/2 medium onion finely diced
- 1 clove of garlic, finely diced
- 1 T red chili powder (mild)
- 2 t cumin powder
- 1/2 c loosely packed, fresh cilantro, chopped
- 1 t chili lime sea salt*
- freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 c crushed tomatoes
- 4 oz light cream cheese, room temperature
- cooking oil
- 18 corn tortillas
- 3 c grated Monterey Jack cheese
- 4 oz light cream cheese
- 1 c crushed tomatoes
- 1-2 T cilantro, for garnish
- Preheat oven to 425°. Over medium heat, in a medium soup pot, add dry powder seasons (1st three ingredients) & toast seasonings for 2-3 minutes, stirring continuously. Next, add garlic & cook for 1 minute. Add crushed tomatoes, dried oregano, applewood sea salt, celery salt, bay leaves & black pepper blend. Simmer on low until ready to pour over the enchiladas. Season with sea salt to taste.
- Prepare roasted potatoes by placing diced potatoes on a parchment lined baking sheet. Toss potatoes in oil and seasonings. Place in oven for 15 minutes (until tender through). When potatoes are done cooking, Add to cooked ground turkey (cooking instruction below).
- While potatoes are baking, add a teaspoon of cooking oil to a large sauté pan or braiser and brown turkey meat on medium heat. Once turkey is browned, add onions and cook 5 minutes, until onions are tender. Next, add garlic and sauté 1 minute. Add seasonings & cilantro, crushed tomatoes & cream cheese. Stir to combine add additional sea salt if needed.
- Prepare corn tortillas by adding oil to a medium saute pan, over medium heat. Place three tortillas in the pan, drizzle a bit of oil on top of each tortilla and stack 3 more tortillas atop the first set. Repeat these steps 2 more times and then begin flipping and rotating tortillas moaning sure they soften thoroughly. As the minutes tick away you may new to adjust your heat to medium or medium-low. Ultimately, I prepared and used 18 tortillas.
- Assembly: Reduce oven temp to 350°. Once a tortilla is ready, keep it in the sauté pan, place 2 T of the turkey/potato filling lengthwise in the center of the tortilla, top with 1 T jack cheese, roll and place in a prepared 9"x13" baking dish. Repeat until you have filled 18 tortillas & placed them all in the dish. Top with red sauce and remaining shredded cheese. Cover with non-stick foil and bake for 15 minutes. Remove foil, broil till cheese turns medium golden. Garnish with chopped cilantro.
- Serve with pickled bell pepper and cilantro slaw. (recipe in next post)
- * If you don't have chili lime sea salt, replace this ingredient with 1 t lime zest.