Chicken Enchilada Pasta

So I was super excited to try this recipe because the chef RAVED about how good it was. I believe her exact quote was, "The absolute YUMMIEST thing I have put in my mouth. Hands down." Wow. It looked easy enough and if the chef gave it 5 stars, it was sure to be amazing, right? Here's the recipe, which can also be found here:

CHICKEN ENCHILADA PASTA

2-3 chicken breasts, cooked & shredded {or shredded rotisserie chicken…I used the breasts}

2 tbsp. olive oil

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 medium onion, diced

1 red pepper, diced

1 {4 oz.} can diced green chiles

1/2 tsp. salt

2 tsp. chili powder

1 tsp. cumin

2 {10 oz.} cans green chili enchilada sauce

2/3 cups red enchilada sauce

2 cups shredded cheese {I used colby & monterrey jack}

1 cup sour cream

Penne pasta

Optional toppings

Avocado

Green Onions

Black Olives

Tomatoes

Sour Cream

Cook chicken, drain, and shred {or shred your rotisserie}. Meanwhile boil pasta according to package and chop the veggies. The most time consuming part of this recipe is the time spent chopping the veggies. Y’all…it took like, 5 minutes ;)

Heat the olive oil in a deep skillet and cook onions for about 3-5 minutes. Add garlic & red pepper and cook for another 3-5 minutes.

Add cooked chicken, green chiles, cumin, chili powder, salt, & enchilada sauces. Let sauce simmer for about 8-10 minutes.

Add cheese and stir until the cheese is melted and heated through. Now toss in the sour cream, but whatever you do, DO NOT bring to a boil! Cook on low heat or the sour cream will curdle. Gross. Stir until sour cream is well mixed and heated through.

O.M.G. Just wait. It gets better. Drain pasta & return to pot. Pour sauce over pasta and mix well. Serve and garnish with avocado, tomato, green onion, and a dollop of sour cream.

GET.OUT!!!!

The absolute YUMMIEST thing I’ve put in my mouth. Hands down. It was like a symphony of flavors in my mouth, y’all. DANG GOOD!!!

I’m usually not one for adding extra toppings {other than cheese} to my pasta, but now I can’t imagine eating it any other way! AMAZING!!! Pinky promise you’ll try this soon because I really don’t want you to miss out!!! Your taste buds will thank you…and so will your husband ;)

I cooked my chicken in a crock pot the day before, so the prep was fairly easy. Pretty much all I had to do was cook the pasta and chop the veggies. I remember as I was stirring the chicken/enchilada sauce mixture I thought, "This doesn't smell as good as the chef said it would, and I know I made it right." Well, it didn't taste as good, either.

It was easy enough to make, but honestly, mine didn't turn out that good. Not horrible, but definitely not anything close to "the yummiest thing I have put in my mouth." It tasted like Mexican Hawaiian Haystacks.... (Mexican Haystacks?).... but I'd eat Hawaiian Haystacks over this dish any day. And you know what annoyed me about this dish? It looked SO good! I'm pretty sure me and my husband were both drooling over it.... until we actually took a bite. Haha. This dish is deceiving. Looks awesome, but tastes slightly below average! I hate that.

I should probably eat a slice of humble pie and admit that I am not the best cook in the world. It is entirely possible (or, ahem, likely) that I just didn't make it quite right, or I over/undercooked something, or that my enchilada sauce choice wasn't good. (Although I used Macayo's enchilada sauce, which is super yummy, so I don't think that last option is very likely). My sister told me that she made this dish and everyone in her family loved it... so you may not want to take my word for it. Even though I didn't like it, I'd actually recommend trying it. If everyone except me and my husband thinks it's fabulous, I'll probably try it again.

Here it is: