We are cooking enchiladas for Christmas this year. I have cooked them before but I have never prepared them early. We would like to prepare them the evening of Christmas Eve and then cook them to be served around 1pm on Christmas Day. We are making chicken and beef enchiladas each in a 13x9 pan. I found something on the internet that says you can prepare them early, just don't add the sauce and cheese on top until you are ready to put them in the oven. Then it said normally you would cook them at 425 degrees for 12-15 minutes but if they were prepared earlier and placed in the refrigerator then to add 10 minutes to your cooking time.
Please has anybody tried this before? If so can you tell me if it worked out for you. If it did do you feel the temperature and the time listed above are correct? I don't want to mess this up and the last thing I want is to cook them for 25 minutes and find out that they are cold in the middle.
Suggestions please! Thank you! Merry Christmas everybody!!!
I make the filling early, prep everything, and then stick everything in the fridge. Takes about 10 minutes to assemble, and it's worth it to not have self destructing tortillas!
You can reheat the filling in a sautee pan super quick, or just set the bowl out ahead of time to bring to room temp.
I have done this many times.
And yes, added the sauce and cheese to the top.
You are using corn tortillas?
The flour will not work as well if prepped early. Maybe this is why she said not to add the sauce till you are ready to cook? They will be too gummy.
Just make the whole baking pan of them, cover them with foil and place them in the fridge or freezer.. Then when you are ready you just heat them up in the oven covered for about 20 minutes, take the foil off and continue to bake till the cheese is bubbly!
Feliz Navidad!
LOL! I'm doing the same thing! Mine are prepped and ready to go. And no, I didn't add sauce and cheese yet. I've found that adding that early makes the enchiladas soggy and hard to cook. And yes, add a little to your cooking time. 5-10 minutes should be sufficient.
I would absolutely NOT prepare them ahead of time. We make enchiladas all the time and always have them for Christmas dinner. You can make the fillings ahead of time, and the sauce, but don't combine everything. If you put the filling in the tortillas they will get gummy (flour tortillas) or oddly falling apart (corn). Also, you'll need to cook them for more than 10 extra minutes if the filling or sauce is cold.
For what it's worth, we sometimes make our chicken filling early and refrigerate it overnight. And we also make the tomatillo sauce the day before sometimes. It works out OK, but it's a lot better if it's all fresh.
