When is Hatch Chile Season?
Don’t worry! You’re not too late, Hatch Chile season typically begins in late August/beginning of September and lasts until mid-October so you’re hitting it at its peak! Although a touch of heat adds just the zing I prefer in most dishes, I guess I’m not a true chile-head, because I wasn’t familiar with the now infamous Hatch Chile and its short-season.
What is a Hatch Chile?
Hatch Chiles are generally green, but you’ll see some that are streaked with red and yellow. There are mild ones and hot ones and they’re not always labeled as such. They look similar to the mild Anaheim pepper found in most markets year-round. What distinguishes a Hatch chile is their providence. Hatch Chiles hail from the Hatch Valley in New Mexico and their arrival is celebrated each year during the Hatch Valley Chile Festival. This year’s two-day festival attracted some 30,000 chile-heads, foodies, and celeb culinary entertainment from Food Network and BBC to pay tribute to Hatch’s most famous crop, sample famed Hatch Chile recipes, watch the crowning of the chile festival queen, participate in chile ristra contests, and be a kid at the carnival.
Hatch Chiles are Nutritious and Delicious!
For the past two weeks, I’ve been a kid at my own chile festival as I played with nearly a bushel of the long green babies from Melissa’s Produce. Some hot, some mild, my family and some of their lucky friends got a taste of Hatch Chiles in hash browns, salsas, sauces, stuffed, layered, and rolled. I think I’m officially addicted to them!
But it’s a healthy addiction to have since Hatch Chiles have zero fat, cholesterol, and sodium with practically no calories, and are high in fiber and vitamins A and C! I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect ingredient to get the creative juices flowing for my work in low sodium, heart-healthy recipe development — thank you, Melissa’s!
Hatch Chile Recipes
Hatch chiles vary from mild, to medium, to hot, to extra hot and are best grilled over an open flame (or roasted) and peeled before they are used as an ingredient in sauces, salsas, marinades, stews, burritos, chiles rellenos, bread, etc. As you can see, they are extremely versatile. For a plethora of Hatch Chile recipes visit my friend Dorothy’s website, Shockingly Delicious for 50 of the best Hatch Chile recipes around (mine included)!
Chicken Enchiladas with Hatch Chile Sauce Recipe
Today, I’m sharing a simple, mild Hatch Chile sauce, served two ways: creamy and “straight”, with chicken enchiladas. The creamy version, similar in flavor to a creamy poblano sauce, adds a cool balance to the piquant, smoky, mildly spicy note of the vibrant green “straight” sauce – served over your favorite enchiladas it’s a flavor bomb!
- 1 pound cooked chicken breast* about 1 whole or 2 half breasts
- 8-10 corn tortillas I used Mission white corn tortillas
- 1 cup shredded Cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese
- 8 grilled or roasted hatch chiles peeled
- 1 onion diced
- 6 garlic cloves minced
- 1 tablespoon olive or canola oil
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 8 oz. light sour cream
- Garnish: diced tomatoes sliced green onions,fresh cilantro and sour cream
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Grill the hatch chiles until skin is charred. Remove from heat and place in a paper or plastic bag to steam - this makes it easier to remove the skin. Allow to cool, remove skin, stem, seeds, and membrane.
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Cook onions over medium heat with a tablespoon of olive oil for about 5 minutes to soften, add garlic and cook for another minute. Place chiles, onion, garlic and lemon juice in a food processor or blender and pulse until smooth. Makes about 1-¾ cups of sauce. Cover and refrigerate or, if using immediately, pour 1 cup of the mixture into a sauce pan to make the creamy hatch chile sauce, reserving the remainder to serve as a salsa alongside. Warm sauce over low heat and add half (8 ounces) of the sour cream to the chile mixture.
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Quickly fry the tortillas one at a time in the oil. Add a spoonful of shredded/chopped chicken breast in the middle, sprinkle with a bit of shredded cheese and a dollop of either the creamy or "straight" sauce if desired, roll up, and place in a baking dish (seam side down).
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Preheat oven to Broil.
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To plate: place spoonful of the creamy hatch chile on the plate, spread with the spoon back, place two enchiladas on top, sprinkle with cheese, place under broiler for 1 minute or so to melt the cheese. Drizzle with sour cream. Garnish with tomatoes, green onion, and cilantro. Serve with additional hatch chile sauce on the side. Shown served with no cheese on top for a lower-calorie, heart healthy alternative - the little bit of cheese and sauce inside the enchilada with the garnishes and scoop of salsa = big flavor!
You can use leftover roasted chicken, rotisserie chicken or other purchased cooked chicken. I cook the chicken in foil packets in the toaster oven at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes - I think this gives you moister chicken than if you cook it on the stove. Cut the chicken breast into strips, sprinkle with seasoning - I use Mrs. Dash's Garlic and Herb because it has no sodium. Place the chicken in the middle of the aluminum foil and fold the edges together to make a packet. Reserve the juices to add to the shredded/chopped chicken.
If this looks yummy to you, pin it to your boards to save this recipe!
this looks just wonderful!….. i love how pretty that plate looks:) thank you for sharing this.
These do look yummy Priscilla and your plate showing two of these babies as a serving looks just perfect to me;-) I’m loving your Hatch chili sauce!
Thanks, Patty! Two is not too many is it 😉
What a great sauce…love all of that garlic 🙂 They look fantastic!
haha, garlic + onion + chiles = best sauce ever 🙂
This makes me HUNGRY! Love that chillie sauce! Splendid!
Thanks so much, Angie 🙂
Wow, what a delicious post! Haven’t heard of Hatch chilis, must see if we get them here in South Africa!
Hi, Linda! Thanks for visiting and for the compliment 🙂 You may not be able to get Hatch Chiles in South Africa, but poblano or other mild green chiles would work.
That looks AWESOME! You know how I feel about Mexican food, absolutely yummy…looks fantastic. I could seriously eat Mexican food every night of the week. I actually JUST had enchiladas this past weekend, yours look much better than mine haha
Raven, you are too funny! Our taste in food is so similar 🙂
These enchiladas look amazing. I love that they are not completely wet and saturated in sauce. My husband would love these.
Thanks, Susie! I don’t like my food smothered in sauce either – let me know how your husband likes them if you end up making these 🙂
My local grocery store has an annoying habit of not labeling the chilies very well, but from the looks of it, I bought a hatch chile the other day and used it in a soup. It was wonderful! Love your enchies.
Hi, Carolyn! Hatch chiles look a lot like Anaheim chiles which are more common, either way – they’re delicious!
The chilis sound perfect, and those enchiladas look perfect.
You did NM proud with this post! These look great!
This is one of the most amazing enchilada combos, especially how you describe it..very tasty! Stunning photos..
Hatch chilies are always promoted by Central Market around here. My biggest peeve about enchiladas is that they usually are swimming in sauce and very watery inside. I am glad to see that is not so with this recipe. Your pictures are amazing. Well done-Buzz buzz
I seriously wanted to crawl right through my computer screen and gobble those enchiladas up – they look so good!!! The hatch chile sauce sounds perfect for them!! Glad you had as much fun as I did playing with the chiles!!
I love anything described as a “flavor bomb” works for me. Perfect dish to kick off hatch chili season.
Bravo!
Hello my dear! Hatch chiles are also very popular here, and I’m excited to have a new recipe to try this weekend. Thank you for making me drool (I’m certainly going to need a midnight snack now!) I hope your week is starting off well. Many blessings from Austin. Hugs and love!
I have very limited experience Hatch Chiles – but I did like them when I had them! These enchiladas look amazing! I love Mexican food, and hatch chili sauce sounds perfect for with these.
Oooh my, I love me some enchiladas and these look like heaven! Perfect bites of heaven!
My mouth won’t stop watering. Your enchiladas look perfectly delicious and so healthy. Too bad I couldn’t be there for the festival would have loved it. Looking forward to more of your recipes using these chiles.
Beautiful enchiladas!!! I used to go to this Mexican restaurant nearby work which has great Enchilada. I’ve never cooked it at home but this photo makes me miss it so much. I’ve never paid too much attention of the kind of chiles, but I learned one name today. 🙂 Your photos are sooo good… tomorrow lunch has to be Enchilada!!!!
Absolute perfection!!
Gloria Chadwick releases her new cookbook at the end of this month. The title is Hatch Chile Heaven. She attended the Hatch Chile festival last year and was captivated by the Hatch Chile so she decided to publish a cookbook with a cumulation of recipes including the Hatch. Its been many years since someone has published such a cookbook. I loved her Tastes and flavors of San Antonio. Now I feel like a kid on the day before Christmas waiting for the book release.
Just got back from Colorado, my home of homes, currently live in Houston Texas. Can’t find Hatch’s fresh chiles in TEXAS – Whats up with That ???? Anywho made big pot of pork thick and delicious green chile. Bought torillas corn and flour………….have rotiserre chichen and lots of cheese. Wanted a quick recipe for enchiladas to smother with my bosacios green chile. Still not sure which to use four or corn. Also have cilantro tomatos and lettuce…..what do you suggest corn or flour …..Hurry need an answer LOL 281-358-2331. Thanks for any and all suggestions.
Hi Toni! I just landed and saw your desperate plea! I would go with corn for enchiladas, and am really sorry you can’t find any Hatch chiles where you are in Texas 🙂
Toni…Try Central Market or HEB stores or even Kroger. They should have plenty of Hatch chiles right now. August/Sept is the season for fresh ones.
how do you re hydration the chilies for enchiladas sauce please send me a e-mail
Looks absolutely delicious! Any suggestions for side dishes?
Hi, Annie – I prefer a fresh green salad which adds texture and crunch alongside the enchiladas, or serve with black beans and/or rice. Thanks for visiting and enjoy the enchiladas!
Thank you!
Can you tell me too — can these be assembled the day before, or do you think better to wait until just before baking? 🙂
Hi Annie – I would assemble just before baking – the corn tortillas will get soggy if done the night before. No bueno 😉
That’s what I thought – I really want these to turn out spectacular for a special dinner party. Ordering the Hatch chiles today — can’t wait to try them, and I know they will be worth it! Thank you so much!