Roasted Shrimp Enchiladas with Jalapeño Cream Sauce
Smothered in a rich, jalapeño cream sauce, how can you resist these cheesy shrimp enchiladas?!
It’s been 3 days since my wisdom teeth got pulled out and I’m happy to report back that I can finally eat real food. I’ve been eating Korean-style porridge since Monday, which I like to eat occasionally but not for 2 meals a day for 4 days straight.
But now that I can chew and open my mouth without any excruciating pain, I absolutely cannot wait to make these Pork Belly Sliders, Baked Chicken Burritos with Sour Cream-Poblano Sauce, and Texmex Sloppy Joes among many others that I have listed out on my “to-make” list.
But until I make these, I have this wonderful verde shrimp enchiladas for you today. These babies are packed with the huge prawns from Costco along with your fun veggies like onions, cabbage, carrots and spinach. Once we add a bit of chipotle flavor to the mix, it’s topped with an oh-so-creamy yet spicy jalapeño cream sauce. Who knew that the marriage of flavors between the chipotle and jalapeño melded so well together?
Now I absolutely loved everything about this dish except for the store-bought tortillas. I usually buy the handmade flour tortillas from Trader Joe’s but I thought I’d try something different so I picked up a bag of the corn tortillas. Little did I know that corn tortillas are not my thing.
Next time I make this, I’ll be sure to try out these DIY Flour Tortillas. It doesn’t even require yeast!
So here’s how you make this:
Let’s first roast some shrimp. Lay them out on a baking sheet, toss them with some olive oil, salt and pepper and then pop them into the oven for about 6-8 minutes.
Super easy and simple, right?
When they’re cool enough to handle, go ahead and give them a rough chop into bite-size pieces.
Now we’ll make the jalapeño cream sauce. We’ll first melt some butter,
whisk in the flour,
stir in the chicken broth,
stir in the sour cream,
and stir in the jalapeños, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Lots of good stuff happening here.
Then we’ll finish it off by throwing in some fresh cilantro.
Now we’ll make the shrimp filling. Let’s first saute some garlic and onion.
Then comes the rest of the ingredients – cabbage, carrot, spinach, chipotle pepper, oregano and cayenne. You want to saute it just until the spinach begins to wilt.
Now we’ll throw the chopped up shrimp back to the pot…
and voila, the filling is done. Not too bad right?
Then we’ll wrap them up in each of the tortillas, top it off with the creamy goodness and bake it until it gets nice and golden, about 20 minutes. Once it comes out of the oven, top these babies off with some more of that jalapeño cream sauce – you wouldn’t want that to go to waste!
Roasted Shrimp Enchiladas with Jalapeño Cream Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
- 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 onion, diced
- 2 cups shredded green cabbage
- 1 carrot, peeled and grated
- 3 cups baby spinach
- 2 tablespoons chipotle pepper, in adobo sauce
- ¼ teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 12 6-inch corn tortillas, warmed
- 2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese
For the jalapeño cream sauce
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ cups chicken broth
- ¾ cup sour cream
- 2 jalapeños, seeded and minced
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to tast
- ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Place shrimp onto the prepared baking sheet. Add 1 tablespoon olive oil, salt and pepper, to taste, and gently toss to combine. Place into oven and roast just until pink, firm and cooked through, about 6-8 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool before dicing into bite-size pieces.
- Reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees F. Lightly oil a 9×13 baking dish or coat with nonstick spray.
- Heat remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet. Add garlic and onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions become translucent, about 5 minutes. Add cabbage, carrot, spinach, chipotle pepper, oregano and cayenne. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the spinach just begins to wilt, about 1-2 minutes. Add shrimp and gently toss to combine.
- To make the sauce, melt butter in a large saucepan. Whisk in flour until lightly browned, about 1-2 minutes. Gradually whisk in chicken stock and cook, whisking constantly, until incorporated, about 1-2 minutes. Stir in sour cream. Add jalapeños and garlic powder and simmer until the sauce has thickened, about 2 minutes; season with salt and pepper, to taste. Remove from heat and stir in cilantro.
- To assemble the enchiladas, lay tortilla on a flat surface and spoon 1/3 cup of the shrimp mixture in the center; sprinkle with cheese. Roll the tortilla and place seam side down onto prepared baking dish. Repeat with remaining tortillas and shrimp mixture.
- Pour half of the jalapeño cream sauce evenly over the top. Place into oven and bake, covered, until lightly golden and bubbly, about 20 minutes.
- Serve immediately with remaining jalapeño cream sauce, garnished with cilantro.
Did you make this recipe?
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These are HEAVENLY. I will make these until the day I die.
I made this last night and it was fabulous. I followed your recipe exactly. Thank you again for such a great recipe. It was Dam Delicious.
The best recipe ever.
Such an oldie but a goodie! We make this at least once a month. 🙂
I had to restrain myself from eating more (save for tomorrow’s dinner!), they are that delicious. Yum!
I have made this 2x now. The 2nd time I doubled it! I bought broccoli slaw with carrots instead of cabbage, just to get in some greens. I love how it was nutritional it was in secret. I don’t measure the spinach, slaw or cilantro but all good. It was a fancy dish, freezes really well-(my hubby takes a lunch to work and doesn’t care for sandwiches). It is so pretty in the pan! -the pink shrimp, spinach and slaw that are green with a touch of orange of carrots. Definitely a keeper.
Roasted Shrimp Enchiladas & Jalapeno Sauce get 5 Stars at our Dinner Party! I will add that you won’t take away any amount listed, but you may increase those amounts based on your tastes: Don’t over cook the shrimp in the oven. About 6 minutes in my oven gets me 1/2-way cooked shrimp which is perfect. If you like a lot of shrimp, you can use a 2-lb bag of shrimp and it will yield shy of 1 1/2 lbs of shelled. (you will have left-over shrimp filling). We like garlic & onions, so I used 2 very large garlic cloves & a medium-large onion. I used a large carrot & 3-4 Cups of baby spinach. I also used 3+ cups of cheese, a mixture of pepper jack & muenster. The sauce is really good if you make sure you at least double it, AND, you make sure the jalapeno pepper flavor is there by using large jalapenos. I used about 3/4 t kosher salt & 1 t freshly ground pepper in the sauce. The sauce will be a bit sour because of the sour cream. I lightly fried my tortillas in oil before stuffing and rolling them, to make them pliable and so they wouldn’t break or rip in the stuffing process. Before cooking, I poured 25% of the sauce (after doubling the sauce recipe) on top of the enchiladas before adding the cheese in order to keep the enchiladas from getting soupy, serving the remaining sauce on the side. I paired these awesome enchiladas with Spanish rice & salsa, and a warm corn side dish made with pan roasted canned corn, lime juice, cilantro, mayo, Cojita cheese and green onion. It was a 5-star meal from everyone at the dinner party.
I have made this recipe 1 time previous and given that I made a few concessions my 2nd time around.
I followed the exact same steps with a few minor adjustments. Same deal but with no cream sauce before it hits the oven. I also toasted the tortillas prior to filling and I added only the cheese to the inside and out. Baked according to said recipe. Plated them and then added the cream sauce last which resulted in a much less soggy enchilada. The oven sucked the life out of the sauce the first time around..
End result nice, I mean I made it twice which also means that I loved the concept to begin with. I will make this again…
Made this today. Added more shrimp but otherwise followed the directions. I did double the sauce also. These were very good and will be added to my regular rotation. This can easily be adjusted to your level of heat preference.
I made this tonight, and I would make it again. It is a bit of work,BUT worth it. A few changes,,,1 jalapeno not 2 but doubled the sauce recipe. I used broccoli slaw with carrots instead of coleslaw. The broccoli was still crunchy even after baking. For me it made 2 dinners and 4 lunches that hubby takes to work. My enchiladas had a nice kick and I used half the jalapeno and no cayenne. I will double and freeze for later.
My wife discovered this recipe about a week ago and we decided to give it a go with a few tweaks.
I have been in the food industry for a bit so I know of what I speak. First off the cooking times for the shrimp are overkill. You have 8 minutes in the oven plus a few more in the saute pan and then an additional 20 in the oven. . My opinion mind you is that is way too much. I sauteed the shrimp till half way done and I halved the chipotle in adobo, the smokiness of the chipotle can take over a dish in a heartbeat. Everything else was on par. The overall dish was awesome and kudos to you for sharing.
I will make this again with a few more adjustments.
My husband and I really liked these enchiladas! I used shredded chicken for him and shrimp for myself. My husband wasn’t a fan of the cabbage but I liked it! I think I would prefer flour tortillas. I halved the amount of chipotles and jalapenos and it wasn’t spicy at all. I had extra filling leftover and only enough sauce to cover the enchiladas before baking so you may want to double the sauce.
Love this recipe! Living in Texas, Mexican food has been a staple all of my life. If using corn tortillas, one definitely needs to heat them to soften for rolling. A griddle with some olive oil works well.
I added some chopped pickled jalapeños, along with some juice to taste, when I made these for the first time, as I thought the sauce needed the acid from something. Hot ones are not necessary. It added the perfect “something!”
If these were served in a restaurant I would order them every time! I have made these a couple of times now and I tweak it just a little bit every time I make them. First, DEFINITELY double the sauce! Second, I use 1 1/2 lbs shrimp. I have found that I end up with more veggies and no shrimp left for the last few enchiladas. I think next time I will sautée the jalapeños before I add them to the sauce. I wasn’t liking the crunch from putting them in raw. I also added more cheese on top of the enchiladas before I poured the sauce on and baked them. Other than those little things the recipe is awesome!
Loved it! Was licking the spoon for the cream sauce. Only had spinach so just used more. We like heat and smoke so also used more adobo sauce. No pepper jack in fridge so I subbed a smoked gouda and it paired really well. Thanks so much for an easy and delicious recipe. Buen provecho!
So funny I have found this recipe exactly three days after I got my wisdom teeth out too! Glad to know I found a good recovery recipe now that I can also handle more food
options. Can’t wait to try it tonight ☺️
I have made a lot of enchiladas over the years, normally chicken, like Rachel Ray’s recipe taught me to use Muenster cheese instead of other, and finish off under the broiler to get that perfect char. And I am not a huge shrimp fan. I like these b/c you chop up the shrimp in the veggies. BUT I made these pretty close to the recipe – subbed slaw mix for ease on the cabbage and carrots, put a little sauce on the bottom of the casserole (I have had bottoms turn out hard when I don’t), subbed Muenster for Jack, used all the sauce to finish one casserole of enchiladas and start another for later. I will use my favorite Verde sauce on top when I bake those. I only used the Cilantro on top when I took them out of the oven. I also seasoned the shrimp with Gunpowder finishing salt. DAMN DELICIOUS!!! SO MANY FLAVORS!!! I love anything with Chipotles in AdoboSauce. This was spicy but not too spicy for my family. I always take the seeds and membranes out of the peppers to make sure. Voila!!!
Fabulous! Absolutely delicious. Already a favorite of friends and family. Thanks so much for this great recipe.
Question..can it be made ahead and frozen?
Shredded the roasted shrimp in the food processor, cooked with red, yellow and poblano pepper and omitted the cabbage, spinach, etc; and served with slow roasted carrots and roasted cherry tomatoes. Delicious.
Can this be frozen
We used 10″ Butter Flour Tortilla (I am in Texas, where we have a great selection of tortillas). This was a huge hit, and we will definitely have it again. May add one more cup of spinach because it cooks down so much.
This recipe is a hit! Savory roasted shrimp, spicy smoky crunchy veggies and a delicious creamy sauce combine for a dish to remember. Adjust the spice level to suit your taste.
May try next with chicken.