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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WOW!! Just made these tonight and must say that they are fantastic!! In Norway I couldn’t find the corn tortillas so had to use the flour ones. Don’t know if that matters because we were licking our plates clean! I love shrimp and they were so flavorful! This is now my new favorite!! Thank you! OH! We also don’t get jalapenos, but I was lucky to find them in a jar so I just guessed a bit at how much would be two peppers. Your pictures help tremendously! Again, thank you!
Would it be too cheesy if I said these were damn delicious? You’ve probably heard that a million times! I made these the other night for my husband and I. Boy were they a big hit. So flavorful and delicious. I’ll definitely be making them again, but will probably half the cayenne pepper, since they were a little on the spicy side. Thanks for sharing such a delicious recipe. You have a new fan in me!
What could be used instead of chicken broth? Could I forgot that completely or will it alter flavor of it severely? Allergic to MSG so don’t want to risk it.
Veronica, it may be best to submit homemade broth.
you say 4 serving. how many is 4 serving exactly? i want to make sure i have enough for two houses to have some
Elizabeth, this recipe yields 4 standard servings as an entree item. Please make the appropriate adjustments if you need additional servings.
Is this dish very spicy? If so, how would you recommend toning it down a bit?
You can reduce the amount of jalapenos as needed.
Does the recipe for the jalapeno sauce call for fresh or canned jalapenos?
It is best to use fresh jalapenos.
i would like to make a gluten free version of this recipe for a friend. Do you think cornstarch as a substitute for flour in the sauce would work?
You can certainly try substituting cornstarch but without further recipe testing, I cannot speak for how much this will change the overall taste/texture of the dish. Using a substitution may also result in a mediocre outcome but if substitutions must be made, please use your best judgment.
The shrimp enchiladas were very much enjoyed by my family. I would really like to have the recipe in detail so I’ll know exactly how much of each ingredient to put in. I couldn’t quite get the cheese sauce just right, but yet, they still liked it!
These were absolutely amazing!!!!! I did sustain a pretty nasty capsaicin burn on my hand…but I must say, it was worth it…yum!!
I love this recipe and have made it a number of times. Most recently, I smoked the shrimp briefly in our smoker and it turned out so delicious. Love your site, so many amazing and healthy recipes!
OMG!! DAMN DELICIOUS!! My husband was overwhelmed! Said this was the best Mexican dish I have ever made and restaurant quality! Thank you for sharing!
Anyone have success using flour tortillas instead? I’m not a huge fan of corn tortillas. Just curious!
Flour tortillas will work just fine.
Making theses for the 4th time tonight. Simply amazing!!!
Made these last night and they were incredible! Didn’t change a thing. Thank you!
Hi! I’m not a huge fan of sour cream but otherwise love the way this recipe sounds. Do you think I could substitute heavy cream? Or should I try something thicker like plain Greek yogurt? Also @Amy, I haven’t tried it with this particular recipe, but typically, cooking, freezing, and then re-warming cabbage makes the texture kind of nasty (in my opinion). 🙂
Greek yogurt would be a much better substitute for sour cream than heavy cream.
Great to hear you’re doing well, wisdom teeth removal is such a gross healing process bleh I hated it and didn’t eat anything for over a week!
Hi, these look amazing and judging by the comments they really are! Do you think the shrimp/carrot/cabbage mixture could be made ahead and frozen? Just trying to plan ahead for the hectic holidays. Thanks so much!
Unfortunately, I cannot answer this with certainty as I have never tried freezing this myself. I recommend using your best judgment for freezing and reheating.
Delicious Delicious Delicious just got through making them and as I was cooking it was hard too stop poping shrimp in my mouth and sipping the sauce so spicy and flavorful. I give this recipe 5 stars.
Do you think I can make the sauce and filling the day before then assemble before baking and serving?
I have never tried making this ahead of time but some of my readers have and said they had great results!
These were AMAZING! We had friends over for dinner tonight and I made these along with your Southwestern chopped salad with cilantro lime dressing and Barefoot Contessa’s Pink Grapefruit Margaritas. It was a lovely restaurant quality dinner. Thank you so much for sharing!
Made this dish tonight and LOVE it!!! Made “as is” except roasted the shrimp in the 375 degree oven for 6 minutes and then cooled. I have been spreading the word since dinner was over to anyone I think would love this recipe as much as I do. Will try the homemade tortillas next time, that would only make it better.