Oven Baked Chimichangas with a Queso Blanco Sauce

You can make this vegetarian with just beans and cheese. Or this is a great way to use leftover chicken. Or you can buy a rotisserie chicken to use for this. Or you can throw a couple chicken breasts into a crock pot for the day. Any way you do it, its pretty simple and easy. You can leave the sauce off. But its super yummy :) You can use less chicken and more beans if you want to spread the meat out a little too. Pinto beans are also very yummy in this.

The cheese sauce was inspired by our latest outing to a local mexican restaurant where they drenched the chimichangas in yummy queso.

Oven Baked Chimichangas

Ingredients:

2-3 chicken breasts cooked and shredded. About 1.5-2 cups cooked chicken.
1 cup salsa
2 tsp cumin
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (or a mexi blend)
2 green onions, chopped green and whites
1 can black beans, drained
8 8 inch flour tortillas
4 tbsp melted butter


Plus toppings:
Sour cream
Lettuce
Tomatoes
Salsa
Cheese
Guacamole or avocado chunks
Queso Blanco Sauce, recipe below


Directions
Preheat oven to 400
Mix chicken, salsa, cumin, cheese, green onions, and beans.
Spoon 1/8 of the filling into a tortilla. Tuck in the ends and roll tight to make a little pocket. It doesn't need to be perfect.

Place seam side down. Repeat 7 more times

Brush with melted butter.

Bake for around 25 minutes until starting to get brown and crispy.

(my big pan was in the fridge, so I had to use 2 small ones)

Queso Blanco Sauce
Ingredients:

a splash of oil
1/2 small onion, diced fine
1 jalapeño, diced fine
16 oz white american cheese (I got it at the deli and tore the slices up)
2-4 slices provolone (optional)
1/3rd-2/3rds cup half and half or cream
1 roma tomatoes, de-seeded and diced
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped (or a tbsp of the cilantro in a tube from the produce section)
1-2tsp cayenne (optional, if you want it spicier)


Heat the oil on medium in a skillet. Add onion and pepper. Cook until soft.

Turn the heat down a notch or two and add the cheeses. Heat until melty. Keep a eye on it.

Add 1/3rd cup cream or h&h and stir until melted.

Add tomatoes and cilantro. Add more cream/h&h to reach the desired consistency of a cheesy sauce.

Keep warm!