Enjoy a delicious Mexican Night with this Low Syn Pasta Chicken Enchiladas - a perfect meal for the entire family.
Chicken Enchiladas
I was really craving some chicken enchiladas, but of course on Slimming World, tortilla’s are synned apart from a small few which you can use as a healthy extra B and just 1 of those isn't going to cut it when you fancy enchiladas. So I came up with an idea of using manicotti pasta shells instead to keep the syns down and OMG it was so good.
If you can not find manicotti shells, then you can replace with cannelloni, but you will need to up the number of shells used, as these are slightly smaller than manicotti or you could use some softened lasagne sheets and roll up with the filling inside.
These Pasta Chicken Enchiladas totally cured my craving for the original dish. It's delicious!!
Tips for Filling Manicotta/Cannelloni Shells
Stand them upright on a plate, make them much easier to fill without the filling falling out the bottom. Once you have filling them, you can then carefully lay flat and into the oven dish.
Some shells are oven-ready too, meaning they don't need parboiling before adding to the oven. Making them much easier to handle.
Sides for Enchiladas
When it comes to sides for Enchiladas, I like to keep it simple and go for a mixed salad and some soured cream. If I have a few syns spare, then some avocado is great too. Check out my post on Avocado on Slimming World to see why it's not quite as high synned as you may think.
Wondering exactly what is in my salad? I simply used:
- Shredded Romaine Lettuce
- Chopped Grape Tomatoes
- Baby Cucumber
- Red Onion
More Great Sides for a Mexican Fakeaway
Some other great sides for this are this Mexican Rice - yum. You could even make this pea guacamole that is a great lower syn option to the real thing and taste great.
Some might even enjoy a few Syn Free Chips or Garlic and Herbs Wedges.
Syn Free & Zero Point Soured Cream
Wondering how to make a simple syn free or zero point soured cream if you want to save syns? I just use plain fat-free Greek Yoghurt, a little juice of fresh lemon and some sea salt.
So simple and a great alternative.
More pasta bake recipes
Love pasta bakes? Check out these other delicious recipes:
- BEST EVER BOLOGNESE PASTA BAKE
- CHICKEN BACON AND TOMATO PASTA BAKE
- TUNA PASTA BAKE
- SLOPPY JOE PASTA BAKE
- PULLED PORK PASTA BAKE
- MEXICAN PASTA BAKE
- RICOTTA AND SPINACH STUFFED PASTA SHELLS
or head on over to my Full Recipe Index with over 850 delicious Slimming World and Weight Watchers recipes all fully searchable by meal type, ingredients, syn value and smart points etc
This recipe was originally created on 28 January 2010 and updated on 10th February 2020
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Pasta Chicken Enchiladas
Enjoy a delicious Mexican Night with this Low Syn Pasta Chicken Enchiladas - a perfect meal for the entire family.
Ingredients
- 450g/1lb of extra lean ground chicken or turkey
- ½ red pepper, chopped finely
- ½ green pepper, chopped finely
- 1 onion chopped finely
- 2 cloves of garlic crushed
- 1 teaspoon of chilli powder
- 8 manicotti pasta shells or 12 cannelloni shells
- 4 tablespoons of quark
- 90g of cheddar cheese (3xHEa's)
- 50g of mozzarella (1xHEa)
For the Enchilada sauce:
- 320ml/1.5cup of crushed tomatoes (or can use passata)
- 1 tbs of tomato paste (up this to 2 or 3 if using passata)
- 240ml/1 cup of water
- pinch of cayenne
- 1.5 teaspoons of chilli powder
- ½ teaspoon of cumin
- ½ teaspoon of paprika
- 1 teaspoon of garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon of onion powder
- 1 tablespoon of maple syrup (2 syns)
- 1 teaspoon of oregano
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 175c or 350f
- Add the manicotti pasta shells to a saucepan of hot water and cook until they just start to soften (not too soft, they need to have a little firmness to be able to fill with the meat mixture). Then drain hot water, and cover with cold water. Set aside until you are ready to use.
- In a small saucepan, add all the ingredients for the enchilada sauce, bring to the boil and reduce to a medium heat and add a lid. Leave it to simmer away for approx 20mins to reduce down, while you make the enchilada filling. Ensure it has reduced down and thickened before continue with the rest otherwise your sauce will be too runny.
- Add to a frying pan on a medium heat, the ground chicken, onion, garlic, red pepper and green pepper and cook until the meat is no longer pink and cooked through. Reduce the heat right down.
- Add the 1 tsp of chilli powder and mix thoroughly. Add the quark and a 30g of the cheddar cheese and stir to evenly coat.
- Fill all the manicotti shells with the meat mixture and lay them all in a ovenproof dish. Top with you enchilada sauce and the remaining cheddar cheese and mozzarella.
- Cover with foil and bake in the oven for approx 30mins, remove foil and then continue to bake for another 15 minutes until cheese on top is nice and golden.
- Serve with a side salad.
Notes
This recipe is Slimming World and Weight Watchers friendly
- Slimming World - 1 HEa and 0.5 syns
- Green WW Smart Points - 10 per serving
- Blue WW Smart Points - 8 per serving
- Purple WW Smart Points - 8 per serving
NOTE: For WW use 98% fat-free ground chicken or turkey
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Nutrition Information
Serving Size 1 SERVINGAmount Per Serving Calories 472Total Fat 16.8gSaturated Fat 8.1gCholesterol 101mgSodium 663mgCarbohydrates 43.7gFiber 4.4gSugar 11gProtein 38.7g
Lisa Evrae says
These look so morish and just what you want when you are feeling a little naughty. Thanx, will def be giving these a try x
admin says
Lisa, you won't be disappointed (I hope). They were lovely. Even my 3 year old was giving them a try and normally he wont eat anything like that.
Macca Marsh says
Brit Mum - sounds delish! Is manicotti like cannelloni, please?
admin says
yes manicotti is similiar to cannelloni, only the tubes are slightly bigger. If you can't get them, I am sure you could substitute with cannelloni.
Lisa Evrae says
Caneloni was a pain so I opted for the lasagne sheets. Altered recipe a little but still tasted great. Just gutted I couldn't find the shells. Thanx, we now have something else to eat and use up turkey mince! xxx
Lucie says
Could I use large pasta shells?
admin says
yep you could, I used the manicotti, because it was the closest pasta tube shape to a rolled up tortilla.
StaceyUK says
Yet another winner! I made these last night and they were delish! Definitely a keeper. Thanks again for another great recipe! x
Angela says
What a lovely recipe, I too love enchiladas but have not had them for ages due to the high syns of tortillas. Will try these with lasagne sheets as I think I will struggle to get the larger tubes. Delia did a cannelloni years ago using thin omlettes so might try that too. Thanks for posting.
silvermaneuk says
Mmmmm this looks delicious and my partner loves Mexican and really misses it, but its too high in Syns usually, so I am going to cook this for her to give her a treat! TY xxx
admin says
I love Mexican too and was thinking how could I make enchiladas lower in syns and then thought I will use pasta tubes. It works really well. I hope you and your partner enjoy it 🙂
Lizabeth says
Provided chicken was fresh, would these freeze welll? I am thinking of making a batch and freezing individual portions as hubby not keen on pasta and so it would only be for myself.
Lizabeth says
Just had to let you know, I made these for tea tonight and they were absolutely fantastic!
I used canneloni tubes (didn't have to pre-cook them either) and the whole dish came out great. Only thing I will change next time I make them is to cut down to one tspn sugar as I felt it was a wee bit too sweet for me, but still nice.
Thanks for another great recipe.
silvermaneuk says
OMG cooked these tonight and YUMMY!!! I served it with salad as you suggested.
A few things I did slightly different was use my splenda brown blend sugar, which reduced the syns a tiny bit.
Couldnt get manicotti shells, I looked all over,so used cannelloni as suggested alternative. I did an extra red pepper, as was cooking for 5, to make the filling stretch, the extra pepper did the trick, and doubled the tomatoe sauce,but not the spices. Couldn't get chicken mince, so used Turkey mince.
My OH loved this, and said defo cook it again! She loves Mexican so big thumbs up from her! The whole family loved it, including the kids!
admin says
It is yummy isnt it, I love mexican food and was wondering what I could use to replace the tortillas. Great idea re: using the splenda to reduce the syns too. My 3 year old was having it too, when I cooked it, so didnt want to use sweeteners. Has made me want to do this again, I have some mince to use up, so might do it tomorrow.
leanne says
Oh wow just had this for tea, yum, yum what a treat - have used a few of your recipes now and have got to say you never dissapoint - I think it's fabulous you putting all your wonderful recipes on here thank you so much x
Chrissy says
I am gradually working through your yummy recipes, thanks. I am preparing this one just now. One thing I am never sure of is your herbs. When you include 1tsp of oregano for example, are you meaning fresh or dried? Thanks
I got a bit confused about garlic powder & garlic salt, typically had garlic granuals in my cupboard, so just a teaspoon of that in instead of both the salt & powder.
admin says
usually if I put tsp it will be dried, although you can use fresh if you have it (and it tastes better too). Hope that helps 🙂
Chrissy says
Bloomin heck that was a fast reply, thanks. 🙂 I .I thought it would be some ungodly hour in your neck of the woods.
I have used dried as I haven't fresh. Being English, of course it's turkey mince, as our supermarkets don't seem to stock chicken mince.
It's all prepared now ready to go in the oven for tonight, my 17 year old son has already been sniffing around it and I can't wait to eat it too.
redroseexile says
Well, we have just polished off Chrissy's enchiladas, and they were positively gorgeous. Stunning, brilliant, wonderful, yummy, plenty more superlatives where these came from to describe them. These aredefinitely on the "to have again" list
Anonymous says
Made this last night, but instead of the minced chicken used breast strips and omitted the quark and cheese in the filling (more like a fajita filling), also assembled like a normal lasagne with sheets instead of tubes, FANTASTIC! Recommend everyone tries it! Thanks for the inspiration!
(foodiejouk)
smegs_1978 says
Just made this, but with steak mince instead of chicken, i thought it was gorgeous, but forgot to pre cook the pasta so most of it was not quite cooked. I don't mind pasta like this but the rest of the family just ate the filling. Will definitely be trying again but will remember to precook the pasta this time.
kelly orrow says
can i ask what onion powder is? i've looked in various shops/supermarkets and can't find it anywhere. can it be replaced or omitted?
thanks
by the way the sweet potato, broccoli and cheese patties are a huge favourite x
Chrissy says
Still having this regularly after 6 years, still love it 🙂
Admin says
I haven't made it for a while, am planning to make it in the next week. 🙂 Glad you enjoy it.
Clare says
Made this tonight with lasagna sheets, was extremely yummy! Will make again for sure.
Melissa Riley says
Lovely dish, went down a treat.
Helen says
Absolutely delicious, even my teenagers loved it and they can be quite picky! I had all the ingredients in the cupboard apart from the cannelloni so I cooked up some penne pasta, put the dishes together in a casserole topped with cheese and backed in the oven for half an hour. I’ll definitely be doing this again.
Annette says
OMG this was sooooo good! Am missing mexican food so much and this really ticked the box. Used one sweetener rather than maple syrup and it was delicious!
LOVE LOVE Slimming eats!
Fiona Wright says
Could I use low fat Greek yoghurt instead of quark? Really can’t stand the taste of quark.... love, love your recipes ❤️❤️❤️
Siobhan (Slimming Eats) says
Hi there, I am not keen on quark either, but in this dish you really don't taste it. But yes you could use Greek Yoghurt or syn some light soured cream.
Clair Shields says
Hi, could I substitute quark for low fat soft cheese? I have some left from bang bang chicken I cooked yesterday which was delicious by the way!
Siobhan (Slimming Eats) says
Yes sure, it should be fine, just remember to count the syns.
Caroline says
Made this today. Didn’t have chicken or turkey so used minced beef. It was absolutely delicious. Everyone loved it. Will definitely be making this again and again.
Gemma says
Absolutely delicious! This works so well with pasta instead of tortilla wraps - will definitely make this again. Love it.
Carol says
Wow, just had this for dinner tonight. Me and my husband love spicy food, but this was sooo hot. Not sure if I was too heavy on the chilli, or my chilli powder was extra hot. Will definitely make again but I think I will cut down on chilli next time.
Marion Anderson says
Is this suitable for freezing or keeping in the fridge please?