Freezer Chicken Enchiladas

This is a great recipe to freeze since it goes straight from the freezer to the oven and there is very little defrosting (only for the sauce). It tastes really fresh and I use rotesserie chicken for the filling so I only have to cook the sauce. My husband loves these enchiladas!

1 29 oz. can tomato sauce
1/2 onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 canned chipotle in adobo sauce (that is one chile, not one can...I made that mistake the first time and we were sweating bullets!!!)
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup low sodium chicken broth
1 TBL vegetable oil
3 cups shredded cooked chicken
10 oz. shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
10 6-inch corn tortillas

1. Blend the tomato sauce, onion, garlic, chipotle, cumin, coriander, salt, and broth in a blender until smooth. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Add the tomato mixture, bring to a boil, reduce the heat to medium-low, and simmer until the mixture is reduced to 3 1/2 cups, 8-10 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and refrigerate until cool, about 1 hour.
2. Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 300 degrees. Toss 3/4 cup of the sauce with the chicken, 1 cup of the cheese, and cilantro.
3. Place 5 tortillas on a baking sheet and lightly coat both sides with vegetable oil spray. Bake the tortillas until just pliable, about 2 minutes. Working quickly, transfer one tortilla at a time to a work surface, fill with 1/3 cup of the chicken mixture, roll tightly. Transfer, seam-side down, to a large plate. Repeat the warming and rolling process with the remaining 5 tortillas. Place the plate in the freezer until the enchiladas are frozen, at least 1 hour.
4. Place the remaining sauce in a freezer safe container (I use double bagged freezer bags). Tightly wrap the enchiladas in bundles of 5, first in plastic wrap and then in foil. Freeze for up to 2 months.

When ready to serve:
-Heat oven to 350 degrees. Defrost the enchilada suace in the mircrowave on the defrost setting, about 12 minutes.
-coat a 13x9 baking dish with the vegetable oil spray. Arrange the frozen enchiladas in a single layer in the prepared baking dish and coat the tops with vegetable oil spray. Bake until the tops of the tortillas are just beginning to flake, about 20 minutes. Remove the dish from the oven, top the enchiladas with 1 1/2 cups of the sauce, and bake 10 minutes longer. Sprinkle the enchiladas with the remaining 1 1/2 cups cheese and bake until the cheese melts and center of the casserole is hot and bubbling, 3-5 minutes.

I usually double the recipe and fill a cookie sheet with enchiladas and flash freeze them. Then I just divide them up into packages of 5 enchiladas and then freeze the sauce in quart size freezer bags. Then you can cook two packages for a large family or just 1 for a small family or for just your husband.